Erin Cochran/Winonan
The Winona State University baseball team is now at 6-6 after their trip to Florida. Head coach, Kyle Poock, won his 300th game as head coach of the Warriors after the 6-4 victory over Grand Valley State on Wednesday, March 6.
Kyle Sill, catcher, said, “We had some quality wins down in Florida. Some of the young guys are starting to understand what we’re trying to do and are beginning to fit into our style of play.”
In game one, the Warriors fell 5-4. In the top of the fourth, the Grand Valley State Lakers scored four runs. The bottom of the inning, Winona State came right back scoring three.
Brett Young had a two-run home run to right field, and Seth McMullen led off with a single, scoring on an error.
In the top of the sixth, the Lakers added to their lead by two, solidifying their victory.
In game two, the Warriors started off early with a 6-1 advantage after only three innings. A single by Derek Wojcik and a RBI groundout by McMullen allowed the Warriors to start off their 6-4 victory over the Lakers.
Mike Wasilik and Wojcik brought in runners with base hits in the second, along with scoring off a Grand Valley State error on a passed ball.
Chase Blazier threw the complete game and struck out three while only allowing two earned hits.
Thursday’s game against Ohio Dominican was just as electric. The Warriors defeated the Panthers, 8-7 in an extra inning fight to the end.
In the third inning, the Warriors scored their first runs off of RBI singles by Ryan Nyhagen and Young, and a sacrifice fly by Wojcik. The lead increased to five runs after Wojcik reached home on a wild pitch by Dominican.
The game tied up in the sixth, 5-5. Two more scores by both teams in the eighth sent the game into extra innings. Riley Martinez’s single plus an error led to Jordan Plamann’s game winning hit.
Jay Voter, freshman pitcher, led a solid performance for five innings before fellow freshman Ethan Kuehn came in for two and two-thirds and Wojcik closed in the 11th.
On Friday, the team took on the Ashland University Eagles, falling 10-6.
Within the first three innings the Warriors gave up five runs in the first three innings before Nyhagen put the team on the board with an RBI single that brought in Jonathan Nelson. The Warriors put a few more on the board in the fifth off a base hit by Young and McMullen score on a double .
In the bottom of the ninth, Winona State scored four runs to pull with just four but the Eagles were able to close the game with the 10-6 victory.
Saturday’s game was a different story as the Warrior offense crushed the Wheeling Jesuit Cardinals, 14-2.
Within the first inning, the team scored seven and plated the first 11 runs. Ben Weeks, Tyler Nehring and McMullen all drove home two runs and eight different WSU players recorded at least one RBI.
Plamann had a walk and Nyhagen leadoff with a single. Kyle Sill launched an RBI single followed by Nehring doubling to score two more. Nyhagen, Weeks and Ben Sebesta all recorded run-scoring hits in that single inning.
Four more runs in the second added to the Warrior advantage, making it 11-0 in the third.
The Cardinals were able to score in the bottom of the third, but the hit was recovered by McMullen and Plamann RBI hits.
Nehring, McMullen and Plamann all added to the collective 17 hits in the game as they each had three.
Sophomore pitcher, Matt Bonestroo threw for five innings and was able to strike out two, allowing for only two runs and just four hits. Dan Lohff and Lucas Warren also contributed to the victory with scoreless innings.
The Warriors completed their time in Fla. by falling to Wayne State 6-3.
All of the Winona State runs came in the third, where they had mounted a 3-2 lead. Wayne State responded with three runs of their own in the fourth and added an insurance run, solidifying their victory in the eighth.
Nelson, Young, Sill and McMullen all had one hit while Lucas Warren led with two.
Wasilik took the mound for three and two-thirds innings, striking out five batters as Nick Ender took over in relief and struck out four in his four a one-third innings.
“We learned a lot from our trip to Florida,” Nelson said. “We learned that we can compete with the top teams in the country, but we also learned that we still have things that we can work on to improve. I know that we feel that we are one of the top teams in the league.”
Last season, seven players hit .300 or better during at least 80 at bats. The overall play was 29-22 where the team advanced to the NCAA Regional Tournament for the third consecutive year. This season they hope to continue their efforts and make another trip to the league championship, regional title and Division II World Series.
“The program has been very successful the past three season, making the regional tournament twice and the World Series once,” Nelson said. “This team has the talent to make a run in the post season.”
The Warriors are now 6-6 on the season and will take the field against Concordia-St. Paul in a double header at the Metrodome in Minneapolis, March 16 where they are 3-3. First pitch is scheduled for 5:15 p.m.
Contact Erin at [email protected].
