With Winona State's Loughrey Field unplayable this weekend, the Warriors have moved their conference opener to La Crosse, Wisconsin at Copeland Park. The Warriors enter conference play with a 1-6 overall record, defeating Rogers State on their most recent road trip to Springfield, Missouri.
Minot State is 2-8 on the year thus far, having most recently been swept by the University of Nebraska at Kearney in a four-game series.
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A LOOK BACK: Last season, Winona State finished 10th in the NSIC with a 17-33 (17- 23 NSIC) record. The Warriors started out 0-9 and then rebounded with three straight wins to kick o conference play against Minnesota Crookston. Winona State would only win one other series the remainder of the year. Aside from the sub-par season, the Warriors ashed some leather on the diamond as they finished fourth in the conference in fielding percentage (.965).
SCOUTING THE BEAVERS: Minot State has lost ve of their last six games in the early portion of the 2018 schedule. The Beavers latest victory came against Concordia-St. Paul at U.S. Bank Stadium on March 5th. Redshirt freshman Zack Kunkel has posted
a .286 batting average so far this season. He went 5-for-13 this past weekend against Nebraska-Kearney. The Beavers best arm so far this season is Justin Demary who is posting a .434 ERA and leads the team in strike outs (11) with fellow starter Andres Hackman.
RETURNING WARRIORS: The Warriors most consistent bat last season, Sam Kohnle, is back in the lineup this season. Kohnle led the team with a .382 batting average last season which was 10th best in the conference. He also sat atop the NSIC's list for fewest strikeouts (6). Aaron Mutter appeared in 12 games for the Warriors last season and made six starts. In those appearances, Mutter collected a 3-5 record over 40.0 innings pitched, striking out 23 batters. Reliever Parker Holmstrom finished last season appearing in 16 games boasting a 3.06 ERA collecting three of the teams four total saves.
PRESEASON RANKINGS: Winona State has been picked to finish 10th in the 2018 NSIC baseball preseason coaches' poll after suffering their third straight 30-loss season. Sophomores Sam Kohnle and Aaron Mutter have been named "Players to Watch" this season. Minnesota State was picked to finish atop the conference at sea- son's end collecting 14 rst place votes.
HOT OUT THE GATE: Despite the slow start in the win-loss column, the Warriors have done the opposite when it comes to scoring runs. Of the 27 runs scored by Winona State to this point, 20 of them have come in the rst ve innings of games.
