SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The Winona State baseball team closed out a rough road stretch with a pair of losses at Augustana 8-5, 15-5 Wednesday afternoon at Karras Park.
 
The Warriors had a rough day defensively, committing a combined eight errors between the two games.
 
In the first game, Winona State took advantage of a Vikings error to take the early first inning lead. With runners at first and second, Jordan Plamann hit a ground ball to second that was muffed and then thrown away by the second baseman, allowing Jesus Cazares to score from second to take the 1-0 lead.
 
Augustana was able to take the lead back in the bottom of the second, scoring three runs, two of which coming after a costly WSU error with two outs to jump up 3-1.
 
The Warriors were able to answer with three runs in the top of the third to retake the lead. After the bases were loaded with one out, Plamann hit a deep fly ball that was caught, but scored Tyler Nehring from third to make it 3-2.
 
Mitch Heid beat out an infield single that scored Cazares from third to tie the game, and then Taylor Field singled through to left field to score Travis Evanson to take the 4-3 lead.
 
However, a costly mistake on a potential double play ground ball in the fifth proved to be the dagger. After the error, the Vikings responded with back-to-back RBI doubles to score three runs and take a 6-4 lead.
 
Augustana picked up two more runs in the sixth, one on a throwing error and another on an RBI single in the sixth inning to take an 8-4 lead.
 
Winona State got a run back in the seventh on a Nehring RBI ground out, scoring Michael Hommes from third to cut the lead to 8-5. However, that would be the closest the Warriors came as the Vikings took care of business the rest of the frame and won the seven-inning contest.
 
The Warrior offense had a rough first game, only recording six hits by six different players.
 
Jay Voter took the loss for the Warriors, dropping to 2-2 on the season. Voter pitched 4 2/3 innings, giving up six runs, three earned on eight hits with no walks while striking out two.
 
Winona State wasn't able to respond in the second game, despite starting it off with some fireworks.
 
Andrew Geislinger opened up the scoring on a leadoff home run to right field to make it a 1-0 WSU lead. It would be the only lead the Warriors had in the contest.
 
The Vikings delivered five unanswered runs over the next five innings to take a 5-1 lead.
 
Winona State did provide some fight in the top of the sixth. With the bases loaded, Heid drove a ground ball single up the middle to score two runs and make it a 5-3 ballgame. The Warriors added one more on a Field RBI single to cut the deficit to 5-4.
 
Again, Augustana answered with seven unanswered runs in the next two innings to expand the lead to 12-4.
 
Heid hit a solo homer to right center to make it 12-5, but the Vikings closed out with three more runs in the bottom of the eighth to take the second game 15-5.
 
The Warrior offense was led by Heid in the second game, going 2-for-4 from the plate with a homer, three RBIs and a run scored.
 
Will Lundquist took the loss for what was a rough outing for Winona State pitching. Lundquist went five innings and gave up five runs on seven hits with a walk and two strikeouts. As a whole, the Warriors gave up 15 runs, 11 earned on 15 hits three walks with four walks and three strikeouts to go with four more errors.
 
After getting swept in the doubleheader, Winona State dropped to 14-20 overall and 12-10 in NSIC play.
 
The Warriors will look to bounce back from the road trip, as next they will host Sioux Falls for a weekend doubleheader at Loughrey Field on Saturday and Sunday with first pitches scheduled for noon both days.