As the college baseball season begins to enter the home stretch, many teams are looking to make a push for their conference tournaments. Winona State University entered the weekend with a 17-20 record and a 13-14 conference record. Trying to fight for a position in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) Tournament, the Warriors hosted a tough opponent in Loughrey Field.
Who was standing in their way was the Southwest Minnesota State University Mustangs, a team placed in the top five of the conference standing at this point. They looked to make a push for the fourth spot with a strong performance against the Warriors. For the weekend, the teams would face off three times with a double header on April 18 and solo game on April 19. The stage was set for either team to make a statement this weekend.
Dylan Rarer, outfielder for the Warriors, talked about the team’s growing connection throughout the season.
“The chemistry of this team is special, everyone supports each other and sticks together through the good games and the bad,” he said. “This will be huge in keeping us competitive down the stretch.”
The first game of the double-header created a strong indicator of Winona State’s biggest strength, the red hot hitting to begin the series. Ryland Wall popped a two-RBI double to start the scoring off in the game. Ben Hefel knocked out a two-run home run to clean up the bases. The Warriors went on to score seven runs in the second inning. Southwest Minnesota State responded in the next inning with a two-run home run of their own by Owen Latendresse to assist in scoring three total runs at the top of the third. A Garrett Hietpas single allowed Josh Hatano to score as well in the third inning for Winona State.
The Warriors led 8-3 to close out the first few innings. Cole Fuecker put an exclamation point on the game, earning a three-run double to extend the Warriors lead 11-3. Even after a four-run inning at the top of the sixth, the Mustangs comeback attempt was no use. Winona State would take the former game 11-7. In the bullpen, Warrior Pierce Gritzmaker earned the win with seven strikeouts, while allowing nine hits and seven runs.
In the next game, Southwest Minnesota State needed to avoid giving the Warriors a hot start like in the last. They would strike first blood with three separate earned runs off a sacrifice fly and two singles. To follow, Winona State’s Adam Wall snapped a triple, sending Jess Ondell home. This hit put Winona State on the board in the bottom of the second. Ryland Wall grounded out, which sent Wall to score again. A two-run Fuecker bomb in the third inning gave the Warriors the lead.
Entering the final inning, Winona State was one run shy of the Mustangs. A Hietpas groundout gave Klayton Hawkins the opportunity to send the game into an extra inning. Winona States bullpen will hold firm, finishing the day with thirteen strikeouts between five arms. Fuecker, who had a home run earlier in the game, walked off the Mustangs with another to leftfield to give the Warriors an 8-7 win.
Rarer discussed the impact these NSIC double-headers to close out regular season play.
“We have worked so hard all year for these coming weeks and everything we want to accomplish is standing right in front of us,” he said. “We have the opportunity to put ourselves back on top of the NSIC and if we play clean baseball there’s not much that could stop us.”
In the final game of the weekend between the Mustangs and Warriors, Winona State started off with another slow start. SMSU would score three runs in the first two innings, with Levi Lampert earning a two-run RBI single in the second to extend their lead. Berreth homered in the bottom of the second to try and catch up. An RBI single by Joshua Hawksford would cut the Mustangs lead 3-2 by the end of the fourth.
Southwest’s offense exploded in the fifth inning, scoring five runs and earning three separate RBIs. Winona State would fire back with three runs of their own at the bottom of the inning, with a third Fuecker home run to start it off. The Mustangs loaded the bases multiple times in the sixth, earning two runs to send the game out of reach for the Warriors. Alex Berreth smacked a couple of RBI hits in the seventh and ninth, but the five-run deficit became too much to overcome for the Warriors. They would drop the final game of the weekend series 10-8.
With Winona State’s strong performance against the Mustangs, they earned a spot in the top half of the NSIC. The Warriors will close their home series against the Duluth Bulldogs on April 23 as well as the University of Sioux Falls Cougars on April 26. They now sit with a record of 19-21 overall and 15-15 in conference. If the NSIC tournament started today, the seventh seeded Winona State Warriors would take on second seeded Augustana Vikings, who swept Winona State in Sioux Falls earlier in the season.
