Winona, Minn.- The Winona State University baseball team continued their winning ways on Wednesday, April 14 with two impressive starting pitching performances and an offensive onslaught that led to a pair of key NSIC victories.
Cameron Kramer threw a one-hit gem for head coach
Kyle Poock and was virtually untouchable at times against Minot State, leading the Warriors to a 12-1 opening game victory.
In the nightcap,
Bailey Banaszynski was equally as impressive in the starting role, going seven innings, allowing just three hits and two runs to the Beavers, leading to a 5-2 win.
Nicolas Herold earned the save in two full innings of work, striking out six Minot State batters.
Game One:
The opening seven-inning contest saw Winona State overwhelm the Beavers with both offensive firepower and tremendous pitching.
Carter Brinkman singled in
Austin Savary in the second inning and
Nick Herbst knocked in two more runs in the third, scoring
Derek Baumgartner and Brinkman on his first hit of the day to stake WSU a 3-0 advantage after just two frames. It was all the Warriors would need, as starting pitcher
Cameron Kramer crafted one of his best outings of the year and his second successive win, throwing no-hit baseball through the middle of the sixth inning.
WSU put the game out of reach by the fourth, hanging total of ten runs on the board as they took advantage of several MSU miscues and a
Nathan Loomis triple that cleared the bases, scoring Zack Stange,
Derek Baumgartner and
Austin Savary.
Herbst put an exclamation point on the Warrior win with a two-run home run to end the WSU outburst, scoring Loomis in the process. Minot State would score their only run of the game on a sacrifice fly in the sixth, when Ryley Humrighouse drove home Kaiden Cardoso.
While the Warriors were able to pile on the runs, Kramer kept the Beavers guessing all day at the plate, going five and two-thirds innings, earning eight strikeouts and walking four.
Peter Tveite took the hill for the final one and two-thirds innings and continued his composed control from earlier in the week, striking out two and closing out the game for Winona State.
Minot State catcher Martin Rodriquez hit a double in the sixth inning to spoil the no-hitter for Kramer, who moves to 3-0 on the year.
Game Two:
In game two, Minot State scored the first and the last runs of the game, but Winona State scored five runs in between those tallies, claiming the sweep 5-2.
Bailey Banaszynski worked his way out of a first-inning jam, with the help of a
Derek Baumgartner pick-off of Ryley Humrighouse, as the Warrior catcher caught the Beaver napping at second base and threw him out for the second out of the inning. The Warrior backstop also nabbed Declan Buckle in his stolen base attempt earlier in the inning, with both plays allowing WSU to exit the first down just 1-0.
By the third inning, Winona State had tied the game 1-1 when
Joe Ihrke scored after earning a walk and advancing on a
Carter Brinkman double.
Nick Herbst earned the RBI on the Ihrke tally.
The Winona State half of the fifth inning saw the Warriors score three runs, with a Loomis double, followed by Herbst single chasing Beaver pitcher Carson Tonini from the game. His replacement, Trevyn Badger, did not fare much better for the Beavers, as
Tanner Williams doubled in Herbst for a 4-1 scoreline.
Sam Kohnle completed the scoring for the Warriors in the seventh, with a double driving in
Derek Martin who had singled just moments before. Minot State responded with a solo home run in the bottom of the seventh, as Drew Behling tucked a long drive just inside the foul pole in right field.
Nicolas Herold took the mound in the eighth inning and closed out the game in impressive fashion, as he went on to strike out five of the six Beavers he faced over the next two frames. Herold's untouchable stuff to finish the game led to his fifth save of the year in 12 appearances for the Warriors, and allowed Banaszynski the win.
Winona State has won their last six ballgames and will hit the road to face Wayne State College on Wednesday, April 21 for a NSIC doubleheader. First pitch is set for 1:30pm.
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www.WINONASTATEWARRIORS.com and
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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.
