WINONA, Minn. – Winona State University baseball opens a six-game road stretch on Thursday with a doubleheader at the University of Minnesota Duluth. First pitch is set for 11 a.m. at Wade Stadium in Duluth. The games will be the Warriors' first true road games in three weeks.
Following Thursday's twinbill, the Warriors will travel to Concordia-St. Paul for a four-game weekend series. Saturday's doubleheader with the Golden Bears is slated for 1:30 p.m. with Sunday's action beginning at 12 p.m.
Both games of Thursday's doubleheader will have live stats and video stream available. Live stats will be provided for all four games at CSP with video stream provided on Sunday only.
The Warriors (14-15, 13-9 NSIC) enter the road trip sitting in fifth place in the conference standings. Duluth (15-20, 11-12) currently owns the eighth and final spot for the upcoming NSIC postseason just behind Concordia (15-11, 8-8 NSIC).
Winona State has been on an offensive tear as of late, outscoring its opponents over eight games in April, 68-35. The Warriors' team batting average has risen to .298 which ranks fourth in the NSIC. WSU ranks third in the league in OBP (.386). The Warriors are coming off a four-game series split with SMSU in which they recorded season highs in hits (19) and runs (18) in the finale.
Sophomore Sam Kohnle enters the Duluth series riding a 19-game streak of reaching base safely, and leads WSU in batting average (.383) and RBI (23). Senior Taylor Field has been red-hot as of late and ranks second on the team with a .342 batting average. Kohnle and Field are tied for the team lead with 11-multi hit games this season. Derek Martin leads the Warriors with six multi-RBI games. Chad Herbst has a team-best 10-game hitting streak enter Thursday's doubleheader.
Kipp Youngquist leads the team with nine doubles and Andrew Pliner has a team-high three home runs.
Freshmen Austin Savary and Dillon Whittaker each carry 4-0 records on the mound into the road trip. Savary owns a .262 ERA (10 ER/34.1 IP) and has a .237 opponent batting average which leads the Warrior starting rotation. Aaron Mutter (3-1) leads the starters with a 2.51 ERA (9 ER/32.1 IP) and three complete games. Caleb Schoenholz (1-2) has a 3.86 ERA (19 ER/44.1 IP) and a team-best 38 strikeouts.
SCOUTING DULUTH
The Bulldogs have lost six straight entering Thursday, having most recently been swept in a four-game series by No. 3 Augustana. Winona State leads the all-time series with Duluth, 81-50, including three of the last four meetings.
The Bulldogs rank 12th in the NSIC in team ERA (6.10), and are 13th in batting average (.246) and fielding percentage (.952). Tyler Midas leads Duluth in every offensive category, including batting average (.353), doubles (10), homers (4) and RBI (22). Marcus Frederickson (3-2) is the ace of the pitching staff, leading the Bulldogs in ERA (2.09), innings pitched (47.1) and strikeouts (44).
SCOUTING CSP
Concordia travels to Wayne State on Wednesday before hosting the Warriors over the weekend. Winona State leads the all-time series with CSP, 41-34. The teams split a four-game series last season.
Concordia's strength this season has been its pitching staff as the Golden Bears rank second in the NSIC in team ERA (3.11), total shutouts (10) and opponent batting average (.228). The Golden Bear pitchers have also benefitted from a defense that ranks third in the league in fielding percentage (.969). Offensively, the Golden Bears are fifth in batting average (.287).
Connor Trygstad leads the Golden Bears with a .407 batting average, five doubles and two homers this season. Drew Sannes (.386) has a team-best 15 RBI while Carter Schmidt is hitting at a .368 clip. The Golden Bears have two starters with ERA's under 1.00 this year: Louie Varland (0.62) and Gus Varland (0.71). G. Varland has a team-best 49 strikeouts over 38.0 IP. Zach Lauzon is third on the staff with a 2.08 ERA.
