DULUTH, Minn. – The Winona State baseball team was able to rally from two down in the seventh inning of the first game at Minnesota Duluth to earn a split with the Bulldogs. Winona State won the first game of the doubleheader 6-5, but dropped the second game 9-3.
 
In the first game, the Warriors opened up the scoring in the top of the second on an RBI single to left by Taylor Field, scoring Travis Evanson to make it a 1-0 game.
 
The Bulldogs battled back in the bottom of the frame to take the lead. UMD left fielder Grant Farley hit an RBI single, scoring runners from second and third to take a 2-1 lead.
 
Winona State grabbed the lead back in the top of the fifth on a two-run home run to left field by Evanson to retake the 3-2 lead.
 
Again, Minnesota Duluth battled back in the bottom of the frame n an RBI single by Brian Pierce and a two-run RBI double by John Meyer to give the lead back to the Bulldogs at 5-3 d.
 
In the top of the seventh, the Warriors delivered the comeback. After Kipp Youngquist walked and Tyler Nehring singled to move him to third, Jesus Cazares hit an RBI single through the middle to score Youngquist to cut the deficit to 5-4. In the next at-bat, Evanson hit a deep fly ball to center to score Nehring on a sacrifice fly to tie the game up at five.
 
In extra innings, Winona State delivered the go-ahead run. In the top of the ninth, Nathan Krause drew a walk, moved to second on a SAC bunt, and moved to third on a single by Andrew Geislinger.
 
With runners at the corners, Nehring hit a fly ball to right for a sacrifice fly that scored Krause to give the Warriors a 6-5 lead.
 
In the bottom of the frame, Mitch Voter came in and closed the game out with three consecutive strikeouts to give the Warriors the victory. Voter picked up his forth save of the season and his third in five games.
 
Evanson led the Warrior offense, going 2-for-3 with a homer, three RBIs, and two runs scored. Nehring, who delivered the go-ahead run, went 1-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored.
 
Lucas Crimmins had a tough outing, pitching just 4 1/3 innings giving up five earned runs on eight hits, a walk, and struck out four in a no-decision. However, the Warrior bullpen came through, as Scott Freiburger, Josh Nielsen, and Voter pitched a combined 4 2/3 scoreless innings, giving up just two hits and a walk with seven strikeouts. Nielsen picked up the win to move to 2-1 on the season.
 
The Warriors were not so fortunate in the second game as they struggled to score base runners.
 
WSU did grab the early lead in the top of the first on an RBI single to center by Jordan Plamann, scoring Geislinger and giving the Warriors the early 1-0 advantage.
 
The Bulldogs got the lead right back in the bottom of the frame on two RBI singles to take a 2-1 lead. UMD picked up two insurance runs in both the third and fourth innings a piece to expand their lead to 6-1.
 
As the Warrior offense sputtered, the Bulldogs kept expanding the lead as they put together a big three-run sixth inning to give UMD a 9-1 lead going into the final frame, making a possible comeback difficult for WSU.
 
Winona State did get a couple runs back in the seventh inning on a Nehring two RBI double down the left field line to cut it to 9-3 but that was all the Warriors could muster in the final inning.
 
Nehring led the Warrior offense in the second game, going 2-for-4 with two RBIs. Plamann also had a solid day at the plate, going 3-for-3 with an RBI.
 
Mitchell Stalsberg picked up the loss for the Warriors, pitching four innings and giving up six runs, five earned on seven hits and five walks with four strikeouts.
 
With the split, Winona State moves to 14-18 and 12-8 in NSIC play. The Warriors will continue their six game road trip with a mid-week doubleheader at Augustana. The games will at Karras Park in Sioux Falls on Wednesday with the first game starting at 3 p.m.