WINONA, Minn. – Following a week off from competition, Winona State is rested and ready to hit the field against the Wayne State Wildcats. The Warriors and Wildcats will open a doubleheader on Tuesday afternoon with first pitch set for 1:30 p.m.

The Warriors look forward to playing as the official home team on the scoreboard at Loughrey Field for the first time this season after playing as the visitors on their home turf for a handful of site reversals earlier this month. Winona State was swept its last time out at UMary last Tuesday and looks to bounce back against the Wildcats in a pivotal NSIC matchup entering the final three weeks of the regular season.

Live stats and streaming video of the doubleheader will be available.

Notes
 
SCOUTING THE WILDCATS:Wayne State (27-9, 18-5 NSIC) enters Tuesday's matchup with the Warriors on a four-game winning streak, most recently completing a three-game weekend sweep of Sioux Falls. The Wildcats display some impressive power at the plate, leading the NSIC in home runs (36). WSC's Kyle Thompson has seven of those long balls and leads Wayne State with a .388 average at the plate. On the mound, the Wildcats are led by Hunter Wienhoff (8-1) who sports an impressive 1.88 ERA with 56 strikeouts over 60.0 IP. 
 
NO SOPHOMORE SLUMP:  Third baseman Tanner Williams has shown he belongs in the Warrior lineup in his second year in a Warrior uniform. After primarily occupying the designated hitter spot during his freshman campaign, Williams found himself at the "hot corner" to start 2019 and his offensive production has been just that this season – hot. Williams has nearly met or already exceeded most of his offensive numbers from last year and enters play with a .327 batting average and 37 hits, including five doubles, one triple and four homers. The sophomore's 18 RBI rank second on the team, just one off the pace set by Derek Martin (19). 
 
PLATE DISCIPLINE: Despite the recent decline in offensive production, the Warriors still have a keen eye for the strike zone. Sam Kohnle continues to be one of the toughest batters in the country to strike out as the redshirt junior has gone down on strikes just three times this season – a mark that is second in all of Division II. Winona State continues to hold the top spot in the NSIC for fewest strikeouts (187) and has drawn 112 walks on the year. Two weekends ago, the Warriors drew a season-high 12 walks against Minnesota Duluth in Sunday's 8-1 victory that earned them a series split. 
 
ARMS A PLENTY: The Warrior pitching rotation has plenty of velo to go around with Aaron Mutter and freshman Kyle Gendron at the forefront. Mutter (2-2) has given WSU three straight solid starts against SMSU, Bemidji State and UMary, pitching six innings in each outing. Mutter earned wins against SMSU and BSU before the junior was saddled with a loss against UMary in a game the Warrior bats managed just three hits of offensive support. Gendron has a 3.48 ERA and a .252 opponent batting average this year. Dillon Whittaker has emerged as the workhorse of the staff, leading the team in strikeouts (40) while posting a 6.7 strikeout/walk ratio – a mark that is 19th in the country. Caleb Schoenholz has issued just eight walks while striking out 19 batters over 31.0 IP. As a staff, the Warriors have surrendered just 74 walks which is second-lowest in the conference and their 2.89 walks/9-innings ranks ninth in the nation.
 
CALL TO THE 'PEN: The Warriors have had a lock down bullpen through the first half of the season. The trio of Jacob Watzka, Parker Holmstrom and Nicolas Herold have been lights out when called upon in the late innings, helping WSU to an 12-0 record when leading after the sixth. Watzka continues to pitch effectively for the Warriors in his senior campaign, giving up just two runs on three hits over his last six appearances. Holmstrom remains solid on the mound for the Warriors posting a 3.97 ERA, refusing to give up a run in his last three innings of work while striking out six. Herold has continued to dominate opposing batters in the closer role with a minuscule 0.61 ERA. The sophomore is tied for second in the conference in saves (6) holding opposing batters to a .109 average while striking out 24 in 14.2 IP.
 
SURE-HANDED D: Despite the recent influx of errors by the defense over the past few weeks, Winona States' defense is much improved this season as the team ranks fifth in the conference in fielding percentage (.970). The Warriors have committed an NSIC-low 29 errors to this point in the season which is 10 less than the team had at this point last year (39).