Winona, Minn. - The Winona State University baseball team heads west this weekend, as they are set to face Southwest Minnesota State in a three-game series, starting Sunday, April 11. The two teams will play a 7-inning and a 9-inning doubleheader on Sunday starting at 3pm, followed up with a single 9-inning game on Monday at noon. The games were moved back a day from the original dates due to weather.
The Warriors (10-10 overall / 7-8 NSIC) will see SMSU (7-9 / 5-8 NSIC) and Legion Field in Marshall, Minn. as the two programs compete against each other for the first time since March 23, 2019, when Winona State beat the Mustangs 6-5 with some ninth-inning heroics from
Sam Kohnle, who doubled in the winning run in walk-off fashion.
On Sunday, Winona State will look to maintain the momentum from a 5-1 win over St. Cloud State on Tuesday, earning a split on the road after losing the opening game to the Huskies, 8-3. The Warriors received strong performances on the mound from starting pitcher
Cameron Kramer and reliever
Nicolas Herold, who combined to hold SCSU to just four hits and one run. Additionally, at the plate,
Tanner Williams went 3-for-5, scoring twice.
Nick Herbst and Joe Irhke both collected stolen bases on the day.
Southwest Minnesota State is in the midst of a two-game skid in NSIC action, having recently dropped a doubleheader to nationally ranked Minnesota State-Mankato, suffering 4-2 and 4-0 losses to the Mavericks.
WSU will hope to use the SMSU series to make up some ground in the NSIC Baseball standings; the Warriors are ninth in the league, just one game back of Upper Iowa at 8-7 with a little more than half of the conference schedule yet to play.
Hear more from head coach
Kyle Poock as he talks with
HBC sports director Justin Barrientos about the Warrior baseball season.
Most recently and notably:
After a long rain delay, Winona State won the nightcap in their most recent series at SCSU, 5-1 after dropping the first game, 8-3. Notably, the Warriors will play on the road in their third consecutive series when they take on the Mustangs
Southwest Minnesota State is 2-3 in their last five games, which included dropping a double-header to nationally-ranked Minnesota State on Tuesday.
On the mound:
The Warriors have five pitchers who have started three or more games for head coach
Kyle Poock, and the starting staff is led by
Kyle Gendron and
Dillon Whittaker who both have five games under their belts;
Bailey Banaszynski has started four times while
Cameron Kramer and
Austin Savary both have three starts.
The Mustangs are led in wins by Jake Wensmann and John Bezdicek, both of whom have two victories. Bezdicek has two complete games to his credit in three starts on the year.
Offensively:
Sam Kohnle, continues to lead the Warriors in batting average with a .389 mark heading into the weekend.
Derek Baumgartner is batting .333 and continues to hold the top team mark in home runs and triples at three apiece.
Tanner Williams and
Carter Brinkman are both above the .300 mark at .321 and .308, respectively. On the base paths,
Jake Brill is a perfect 4-for-4 in stolen base attempts on the year, followed by
Cooper Kapanke who is 3-for-3 in the same category.
SMSU is paced at the plate by led by Nathan Kuhn, with an impressive .464 batting average and five doubles. The only other Mustang above the .300 mark is Matt Bezdicek, who is hitting .327.
Extra innings:
Winona State has had one Warrior that accumulated four hits in a game;
Derek Martin went 4-for-6 against Minnesota Crookston on March 20 of this year and scored three runs in the game. The multi-hit mark is nothing new for Martin. On April 26, 2018, the Waconia High School product went 5-for-5 against Minnesota-Duluth.
The Mustangs have yet to accomplish a sweep of either a doubleheader or three-game series this season. Nathan Kuhn's .464 batting average is currently the second highest in the NSIC; only Carter Howell of Augustana has had more success so far in terms of batting average.
Game Day Resources:
Watch on the
NSIC Network
Follow along on
Live Stats
More Warrior info at the
Winona State Baseball page
Learn more about the Mustangs at the
SMSU Baseball page
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.
