FAYETTE, Iowa - The Winona State University baseball team opened up their three-game NSIC series against Upper Iowa University on Saturday, April 29, facing the Peacocks for the final time in Fayette in league action.
The doubleheader between UIU and WSU saw Winona State score first in both contests but had the Peacocks deal the Warriors losses on the day; UIU claimed game one 9-4 and the nightcap 9-8 in 11 innings.
Upper Iowa 9, Winona State 4
In the opener, WSU scored first but Upper Iowa answered with a two-run effort of their own, and pulled away to deal Winona State a 9-4 loss.
Cooper Kapanke drove in the first run of the game with a sacrifice fly in the opening inning to score
Mason Trocke and
Derek Baumgartner hit a solo homer in the third frame to knot the two teams at 2-2 early on.
However, Upper Iowa would go on to score the next seven runs in the ballgame, taking a commanding 9-2 lead after five innings. WSU was able to pull two runs back on a
Josh Gullickson single that scored Kapanke in the sixth inning and
Carter Brinkman followed suit with a RBI single to score
Joshua Hawksford moments later. In the end, WSU's brief comeback effort was stalled and the Peacocks would post a 9-4 victory in the opener.
Derek Baumgartner finished the game with a double and home run in a 2-for-4 effort at the plate, while
Steele Beatty and
Josh Gullickson both finished the contest with a pair of hits. On the mound, WSU's
Peyton Lee had the start and took the loss, throwing five innings, striking out three.
Boyd Skelley had one inning of work in relief, holding UIU scoreless and conceding one hit.
Upper Iowa's Jarrett Ramer threw a complete-game effort, striking out six Warriors and allowing four runs, all earned. UIU scored nine times on 13 hits and did not concede an error. Winona State had four runs on 11 hits and suffered three miscues.
Upper Iowa 9, Winona State 8 (11-innings)
In the nightcap at Robertson Woods Field, Winona State had the hosts tie things up late and force extra innings, with the Warriors eventually losing 9-8.
As in the first game, WSU got on the board first, with a
Joshua Hawksford double scoring
Steele Beatty and
Cooper Kapanke. Upper Iowa offered a four-run response across the fifth and sixth innings, taking a 6-2 lead into the seventh frame.
In the top of the seventh, the Warriors would battle back, leveling the score at 6-6 with a 4-run seventh inning. When the Warriors added two more runs in the top of the ninth, WSU look poised to claim a split of the doubleheader on the day, but the host Peacocks had other plans.
UIU hit a home run in the bottom of the ninth with a runner aboard to tie the contest at 8-8 and force extra innings. In the 11th, after a pair of scoreless Warrior innings, Upper Iowa plated the winning run on a squeeze play for the walk-off win, 9-8.
Offensively, WSU was led by
Derek Baumgartner who went 2-for-4 and had a pair of walks, while
Mason Trocke was 2-for-5 with two RBI.
Nick Herbst added a stolen base to the Warrior effort.
On the mound, Winona State received five innings each from
Drew Lingen and
Peter Tveite, as the pair of Warrior teammates combined to strikeout 11 Peacocks.
Davis Zeutzius entered the game in the 11th and was tagged with the loss. Overall, WSU had eight runs on eight hits and committed four errors.
Winona State (20-23, 16-12 NSIC) will close out the three-game series tomorrow when they play a single, 9-inning game versus UIU on Sunday, April 30. The Warriors and Peacocks are set for a 2 p.m. first pitch in Fayette.
