WINONA, Minn. - The Winona State University baseball team heads west this weekend to take on the University of Sioux Falls Cougars in a key three-game series which will have significant impact on the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) baseball postseason picture.
The Warriors, currently 20-12 on the season and 17-10 in NSIC play, will face a USF side that owns a 17-15 record and is 12-15 in the Northern Sun. Heading into the weekend, WSU is fifth in the conference, while Sioux Falls is eighth. The top eight programs at the end of the regular season will advance to the NSIC Baseball Championship Tournament, with first round games on May 13-14 and a four-team double elimination tournament hosted by Augustana University on May 19-21.
Winona State swept Upper Iowa on Wednesday, winning a pitcher's duel in the opener 2-0 on the strength of a
Bailey Banaszynski complete game shutout, and then took the nightcap, winning comfortably 8-1 over the Peacocks as the WSU lineup racked up 13 hits, two home runs and forced UIU to use five pitchers in the game.
The University of Sioux Falls also has momentum behind them, having won five straight and nine of their last 11 ballgames. The Cougars have an important last three series on their remaining schedule, with the weekend's three games against WSU followed by a mid-week doubleheader against nationally ranked and league-leading Minnesota State - Mankato looming on the horizon. USF is set to wrap up the regular season with a three-game road trip to face Concordia - St. Paul on May 7-8.
On the mound:
USF's Alex Krout leads the Cougar staff with four wins on the season, while Matt Graham and Andrew Masloski have three victories apiece. Not just a starter, Krout has come out of the bullpen to earn four saves, while Payton Livingson has three. Graham leads Sioux Falls in terms of workload, having pitched 53 innings this year.
Bailey Banaszynski's five wins on the year have him tied for second in the league with two other top hurlers, while
Nicolas Herold leads the league in total appearances with 17, all of which were relief efforts. Key to the recent success of Winona State has been the setup work of their middle-inning relievers; freshman
Peter Tveite and sophomore
Mitchell Mueller have taken the hill in several games in April and held leads for the Warriors, before eventually giving way to Herold to close out the contest.
Austin Savary and
Justin Firpo both notched wins last week, while
Cameron Kramer is 3-0 on the year as well.
At the plate and on the run:
Tyler Cate is one of two Cougars hitting over .300 with more than 100 at-bats, and Cate leads his team in total hits (36) and runs scored (27). Grant Lung is hitting .306 on the year and has the most RBI's on the team (32) and is second on the team in stolen bases (10). His six doubles are tied for second-most in the squad. Ryan Bernardy has hit eight home runs this year, while Connor King has drawn the most walks (32) and, consequently, leads the team in runs scored with 30.
WSU's
Sam Kohnle continues his climb up the Winona State baseball record book, setting new high-water Warrior marks in singles as well as surpassing 200 hits earlier this year. He is also on pace to be the first .400 hitter for the season since
Ronnie Olson recorded a .409 campaign in 2008.
Derek Baumgartner leads the league in triples and is tied with
Nick Herbst with a team-best three home runs so far. Kohnle and Baumgartner are #1 and #2 in RBI's at 26 and 24 respectively;
Jake Brill and
Cooper Kapanke are both perfect in the stolen base department, with Brill 5-for-5 on the season and Kapanke 4-for-4.
Extra bases:
The last time USF and WSU faced off was April 28, 2019, when the Warriors beat the Cougars 6-4 in the cozy confines of Loughrey Field. Winona State has won six of the last eight matchups between the two programs.
Winona State standout
Sam Kohnle's .404 batting average is currently third-best in the NSIC, with only Joey Werner (MSU-Mankato) and Carter Howell (Augustana) boasting better numbers. Kohnle is tied for second in the league with ten doubles as well.
University of Sioux Falls head coach Grant Hieb is in his third season as the head coach of the USF program, after previously playing and serving as an assistant coach with the Cougars.
Winona State's
Kyle Poock is in his 19th year leading the WSU program, one of the longest tenured coaches in the league. Poock's current record is 472-398-2 (.542) since taking over in 2003; only Southwest Minnesota State's Paul Blanchard has had a longer NSIC tenure.
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.
