WARRENSBURG, Mo. – Winona State University suffered a doubleheader sweep on opening day of the 2018 campaign at the University of Central Missouri on Saturday afternoon. The Warriors dropped the opener, 12-6, followed by a 12-2 setback in the finale.
It was an ideal start for the Warriors as they scored a pair of runs in their first at-bats of the season. An RBI-groundout by Sam Kohnle drove in the first run in the top of the first inning and Chad Herbst recorded the first hit of the game, making it 2-0 with an RBI-single.
The Mules answered by stringing together four hits, all two-out singles, in the bottom of the second frame to take a 3-2 lead.
The ballgame stayed at a one-run affair until the bottom of the fourth when Central Missouri hung a seven-run frame on the Warriors, chasing starter Brett Herber from the mound. The junior right-handed pitcher allowed seven runs (five earned) on 10 hits over. 3.1 IP in his season debut.
Trailing 12-2 in their final trip to the plate, the Warrior bats came back to life in the top of the seventh. Kohnle struck again with a two-run double and Taylor Field barreled a two-run homer to left-center field.
The heart of the Winona State lineup in Kohnle, Field and Herbst combined for all six Warrior RBI in the loss.
A nine-inning affair was schedule for the finale, but the Mule bats remained red hot in what ended as an eight-inning game due to the run rule. Central Missouri scored in six of the eight frames, putting an exclamation point on the doubleheader sweep with a four-run eighth inning.
Despite the lopsided outcome, it was the Warriors who once again scratched the plate first off the bat of Zac Stange's solo home run in the top of the first. However, that run would stand as Winona State's only tally until the seventh inning.
Central Missouri scattered 19 hits in the win, including nine for extra bases, and four long balls.
Derek Martin went 2-for-3 in the loss for Winona including an RBI-double in the seventh.
Caleb Schoenholz was charged with the loss on the mound after allowing five runs on nine hits over 5.0 IP.
The Warriors will look to salvage the series finale on Sunday afternoon with a 1 p.m. first pitch scheduled against Central Missouri.
