WINONA, Minn. – Jesus Cazares and Travis Evanson each provided a spark for the Warrior bats, but the Winona State baseball team dropped a nonconference game to Saint Mary's 10-9 in a nine-inning contest on Thursday at Loughrey Field.

Winona State (17-22) didn't have a problem scoring runs, but the pitching struggled as the Warriors used seven different pitchers and five gave up at least one earned run along with four home runs on the evening.
 
The Warriors got on the board first in the bottom of the first. With runners on first and third and one out, Cazares hit a deep sacrifice fly to center field, scoring Andrew Geislinger from third to take the early 1-0 lead.
 
The Cardinals responded in the top of the second with an RBI single and a two-run home run to take the lead, 3-1.
 
Winona State rallied back in the bottom of the third. With runners on second and third with one out, Tyler Nehring hit a sacrifice fly to center field, scoring Geislinger from third to cut the lead to 3-2.
 
In the next at-bat, Cazares tied the game up with an RBI single to left, scoring Jordan Plamann from second to tie the game up at 3-3.
 
Saint Mary's took the lead back in the top of the fourth with a solo home run to make it a 4-3 ballgame and added another in the top of the fifth on another solo shot to increase the lead to 5-3.
 
However, the Warriors rallied back in the bottom of the fifth on a two-run home run by Cazares that sailed over the left field fence to tie the game up at 5-5.
 
In the top of the sixth, the Cardinals put together a big four-run inning to retake a 9-5 lead. Winona State cut the lead in half in the bottom of the sixth on an RBI groundout by Geislinger and an RBI double by Plamann to trim the lead to 9-7.
 
In the seventh inning, the Saint Mary's picked up an important insurance run on an RBI single to right center to stretch the lead to 10-7. In the Warriors half of the frame, Evanson launched a deep two-run home run to left field to trim the Cardinal lead to 10-9.
 
In the eighth inning, Winona State had a golden opportunity to tie the game up with a runner at third and one out after a sacrifice bunt by Plamann moved Geislinger from first to third with one out. However, back-to-back groundouts kept the Warriors off the board and Saint Mary's would eventually hold on to pull out the 10-9 victory.
 
Cazares led the Warrior bats, going 2-for-3 with a home run, four RBIs, and two runs scored, while Geislinger put together a three-hit game, going 3-for-3 with an RBI and two runs scored on the day. Plamann and Evanson each recorded two hits as well.
 
Winona State used seven different pitchers, with Dylan Frederick taking the loss in his first decision of the season. Frederick gave up three runs on a hit and two hit batsman while not recording an out.
 
The Warriors will return to NSIC conference play on Saturday, as they will travel to St. Paul to take on Concordia-St. Paul for a weekend doubleheader. First pitch will be at 1:30 p.m. at Barnes Field.