Week of Warrior baseball vs. Bemidji State Beavers, Minnesota State-Mankato Mavericks

Joseph Eichele

The Warriors also played a doubleheader against the Mavericks on April 16, 2022 at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. The weekend scores resulted a loss of 4-12, and a loss of 4-5.

Syerah Mulhern-Allred, Sports Editor
April 20, 2022

Winona State University baseball started their week strong on Wednesday, April 13 against Bemidji State where they walked away from the mound with a pair of wins against the Bemidji Beavers.

To open the first game, fourth-year Warrior Derek Baumgartner hit a two run double to left center bringing in two runs in the fourth inning. Shortly to follow, third-year Warrior Cooper Kapanke hit a single to bring the score 3-0.

The Beavers responded with a lead in the bottom fourth with a score of 4-3.

With a few silent innings before any other fast play, second-year athlete Austin Beyer responded to the need for a score with a double to score Kapanke and bring the team up one point.

The pressure was on as the score tied up at the end of the seventh, meaning crucial extra innings would determine the winner. First-year Warrior Kyle Yu snagged a single followed by a double from Brinkman and a walk for Baumgartner to fill the bases. Baumgartner spoke to the team’s genuine relationship off the field, translating to their game performances.

“We all get along and that shows on the field. We are all happy for each other when things go well and are there to pick each other up when things go wrong.” Baumgartner said of the younger athletes, such as Yu, and the relationship on the field. “The older guys are always trying to help the younger guys and pass on the knowledge we have learned from former players and our coaches.”

Beyer relieved the pressure with a grand slam home run to score himself and the three athletes on base, Yu, Brinkman and Baumgartner.

The game ended with a Warrior win of 9-4 thanks to the extra innings and Beyer, who had five RBIs, a double and a homerun.

Fifth-year pitcher, Nicholas Her- old, pictured lining up to throw. Herold allowed only 1 hit in the first five innings.
Fifth-year pitcher, Nicholas Herold, pictured lining up to throw. Herold allowed only 1 hit in the first five innings. (Joseph Eichele)

On the mound for game one were fourth-year Warriors Kyle Gendron and Justin Firpo. Gendron struck out five and walked two while Firpo only allowed two hits.

For game two on Wednesday, third-year Winona State player Bailey Banaszynski started on the mound for six innings before fellow third-year Caleb Strack came in for a few innings. Following, second-year Warrior Peter Tveite finished off the game strong.

Banaszynski struck out ten Beavers, Strack struck out eight and walked none, and Tveite finished the trio strong, allowing zero runs.

Bemidji State held the Warriors below with a 2-1 lead six innings in before a switch up in the seventh inning.

Brinkman started the shift with a single followed by a Baumgartner base hit. Beyer stepped up at a pivotal moment to bring the score to a tie in the seventh inning, again putting the team into nail-biter extra innings.

In the tenth inning the Warriors had four runs to gain another win for the week. This included a single from Yu to score Hawksford before third-year Warrior Dane Weiland hit a double to score first-year Mason Trocke. Brinkman then drove two RBIs in to score both Weiland and first-year Miller Wallace.

“I think so far it’s been pretty good. We’ve all been playing pretty well and we’ve gotten our chances,” Yu said of his successful season so far. “I know we put in the work and practice every day.”

The game ended with a score of 6-2 before continuing the streak of home games the following week- end against Minnesota State University-Mankato, where Winona State unfortunately lost all three, bringing the team to 9-17 overall and 4-6 in the conference.

During game one the Warriors dropped 3-12 after a pitching duel through the first half of the match- up. Fourth-year athlete Nicolas Herold allowed a measly one hit throughout five innings.

In the bottom of the fifth, Winona State began to heat up in their typical fashion with a double from Trocke and another from fourth-year Nick Herbst only moments later, bringing Trocke home.

Dane Weiland, a third-year catcher, on first base. Weiland drew a walk in the bottom of the sixth inning which put WSU back at 3 runs, one behind Minnesota State's 4 runs.
Dane Weiland, a third-year catcher, on first base. Weiland drew a walk in the bottom of the sixth inning which put WSU back at 3 runs, one behind Minnesota State’s 4 runs.

Brinkman continued his strong week with a single to give the Warriors a two-run lead.

“Forgetting about it and realizing that failure and mistakes are part of the game makes it a whole lot easier to move on and take it one pitch at a time,” Brinkman said.

Unfortunately, the Mavericks responded with four runs on four hits, followed by six more in the seventh and eighth to bring them a win.

Herold pitched five good innings but gave up four runs in the fifth inning which caused a struggle for the team as they alternated five separate pitchers in the last half of the game, attempting to execute some sort of damage control on the fall apart.

After a night of recomposing, the Warriors came back on Saturday for two more home games.

In game one over at Loughrey Field, the Mavericks started out hot with two runs before the Warriors even got a chance on the plate.

As soon as that chance came, Baumgartner snatched it with an infield single that loaded the bases, but the runners did not get any further at that time.

Halfway through the seven innings, Mankato had the lead at 9-0 before things started to warm up in the seventh inning with Trocke and Herbst hitting back-to-back homeruns.

To continue the heat, Baumgartner and Weiland had a single each before Beyer brought in two runs. The fire came just a little bit too late though, as game two ended 12-4 against Winona State.

The last game of the weekend started on a stronger note with a double from Herbst and singles from Brinkman and Weiland for a score of 2-0 after just the first inning.

Minnesota State responded quickly with a three-run home run, putting their team ahead by one.

At the bottom of the fifth, Winona State tied the game up with a single from Weiland to bring Baumgartner to home base.

First-year Warrior Joshua Hawksford then hit a double to bring the team up one point, giving them a welcome lead.

“No matter, like, if this is your first year, your fifth year, you step on the fields, you have the same job to do,” Hawksford said of having a predominately young team. “We’re all college players.”

The Mavericks came back with two runs while the Warriors were unable to successfully respond, falling by just one painful point, resulting in a 5-4 finish.

On the mound for the last game was third-year Warrior Cameron Kramer followed by Strack and Firpo.

The team will next play at Loughrey Field once again to host Augustana University on Wednesday, April 20 at 1:30 and 3:30 p.m.