LAKELAND, Fla. – Winona State scored an early run against Florida Southern, but couldn't keep up the scoring as the Warriors lost 9-3 Wednesday night in Lakeland, Fla.
 
The Warriors did manage to get on the board right away and take an early lead. After Andrew Geislinger reached on an infield single and Travis Evanson reached on an error, Geislinger scored on a wild pitch by Mocs pitcher A.J. Smith to make it a 1-0 game early.
 
However, that would be the only lead the Warriors would have in the game. Florida Southern got the run back in the bottom of the first on a sacrifice fly to tie the game up.
 
The Mocs scored a run on a solo homer in the second inning and added another run in the third to make it 3-1. Despite the Warriors keeping it close through the first three innings, they ran into trouble in the fourth.
 
Florida Southern had a big inning against Warrior pitcher Hayden Krimmer. The Warriors had a few costly errors on defense to start off the inning and the Mocs make the Warriors pay by scoring five runs in the inning to blow the game open and make it an 8-1 game. FSC added another insurance run in the fifth inning to grab an eight run lead.
 
Winona State had a few opportunities that they couldn't quite cash in on to get back in the game. In the sixth inning, the Warriors had the bases loaded with one out, but a strikeout and a ground out kept WSU from chipping into the lead.
 
WSU did get a run back in the seventh inning. With runners at second and third with two outs, Nathan Krause scored on a wild pitch to make it 9-2.
 
Winona State made it 9-3 in the eighth on a Geislinger RBI single with the bases loaded and two outs, but that was the last opportunity the Warriors would have to get back into the game.
 
Florida Southern managed their nine runs on 12 hits and three team errors, while the Warriors put up just three runs on seven hits with two errors on the game.
 
The Warrior offense was led by Nathan Krause with a three-hit game going 3-for-4 with a run scored. Krause broke out of a season-slump from the plate, as he had just three hits in 26 at-bats, boosting his season batting average from .115 to .265 after the game. Geislinger also had a strong game at the plate, going 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored.
It was a tough game for Krimmer on the mound. In his first two starts, Krimmer posted a 0.90 ERA, but had trouble all day against the Mocs. In 3 2/3 innings pitched, Krimmer gave up eight runs, six earned on 10 hits with six of those hits being extra base hits with four walks and three strike outs.
 
With the loss, Winona State dropped to 1-8 on the season. However, the Warriors will look to get their second win of the season tomorrow, as they will have a rematch with Ohio Dominican on Friday in Auburndale, Fla. The two teams met earlier in the week with the Warriors getting their first win of the season in a 7-5 come from behind victory.