CLERMONT, Fla. – No. 19 Winona State University picked up a pair of signature wins on Sunday by knocking off No. 13 Southern Indiana, 9-6, and No. 1 Minnesota State Mankato, 8-5. The victory over Mankato marks the first time in head coach Greg Jones' successful tenure the Warriors have defeated the top-ranked team in the country.
Winona State overcame a 4-1 deficit against Mankato and some shaky defense in a game that saw a combined nine errors which led to eight total unearned runs crossing the plate.
Playing as the home team, the Warriors scored first with an unearned run in the bottom of the first inning. After being held to just one hit over the first two frames, the Mavericks took a 4-1 lead in the top of the third aided by three Winona errors that yielded a pair of unearned runs.
Lani Van Zyl's fourth home run of the season cut the Warrior deficit to 4-2 in the bottom of the third. The junior went 3-for-4 with a pair of extra-base hits in the contest, extending her hitting streak to 10 straight games while raising her batting average to .439. Van Zyl drove in her second run of the game in the fifth frame as Winona pushed across two more unearned runs to knot the score at 4-4.
A Maverick homer in the top of the sixth gave Mankato a one-run lead once again before the Warriors pulled away in the bottom half of the inning.
Mariah Schultz walked to lead off the bottom of the sixth and came around to score the tying run on a Kaitlin Kolb sac fly. Two batters later, Carly Kordich singled and Van Zyl roped a two-run double to left field. McKenna Larsen capped the inning with an RBI-double to pad the Warrior lead to 8-5.
On the mound, Larsen (4-2) tossed her fourth complete game of the season in the winning effort. The senior southpaw allowed five runs (three earned) on five hits over 7.0 IP while striking out three batters.
Van Zyl got her huge day at the plate started with a two-run long ball in the first inning against Southern Indiana. The Eagles took a brief 3-2 lead in the bottom half of the first before the Warrior bats exploded for five runs in the second frame.
Jamee Schleis and Paige Keegan connected on back-to-back doubles to lead off the second inning for WSU. After a double-play, Kolb's RBI-single sparked the Warriors' two-out rally and tied the game. Alison Nowak followed with a two-run single, and Rylee Stout and Ann Smolenski each added run-scoring singles before the five-run frame came to an end.
Kolb drove in her second run of the ballgame as two more Warriors crossed the plate in the fifth inning.
Jordyn Kleman (3-0) went the distance in the pitching circle while striking out a season-high seven batters.
Winona State (11-2) continues play at The Spring Games Tournament with two more games on Monday.
