Winona, Minn. -- The Winona State University baseball team is set to start the 2021 season with a pair of games at McKendree University this weekend, traveling to Lebanon, Illinois and forecasted 60-degree temperatures.
The Warriors, with 19th year head coach
Kyle Poock at the helm, will take on the Bearcats in two nine-inning games. First pitch is scheduled for noon on both Saturday Feb. 27 and Sunday Feb. 28. The two contests will be the first action for either side and the contests will be live streamed by McKendree, available
at this link.
Competing in the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC), McKendree was selected sixth in the league's preseason baseball poll. Before the season was halted last year, the Bearcats were 6-9 overall and 2-1 in GLVC action; the weekend series is the first time McKendree and Winona State have faced off in Poock's tenure.
Winona State, selected sixth in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference poll, will look for a strong start out of the game to start the 2021 campaign. WSU was 6-9 in 2020 before the season stopped on March 13.
The Warriors'
Kyle Gendron was tabbed as the WSU pitcher to watch by the NSIC, while
Zac Stange was picked as the player to watch for Winona State. Gendron pitched 21 innings in 2020, striking out 16 including a season-high eight against Wayne State on March 7. Stange hit .396 across 14 games last spring, racking up 21 hits in 53 at bats. His hit total included five doubles and three triples, and he drove in 12 RBI.
Winona State is scheduled to play five contests on the road over the next three weeks before kicking off the NSIC season with a March 20-21 series against Minnesota-Crookston at home on
Loughrey Field.
For the most up to date news in Warrior Athletics, please visit: www.WINONASTATEWARRIORS.com and @WinonaStateATH.
About Winona State University Athletics:
The Winona State University Department of Intercollegiate Athletics, as an integral part of the educational mission of the institution, is committed to offering opportunities to experience academic and athletic excellence for our student-athletes through two simple words: Graduate Champions.
Fourteen Warrior programs compete at the NCAA Division II level within the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC). Winona State University competes as an affiliate member of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) in the sport of women's gymnastics.
Media Contact: Pete Watkins, Director of Athletic Communications | Ph: 507.457.5577 | Email: pwatkins@winona.edu
