Winona State University's Newspaper since 1919

The Winonan

Winona State University's Newspaper since 1919

The Winonan

Winona State University's Newspaper since 1919

The Winonan

Polls

What is your favorite building to study in?

View Results

Loading ... Loading ...

Baseball ends invitational with two losses

Allison Mueller/Winonan

The Winona State University baseball team returned from the Houston Winter Invitational in Houston, Texas on Feb. 5 with a record of 1-3. The Warriors lost both of their final games to Tarleton State and Central Missouri.

The game against Tarleton State started off strong for the Warriors as Michael Hommes led the bottom of the first with a single and scored after a base hit by Brett Young.

Tarleton State answered with eight points in the second inning and scored another two in the third, and four in the fourth. With Winona State trailing 1-14 in the fifth inning, Lucas Crimmins and Hommes had hits that put runners on the corners.

Story continues below advertisement

After a base hit by Mike Wasilik, Crimmins was plated followed by Hommes later in the fifth inning to make the game 3-14. Tarleton State finished the game with two runs in the seventh, resulting in a loss for the Warriors 3-16.

Winona State had a few difficulties in the beginning of the game that coach Kyle Poock said, “put us behind the eight ball.”

“We didn’t pitch well to start with,” Poock said. “That means we couldn’t do a lot of things we wanted to do offensively.”

Joseph Kubera said, “Tarleton was a very good hitting team, and they scored a lot early in the game, so one obstacle we had to deal with was trying to overcome an early deficit.”

Despite the loss, Winona State came back the next day to play Central Missouri to finish up the Houston Winter Invitational.

In the seventh inning, Winona State was trailing 0-3, but Andrew Geislinger and Wasilik were able to score on a double by Nathan Krause to bring the game 2-3.

The Warriors held Central Missouri scoreless in the seventh and eighth innings. In the ninth inning, Jordan Plamann and Krause each had singles, but Winona State was unable to score. The game ended in a loss for the Warriors, 2-3.

Poock said the Warriors played a very good game against Central Missouri, which is ranked 14th in the nation.

“We pitched well. Chase Blazier had a great outing for five innings,” Poock said. “Then our relief guys, Will Lundquist and Nick Ender, did a great job.”

Blazier gave up two earned runs with four strikeouts in five innings. Lundquist threw two innings with no hits, and Ender pitched a perfect eighth inning.

Kubera said, “I think our pitching in that game was definitely a strong point.”

Hommes and Kubera said the Warriors’ energy level was another strong point in the game against Central Missouri.

Kubera said, “The energy in the Central Missouri game was definitely a lot higher than it was in the Tarleton game.”

Throughout the four days of games, there was an underlying feeling of excitement that fueled the energy of the players.

The Houston Winter Invitational was held at Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas, which gave the feeling of competing in major league games.

Poock said, “Everything was announced like a major league game. The big scoreboard was lit up with the stats of the guy at bat. It was exciting for the guys to have that and hopefully we get invited back in the future.”

Winona State will next compete against Wisconsin-Parkside in a four-game series in Overland Park, Kan. on March 1.

Until then, the team is back to the grind in the gym Monday through Friday until they leave for Kansas.

Overall, Poock said the Warriors played well against all four teams in Houston, Texas.
“We know we’re young, but we were not overmatched at all against these teams,” Poock said. “We proved that we can compete against teams out there that are top in the country.”

More to Discover