BRANDON, S.D. – The Winona State University baseball team found itself playing against both Minot State University and Mother Nature on Wednesday, May 11, as the Warriors began their pursuit of a 2022 NSIC Baseball Tournament title in Brandon, S.D.
A combination of lightning and rain delayed the contest for more than five hours, halting what had been a back-and-forth affair throughout the first seven innings. When the sky cleared and the teams returned to the field, Winona State leveraged an offense that produced five home runs to beat Minot State, 8-7.
Winona State (17-21) took an early lead over Minot State (26-22) in the contest, scoring one run in the top of the first inning, a pattern they would repeat for the first five frames, scoring a single run every inning until the sixth.
Joshua Hawksford scored the first WSU run of the day, earning a walk and reaching third on an Austin Beyer double to left center. Carter Brinkman earned an RBI on a sacrifice fly to right field, getting Hawksford home and the Warriors on the board early.
Cooper Kapanke took a more direct approach in the second inning, belting a solo home run to right, notching his 11th homer and extending his hitting streak to seven games. Beyer followed suit in the third, also hitting a solo homer to move the Warrior advantage to 3-0.
In the fourth, Winona State looked poised to break the game open after Kapanke walked to open the inning, followed quickly by a Mason Trocke single. Another walk, this time to Nick Herbst, led to the bases loaded and no outs, a development that resulted in Trevyn Badger replacing Ricky Apodoaca on the Beaver mound.
Carter Brinkman then drew a free pass from Badger, earning an RBI with Kapanke scoring. However, WSU was unable to capitalize any further and settled for the lone score.
Derek Baumgartner joined the Winona State home run brigade in the fifth, hitting a solo home run to lead off the inning. For Baumgartner, it was his eighth homer of the season and his 26th RBI.
Minot State responded to the 5-2 WSU lead by scoring one run in the fifth and three in the seventh to take a 6-5 lead after seven. The Warriors wasted little time in offering a response of their own, as Cooper Kapanke connected on his second home run of the evening, and team-leading 10th of the season, to draw the teams level at 6-6.
Winona State looked set for a big inning after Kapanke's second home run, as Mason Trocke reached on an error and Nick Herbst earned his second walk of the afternoon. Unfortunately, lightning then halted play, followed by heavy rain.
When play resumed at 7:55 p.m., Minot State sent RJ Martinez, normally a starter for the Beavers, on to pitch in relief, inheriting one out and two Warrior runners on base. The move appeared to pay off, as Martinez stuck out a pair of Warrior batters end the potential WSU rally.
Winona State's Justin Firpo came on in the bottom of the eighth inning, making his 16th appearance. Minot State's Kellen Peat hit a leadoff single to left field and subsequently stole second. After a strikeout, a wild pitch put Peet on third and he scored moments later on a sacrifice fly to right field. The run put Minot State up 7-6, their first lead of the ball game. Firpo finished the inning by producing a fly ball to shallow right from MSU's Matt Malone.
In the top of the ninth and down to their final at bats, Dane Weiland stepped in and delivered a two-run home run, scoring Carter Brinkman who walked to start the frame.
Weiland's home run drew a protest from the Minot State dugout, leading to a review of the play to determine as to whether a base running error had occurred, as Brinkman had to hold at first waiting to be sure Weiland's long fly ball cleared the right field fence. The ruling on the field stood, leading to a Winona State 8-7 lead and a raucous Warrior dugout.
Firpo returned to the hill for the bottom of the ninth, walking the leadoff batter. The senior from Burnsville, Minn. struck out the next MSU batter for the first out of the inning, but MSU drew a second walk of the frame, putting Beavers on first and second. Firpo then battled back from a 3-0 count to get the second out of the inning on a pop up to shortstop. Then, facing MSU pinch-hitter Carter Paine, Firpo earned the strikeout swinging, claiming the victory and running his record to 4-1 on the year.
Nicolas Herold was the starting pitcher for Winona State and put together an impressive six innings, striking out 11 Beavers while walking just four, leaving the game with his side up 5-3. Caleb Strack took over just before the weather delay, taking the mound in the seventh to face MSU, conceding three runs on three hits and striking out two. Firpo's final stat line was two innings pitched with three strikeouts, two walks and one earned run allowed.
At the plate, Winona State was led by Kapanke with two home runs on a 2-for-4 outing, while Austin Beyer was 2-for-5 with an RBI. Beyer and Kapanke joined Derek Baumgartner and Weiland with home runs and Beyer had a double as well.
Winona State will move on to face Augustana University (42-8-1), as the Vikings beat the University of Mary 19-2 in their day one match up with the Marauders. Winona State and Augustana will play at 4 p.m. on Thursday, May 12 at First National Bank Field in Brandon, South Dakota.
For the most up-to-date information on the 2022 NSIC Baseball Tournament, head to this link.
