OZARK, Mo. – Winona State University and Drury University began a four-game weekend series on Saturday afternoon by splitting the first of two doubleheaders slated at US Baseball Park. The Warriors won the opener, 6-1, before dropping a lopsided finale, 16-4.

Both Winona State and Drury own records of 3-2 after the split.

Aaron Mutter (2-0) was the Game 1 winner after allowing just one run over 7.0 IP. The senior scattered six Panther hits. Mutter has a 0.75 ERA after two starts this season while allowing just his first earned run in 12 innings on Saturday.

Justin Firpo pitched two scoreless innings to seal the WSU victory.

For the fourth straight ballgame, the Warriors came out swinging and tallied a first inning run. Zac Stange led off the tilt with a single and came around to score on a wild pitch.

The Panthers answered quickly with a run of their own in the bottom of the first before Mutter blanked them for the next six frames.

Stange broke the 1-1 deadlock in the top of the fifth with a two-out RBI-single to score Nick Herbst. The pitching held Drury in check for the remainder of the affair while the offense added five more runs over the final four innings.

Chad Herbst recorded an RBI-double in the sixth inning and Nick Nalewanski added a two-run single as pair of the three-run frame.

Winona State struck early again in Game 2 on a sac fly by C. Hebrst, but it was all Drury University from there. The Panthers scored three times in the bottom of the frame and pulled ahead 4-1 in the third inning before a nine-run fourth put the game out of reach.

Tanner Williams was 2-for-4 for a pair of doubles and two RBI for WSU in the finale. Mitchell Seager added an RBI-single in the seventh inning.

The Warriors and Panthers wrap up their weekend series with another doubleheader on Sunday afternoon beginning at 12 p.m.