Winona, Minn. - The Winona State Warriors came into Tuesday's matchup with the University of Mary Marauders looking to extend their season high five-game winning streak to seven games. Unfortunately, WSU had to settle for a split, as they fell 9-3 in the opener before taking the second game 8-7.
With the split the Warriors move to 9-6 (6-4 NSIC) on the year while the Marauders move to 5-7 (3-4 NSIC).
Game 1
The Warriors opened up the scoring in the first inning as
Derek Baumgartner took advantage of a miscue by the center fielder to slide home and put WSU up 1-0 after one.
UMary had a big third inning, scoring five runs on six hits to take a 5-1 lead after three.
Winona State tried to come back in the bottom of the fourth by scoring two runs on RBI's from
Nick Herbst and
Carter Brinkman.
The Marauders tacked on four insurance runs in the bottom of the seventh to add to their lead.
WSU was held scoreless in the bottom of the seventh to fall by a final score of 9-3.
Herbst led the Warriors by going 2-for-3 with an RBI.
Bailey Banaszynski (2-1) took the loss for Winona State.
Game 2
Nick Herbst got things going right away in game two as he blasted a home run to left center to immediately put the Warriors on top 1-0.
Following a UMary home run in the second, WSU tacked on three more runs in the bottom of the third.
Nathan Loomis hit a big triple to center field then scored on a wild pitch immediately after. A few batters later Herbst would hit a SAC fly to score
Derek Baumgartner.
Tanner Williams closed out the inning for the Warriors by hitting an RBI single to score standout senior
Sam Kohnle.
After UMary came back to tie it at four apiece, Kohnle scored on a wild pitch in the fifth inning to give the Warriors a one-run lead.
Following another Marauder run in the seventh, Kohnle hit an RBI double to give WSU the lead in the eighth. Following a Williams walk,
Austin Savary came up big with a 2 RBI double down the right field line to give Winona State a three-run lead.
The Marauders scored two runs to make it interesting in the ninth, but
Justin Firpo struck out the final batter to give Winona State their ninth win of the season.
Kohnle led the Warriors at the plate by going 2-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored. Herbst and Savary each had two RBI's to their name.
Mitchell Mueller (1-0) walked away with his first win of the season, while Firpo picked up the save.
Winona State will be on the road this weekend as they travel to Northern State for a three-game road trip. A double-header will be played Friday with a single game being played Saturday. First pitch on both days is set for 11 a.m. in Aberdeen, S.D.
