St. LOUIS - The Winona State University baseball team earned the first win of the
Seth Wing era on Sunday, March 5, outlasting the University of Missouri St. Louis to claim the first game of a doubleheader against the Tritons.
Finishing off a four-game series at UMSL ahead of the 2023 spring trip for the Warriors, WSU won game one 7-5 before falling 8-4 in the nightcap.
Winona State 7, UMSL 5
After falling behind 1-0 after the first inning, Winona State's
Mason Trocke made an impressive impact with his first home run of the season, sending a Brady Krile delivery over the fence in right field with the Warrior bases loaded to move WSU into a 4-1 advantage early on.
Although the host Tritons carved away at the Warrior lead with a pair of runs in the fifth frame,
Cooper Kapanke and
Dane Weiland drove in back-to-back runs for Winona State to stretch the WSU lead to 6-3 in the sixth.
Sean Menzel then scored on a Triton wild pitch to complete the Warrior offense on the day.
UMSL scored one run in both the bottom of the sixth and seventh innings, but the Triton effort wasn't enough to close the gap as Winona State held on to earn the 7-5 victory.
On the mound, Winona State's
Justin Firpo went five innings for the win, with WSU's
Easton Zempel earning the save after coming on in the sixth. Trocke contributed both his grand slam and a double to the Warrior win, with
Sean Menzel's double accounting for the other Warrior extra-base hit.
UMSL 8, Winona State 4
A fifth inning to forget was the difference in the fourth and final game of the Winona State - UMSL series, as the Tritons defeated the Warriors, 8-4 at Lindenwood University in St. Louis.
WSU had battled back to tie the game at 2-2 in the top of the fifth inning before UMSL would go on to score six runs in the bottom of the same frame to claim a 8-2 advantage in the game and secure a 3-1 series sweep over Winona State.
Although WSU would plate a run in both the sixth and eighth inning, UMSL would hold on to beat Winona State 8-4 to conclude the series between the two teams.
UMSL stole eight bases in the contest and took advantage of a pair of WSU wild pitches, as the hosts saw Winona State strand 13 baserunners.
Bailey Banaszynski and
Nathan Platter combined to throw the first 4 & 2/3s innings before yielding to a trio of WSU relievers. Overall, the WSU staff walked 10, struck out nine and conceded eight runs - five earned - in the loss.
Derek Baumgartner led the way for Winona State offensively, going 3-for-4 in the leadoff role, scoring a run and driving in a RBI. Baumgartner also drew a walk, as did
Kyle Yu in a 2-for-3 day at the plate.
Following the 1-3 series at the University of Missouri - St. Louis, Winona State will head to Florida for six games in four days on the 2023 WSU spring trip. The Warriors will open play in Florida wth a 12:30 p.m. EST start against West Virginia Wesleyan College on Wednesday, March 8.
