WINONA, Minn. – After a convincing 5-1 Winona State University victory in the first game of a doubleheader on Tuesday afternoon at Loughrey Field, the Warriors looked poised to sweep its midweek series from the fourth-place Wayne State Wildcats. However, a premature exit by WSU's Caleb Schoenholz in the finale stunted the home team's momentum as the Wildcats took the second game, 10-0.
Schoenholz faced just one batter in the nightcap, exiting with an injury, before the bullpen took over unexpectedly early and was unable to contain the Wayne State offense. Justin Firpo (1-1) suffered the loss as four Warrior relievers were tagged with 10 runs on nine hits while issuing eight walks in game two.
Aaron Mutter (3-2) rebounded from a tough-luck loss at UMary last week to prevail in the opener with the win. The junior right-hander allowed just one run on six hits over 6.0 IP while striking out three batters in the victory. Mutter has given the Warriors four straight quality starts on the mound.
Winona State opened the scoring in game one by taking advantage of a leadoff walk by Zac Stange to open the third inning. Stange advanced to third base on a single by Derek Martin. Tanner Williams followed with a fielder's choice that chased Stange home as the sophomore avoided the catcher's tag for the first run of the day.
The Warriors added three more runs in the frame, while chasing the Wildcat starter early, on a Sam Kohnle RBI-double, a Wayne State error, and a sac fly by Andrew Pliner.
Pliner finished the game with a pair of RBI.
On the mound, Mutter cruised through the first four innings scattering just four hits. His only blemish came in the fifth inning on an RBI-double by the Wildcats. The junior proceeded to work himself out of a two-out bases loaded jam to snuff out any continued Wildcat rally.
WSU added another run for good measure in the bottom half of the fifth, stringing together three two-out singles by Austin Savary, Chad Herbst and Pliner to secure the victory, 5-1.
Wayne State's bats came alive in the finale against the WSU bullpen to produce a run-ruled victory in seven innings.
Firpo came in and shut the door on the Wildcats in the first after Shoenholz surrendered a leadoff double before exiting the game. The freshman gave WSU a strong effort on short-notice and allowed just three runs on five hits over 3.0 IP, but the Warrior bats fell silent as the bullpen continued to be taxed in the tilt.
Levi Schaller, Jacob Watzka, Parker Holmstrom and Jacob Huebsch threw an inning apiece to complete the final four innings. Schaller surrendered a three-run homer to the Wildcats' Bryce Bisenius after allowing the first two batters of the fourth inning to reach. Watzka allowed another trio of runs in his inning of work while walking five batters as Wayne State's lead swelled to 9-0 after five frames. Holmstrom pitched a scoreless sixth before Huebsch surrendered the final run of the affair in the seventh inning.
Offensively, Winona State was held to just three hits over seven innings of play in the game two loss. Chad Herbst's leadoff double in the fifth stood as the Warriors' best scoring chance before Winona State ultimately suffered just its second shutout of the season.
Winona State ends the day with a record of 16-15 (9-10 NSIC) while Wayne State holds at 28-10 (19-6 NSIC).
The Warriors hit the road this weekend for a three-game trip face the defending NCAA DII National Champions, Augustana University, on April 19-20.
