WINONA, Minn. – Winona State University suffered a pair of losses on Tuesday at Loughrey Field to Minnesota State Mankato. The Warriors served as the visiting team on their home field as Tuesday's twinbill was originally scheduled to be played in Mankato.
The Mavericks scored all of their runs in the first three innings of game one and held off a late Winona rally for a 7-4 win. Mankato then held the Warriors to just four hits in the finale while running away with a 15-2 victory.
Mankato came out swinging in the opener, tagging Winona State's Parker Holmstrom (0-3) for seven runs in his first start of the season which came to an end in the third frame. Jackson Stensgard came on in relief for the Warriors and didn't allow a hit over the final 3.2 IP while striking out five batters.
The Warriors finally got to Minnesota State hurler Dalton Roach in the fourth inning as Chad Herbst doubled home Tanner Williams who led off the inning with a single to left. Kipp Youngquist followed with an RBI-groundout to cut the Winona deficit to 7-2.
Taylor Field looked to spark a late comeback for the Warriors in the seventh inning with a two-run double, but it wasn't enough as Mankato held on for a 7-4 win.
Errors plagued the Warriors in the finale as a Derek Martin overthrow sparked a four-run Maverick third inning. Minnesota State followed that up with a three spot in the fourth, chasing starter Tanner Haessly (0-1) after 3.2 IP.
The Warriors would finally get on the board in the top of the sixth. With Zac Stange and Andrew Pliner on the corners, Sam Kohnle poked a single into center field scoring Stange and moving Pliner to third. Two batters later, Pliner scored on a passed ball to make the score, 7-2.
Nathan Santos came in to pitch the eighth inning and retired the first Maverick batter he faced. Minnesota State then proceeded to score eight runs on five hits, capped off by a pinch-hit grand slam to end the run-ruled game.
Haessly suffered his first loss of the season in game two. He gave up seven runs, but only two of them were earned due to two Winona State errors.
Winona State falls to 5-12 (4-6 NSIC) on the year after getting swept by Minnesota State (12-7, 7-3 NSIC).
The Warriors' four-game weekend series at Minnesota Crookston has also been rescheduled to play in Winona. The teams will play a doubleheader on Thursday beginning at 1:30 p.m. followed by two more games on Friday afternoon.
