Alexandria Carter/ Winonan
The Winona State University baseball team came back to win each of its games in a doubleheader against Wayne State at home on Wednesday, April 8 before dropping three of the four games against the University of Minnesota Duluth on Saturday and Sunday.
After the games against Wayne State head coach Kyle Poock said, “Our guys are finally realizing that if we stay in the game, stay focused and execute we always have a chance to win.”
Starting with Wayne State, the Warriors snagged two comeback victories, 5-3 and 5-4, thanks to a pair of timely home runs.
In the opener, after taking an early 1-0 advantage, the Warriors fell behind after the Wildcats scored on a two-run home run to take a 2-1 lead in the fourth.
The Warriors tied the game at two in the fifth with Kipp Youngquist scoring on a Wildcat error, but Wayne State reclaimed the lead thanks to an RBI double.
Trailing by one in the bottom of the sixth with two outs, Nathan Krause smashed a three-run home run to put Winona State up 5-3.
In the top of the seventh, closer Mitch Voter struck out two batters to give the Warriors the win and net his third save of the season.
Krause went 2-for-3 with a homer, three RBIs and a run scored while Mitch Heid and Youngquist went 2-for-3 also for the Warriors.
Jay Voter gave up two earned runs on three hits and a walk while striking out six in five innings of work. Josh Nielsen picked up the win, giving up one earned run on two hits.
In the second game, the Wildcats took a 3-0 lead in the first inning and added another in the sixth to give them a four run lead.
In the sixth inning the Warriors failed to earn a run despite having the bases loaded and one out. As a team, Winona State mustered only 10 hits in the first eight frames.
Winona State remained scoreless until the bottom of the ninth, when Tyler Nehring scored Taylor Field off of a Wayne State error. Jesus Cazares chipped in an RBI single up the middle to make it a 4-2 game.
After a pitching change in the bottom of the ninth with two outs and Winona State down by two, Tyler Evanson hit a three-run homer to give the Warriors a 5-4 victory over the Wildcats.
Evanson said as a team they need to keep improving so they consistently have “quality at bats” and are not “making errors in the field.”
Evanson went 3-for-5 with a home run, three RBIs and a run scored while Plamann and Youngquist each went 3-for-4 in the game to add to the Warrior effort.
Will Lundquist pitched seven innings, giving up four runs, two earned on four hits, two walks and four strikeouts.
Scott Freiburger earned the relief victory, giving up just one hit and a walk while recording four strikeouts.
“These games showed me our guys have a never say die attitude which shows confidence in yourself and within the team,” Mitch Heid said. “We are just as confident with the bottom of our lineup as we are with the top.”
On Saturday the Warriors headed to Duluth, dropping their doubleheader matchup against the Bulldogs by scores of 3-2 and 7-4.
In the first game, Winona State found itself down 2-0 in the second inning. In the top of the third, the deficit was cut in half when Evanson plated Andrew Geislinger on a RBI single.
In the sixth inning the Warriors tied the game after Heid scored on a RBI single from Krause.
Going into extra innings, Winona State had the chance to win with runners on first and second and no outs, but the Warriors couldn’t produce any runs.
The Bulldogs took advantage of Warrior errors in the bottom of the ninth, placing base runners on first and second with just one out. Minnesota Duluth ended up scoring a run off an RBI single, giving the Bulldogs a 3-2 victory over the Warriors.
Nehring went 3-for-5 in the game while Cazares, Field, and Krause all recorded two hits in the game as well.
Warrior starter Chase Blazier gave up only two earned runs on eight hits and striking out nine in six innings.
Freiburger was credited with the loss for the Warriors, allowing an unearned run with one hit and a strikeout in just one-third of an inning of work.
In the nightcap the Warriors fell behind by five runs after just a pair of innings. Winona State got on the board in the fourth after Evanson scored on a Heid sacrifice fly.
A Plamann sacrifice fly in the sixth inning plated Nehring for the Warriors and made it a 5-2 game.
After the Bulldogs added two more runs in the sixth, the Warriors tried to make a comeback. With bases loaded, Cazares singled home Youngquist and later Evanson added another run on a double play. However, the Warriors were unable to add any runs after that, giving the Bulldogs the 7-4 win.
Nehring went 4-for-4 from the plate with a run scored to lead the way for Winona State.
Hayden Krimmer took the loss, giving up five earned runs in two innings on five hits, four walks and five strikeouts. Matt Bonestroo came on in relief and pitched three scoreless innings, only allowing two hits and a walk with a pair of strikeouts.
On Sunday, the Warriors split the doubleheader against Minnesota Duluth, claiming the first game 6-5 before falling 9-3 in the nightcap.
In the opener, the Warriors got on the board first in the top of the second but in the bottom inning the Bulldogs scored two runs to take the 2-1 lead.
In the top of the fifth, a two-run home run by Evanson gave the lead back to Winona State before the Bulldogs again added two more runs to take the 5-3 lead over the Warriors.
The Warriors provided the comeback in the top half of the seventh. Youngquist scored on a Cazares RBI single and Nehring scored on a sacrifice fly from Evanson to knot things up at five.
In the top of the ninth, Krause scored on a Nehring sacrifice fly to take the 6-5 advantage.
Mitch Voter closed the game with three strikeouts in a row to ice the Warrior win and give him his fourth save of the season.
Evanson went 2-for-3 with a homer, three RBIs, and two runs scored while Nehring went 1-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored.
Lucas Crimmins recorded a no-decision, allowing five runs on eight hits while striking out four. Winona State’s bullpen helped out, though, with Freiburger, Nielsen and Voter combining for over four innings of scoreless relief, allowing only two hits while fanning seven. Nielsen netted the victory to move to 2-1 on the year.
The second game started similar to the first. The Warriors scored first but the Bulldogs answered with two runs of their own in the bottom of the inning. Minnesota Duluth added another two runs in both the third and fourth innings and then added three runs in the sixth inning to put them up 9-1 over Winona State.
In the seventh inning the Warriors added two runs, but it was not enough. Winona State fell to the Bulldogs 9-3.
“Offensively we need to stay focused throughout the game every single inning,” Heid said. “Start making the other team have to come from behind and put pressure on them early on which gives our pitchers energy for the other half of the inning.”
Mitchell Stalsberg was struck with the loss for the Warriors, allowing six runs, five earned on seven hits, five walks and four strikeouts.
Nehring went 2-for-4 with two RBIs while Plamann went 3-for-3 with an RBI for the Warriors.
Winona State (14-18 overall, 12-8 NSIC) plays a doubleheader Wednesday April, 15 in Sioux Falls, S.D. against Augustana.
