Erin Cochran/Winonan

The Winona State University men’s baseball team had to postpone their four game series against the St. Cloud State Huskies scheduled for April 13-14.

Currently, the Warriors are 11-11 and 5-3 in conference play. Even though most teams in the Midwest are having the same problems with bad weather, the season still stands as it was originally scheduled and no makeup games will be announced at this time.

“The season ends when it ends,” head coach Kyle Poock said. “We have to play at least fifty percent of conference games in order to qualify for the playoffs. We have currently played eight of 18 possible and need ten more to qualify. Hopefully we can get to those games but you know, we can’t control the weather but we can control how well we play from here on out.”

The team’s practice on Monday, April 15 was only the team’s second time playing outside on the field this season.

“We’ve done pretty much everything we can inside and it’s so different playing on a gym floor versus the actual dirt,” Poock said. “It’s a different situation getting into the groove these guys need. Our hitting is strong because of all the batting practice they’ve been able to take but when it comes to reading plays, looking out for the ball and running the bases we really need to get out there.”

While split with the same amount of wins and losses this season, the team has a history of success. Last season, the Warriors went 29-22 and were able to advance to the NCAA regional tournament for the third consecutive year. The offense hit .318, and Nate Van Roekel and Seth McMullen both took home All-American honors.

“I feel like personally I’ve done pretty well thus far and as a team we’ve been on point with hitting because we’ve focused on it so much,” McMullen said. “The good thing about being split in the middle of the season is we are driven to end on a winning note so we can rise above the weather and all the other factors that we’ve had to face. We just have to keep plugging away and whatever happens, happens.”

“Right now, I’m really impressed with Cody Strang, McMullen and Brett Young,” Poock said. “We have really strong players as we always have and right now we are focusing on working the bottom of the order to have consistency as well.”

Right now, the team is eager to for the weather to improve so they can get outside.

“We know how talented we are and really I just want to get out there,” McMullen said. “We have done literally everything we can inside and now we just want to get out on the field and do what we know we can do.”

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