AUBURNDALE, Fla. – Bethel University baseball fell just short of a series sweep of Wayne State Thursday afternoon dropping the finale, 7-6.

Bethel (5-2) struck first with Joey Fredrickson's team-leading eighth RBI in the top of the first before the Wayne State (6-3) evened it up in the bottom of the inning.

The Warriors got ahold of starter Peyton Gallagher tacking on four runs in the third. Nick Wibben brought the deficit to 5-2 legging out an inside the park home run on a ball off the center field fence to begin the fourth.

WSU tallied two more runs before the Royals went to the pen bringing in Logan McDonald. McDonald would only allow three hits and no runs over the 3.2 innings before Blake Williams recorded all three outs in the eighth with a pair of strikeouts.

The Royals comeback efforts were sparked by a two-out solo home run by Thomas Friesen in the fifth. In the sixth, BU took advantage of Justin Winterfeldt doubling down the left-field line and James Woelfel recording a sacrifice fly scoring Kennan Hodgkin and Nick Wibben respectively.

Joey Fredrickson got BU within a run crossing the plate on a wild pitch in the seventh. 

Following a successful spring break trip, the Royals will take seven days off before returning to action indoors at U.S. Bank Stadium against Crown College on Thursday, March 25 for a doubleheader starting at noon. 

Story contributed by Austin Lagesse, Bethel University Assistant Sports Information Director