LA CROSSE, Wis. – Winona State University took the field on a sunny afternoon at Copeland Park looking to salvage a series split with Minot State University after dropping a twinbill on Saturday to the Beavers. The Warriors took care of business in the opener on Sunday with a 7-5 triumph and looked for a doubleheader sweep of their own, but Minot State rallied from a big deficit late as they did the day before to steal the finale, 9-5.
It was an inauspicious start for the Winona in game one as Minot's Kyle Williamson launched the first pitch of the ballgame out of the yard for a leadoff solo homer. Dillon Whittaker got past the early speedbump and proceeded to retire the next three batters he faced to end the inning.
In the bottom half of the first, the Warriors loaded the bases with one out. Taylor Field cleared the bases with an opposite-field single which resulted in a Beaver error that allowed Field to scamper all the way to third base. All three runners scored on the play to give WSU a 3-1 advantage. Later in the inning, Field crossed the plate on an RBI-single by Kipp Youngquist to stretch the lead to 4-1.
Minot State got a run back in the top of the third which prompted an answer by the Warriors in the bottom of the frame. Chad Herbst stepped to the plate with one runner aboard and turned around a pitch for a towering two-run homer to left field that padded Winona's lead to 6-2.
The Beavers continued to chip away at their deficit, as they did all weekend long, and cut the Warrior advantage to 6-5 after five and a half innings of play.
Derek Martin added a big insurance in the bottom of the sixth for Winona State with a solo home run that bounced off the top of the wall in left field to make it a two-run contest.
Nicolas Herold recorded the final four outs on the mound for Winona to notch his first save of the season in the Warriors' 7-5 win. Whittaker (1-0) earned his first win of the year with a six-strikeout performance. The freshman allowed five runs on eight hits over 5.2 IP.
With a weekend split in sight, the Warriors plated the first run of the finale. Martin's RBI-single broke the scoring seal on game two, and Winona continued to knock around the Beaver starter with four runs in the fourth frame.
Herbst, Martin, Zac Stange and Nick Nalewanski each drove in runs in the fourth inning as the Winona State lead stood at 5-0 early in the game.
Consequently, that's when the Warrior bats went cold as the home team only recorded three hits over the final five frames while striking out seven times.
Minot State continued to show its resiliency by slashing the Winona State lead to 5-4 after seven innings.
With no margin for error heading into the top of the ninth with a one-run lead, the Warriors saw the Beavers load the bases with no outs. A pair of infield singles followed by a walk opened the ninth. After a strikeout, Herold, appearing again in relief, walked in the tying run. It was then saw déjà vu for Winona State as Darrel Doll uncorked a go-ahead grand slam for the Beavers. In total, Minot scored nine unanswered runs to close the game and claim the series win.
Herold (0-1) suffered the loss after he appeared to simply run out of gas in his second relief outing of the afternoon. The freshman right-hander allowed five runs on three hits over 1.2 IP. Herold retired the first four batters he faced when entering the game in the seventh inning, including a strikeout of Doll.
Winona State (2-9, 1-3 NSIC) will look to bounce back on its home field next weekend in a four-game series against Sioux Falls scheduled to begin Saturday at 1:30 p.m.
