TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – Winona State (0-2) fell in both games to Northeastern State (4-2) to begin their 2017 season. Errors would cost the Warriors in game one, when three of the RiverHawks runs were unearned. The second game was a high scoring affair, with the Warriors falling 12-11.
GAME ONE
Winona State took an early 4-0 lead in the first game of the double header on Saturday. The scoring started in the top of the first when
Joe Kubera scored on an error by the right fielder. Another run would touch home when
Jesus Cazares singled down the line in left to drive in
Taylor Field.
Kubera made it 3-0 in the second inning after singling in
Derek Martin. The lead grew to four in the next inning when Martin drove in Cazares with a single to left. Northeastern State started the comeback in the bottom of the inning, putting one run on the board.
In the bottom of the fourth, the RiverHawks overtook the Warriors. The scoring started with a RBI double. Another double followed and the Warriors lead was just one. The RiverHawks would grab the lead as an error allowed two more runs to score in the inning.
Northeastern State tacked on a pair of runs in the sixth inning, one unearned, to extend their lead to 7-4. The Warriors tried to rally in the seventh, putting runners on first and second with two outs.
Mitchell Heid drove in Field, cutting the lead to two. Unfortunately, a fielder's choice on a grounder to third ended the threat and the game.
Mitchell Stalsberg struck out seven in three and third innings of work. Cazares finished game one with three hits, a run and a RBI. Martin had two hits in game one.
GAME TWO
Heid put the Warriors up 1-0 in the second inning, driving in
Nathan Krause with a sac fly to centerfield. The lead was erased in the bottom of the inning when the RiverHawk's Ridenour put a ball over the fence in left to put them up 3-1. Before the inning ended, the Warriors would trail 4-1.
The Warriors got a run back in the third when Kubera scored his second run of the day via a NSU error. The RiverHawks quickly answered with a sac fly in the bottom of the inning.
Two more unearned runs touched home in the top of the fourth, cutting the NSU lead to one. Regrettably, the RiverHawks would answer right back once more. A two-run homer to left field put them back in front by three.
Once again, a NSU error would allow the Warriors to get back on the board, and the Warriors trailed 7-5 after five. After a scoreless sixth inning, the seventh was one to remember.
Nathan Krause started the Warriors comeback with a RBI single up the middle. Heid would add a RBI single to right field and suddenly the two teams were even. The scoring wasn't done as Andrew Pilner doubled in Heid and Krause to give WSU a lead. Kubera would hit the Warriors first homer of the year, putting WSU up 11-7 after the top of the seventh.
Not to be outdone the RiverHawks had a homer and a three-run single in the bottom of the seventh, knotting the game at 11. Northeastern State nearly took the lead in the bottom of the eighth but a pop-up to second left three runners stranded on base.
After the Warriors went quietly in the ninth, the RiverHawks put a runner on with one out in the bottom of the ninth. The game ended when an error by the first baseman allowed the winning run to touch home.
Kubera and
Treyton Larson both collected three hits in the second game. Kubera and Heid combined to drive in six of the 11 Warrior runs.
The Warriors will look to get in the win column tomorrow afternoon when they wrap up the three game series against Northeastern State.
