BISMARCK, N.D. - The Winona State University baseball team qualified for the 2023 NSIC postseason following a weekend in which the Warriors outlasted the University of Sioux Falls to take two of three games from the Cougars and will carry that momentum to Bismarck, North Dakota, in search of the program's fourth-ever NSIC tournament title. WSU will begin its tournament run against Minnesota State on Wednesday, May 10.
Winona State (22-27 overall, 18-16 NSIC) split in their mid-week doubleheader at Minnesota State on Wednesday, April 26. Playing in Mankato, WSU fell to the Mavericks 4-3 in a one-run ballgame, a contest that saw the Warriors use a trio of pitchers -
Justin Firpo,
Davis Zeutzius, and
Peter Tveite - that held the home team to just seven hits overall. In the 5-3 game two Warrior win over Minnesota State, Winona State jumped in front early on through a solo home run by
Derek Baumgartner. Following a 3-run outburst in the seventh, Winona State closed out the contest with another home run, this time by
Cooper Kapanke, dealing the Mavericks a rare home loss.
WSU last won the NSIC tournament in 2007 and had captured the hardware twice earlier, winning the event in 2000 and 1998. The Warriors also won the Northern Intercollegiate Conference (NIC) tournament title in 1990. Winona State went 1-2 in the 2022 NSIC postseason, winning the opening contest against Minot State 8-7, before bowing out with setbacks against Augustana (12-4) and Minnesota Duluth (7-1).
As the seventh seed in the 2023 NSIC Baseball Tournament, Winona State will open play with a 6 p.m. evening start against the second-seeded. Minnesota State. Two ballparks, Veterans Memorial and Municipal Field, in Mandan and Bismarck, North Dakota, respectively, will host all tournament tilts. The 2023 NSIC Baseball Tournament is an eight-team double elimination tournament played over May 10-13 and is hosted by the University of Mary.
For more details on the 2023 NSIC Baseball Tournament, including ticket information and venue directions, please head
to this link.
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.
For the most up-to-date news in Warrior Athletics, please visit
www.WINONASTATEWARRIORS.com and
@WinonaStateATH.
