WINONA, Minn. - A perfect game pitched by
Peter Tveite paced the Winona State University baseball team to a doubleheader sweep of Bemidji State in the 2024 home opener for WSU on Thursday, March 21 at Loughrey Field.
Tveite - named the Warriors' Pitcher-to-Watch by the league in the 2024 NSIC Baseball Preseason Poll - was dialed in from the opening delivery of game one against the Beavers, and the senior from Lakeville, Minn., rendered the BSU offense frozen across the seven-inning affair. Tveite's perfect game was just the second-ever in Winona State baseball history, with 2023 Hall of Fame inductee Lee Boettcher's May 17, 1972, 2-0 win over Concordia St. Paul standing as the first. WSU first fielded a baseball team in 1919.
Game 1: Winona State 12, Bemidji State 0 | Fans on hand to watch the 2024 home debut were given a glimpse of things to come in the first inning when Tveite struck out two of the first three Beavers he faced in the opening stanza. Tveite would go on to record two-strikeout innings in the fourth, sixth and seventh frames, befuddling Beaver batters across the seven inning affair. Tveite capped his memorable day with a strikeout of BSU's Zach Evenson, setting off a dugout blitz of Warrior teammates who rushed the field in celebration.
WSU provided strong offensive support in the contest, plating five runs in the bottom of the second to take a commanding lead early on.
Ryland Wall earned his way on board in the second after being hit by pitch, followed by a
Joshua Hawksford single and a pair of Warrior walks setting the table for the heart of the WSU lineup.
Kyle Yu and
Cole Fuecker added base hits in the second, with Fuecker's double down the right field line clearing the bases and providing head coach
Seth Wing's team a 5-0 lead.
The Warriors would go on to post a seven-run fifth inning, a rally fueled by four Warrior walks, a batter hit by a pitch and a
Ryland Wall double. With the 12-run advantage after five innings, the spotlight turned to Tveite across the final six Bemidji State outs. Tveite retired the side with a pair of Ks in the sixth and used bookend strikeouts sandwiched around a line-out to center field to close out his historic day on the mound.
Game 2: Winona State 11, Bemidji State 5 | With Warrior starter
Kole Hinrichsen given the unevienble task of following up a perfect game in game one, WSU used a solid five-inning outing by the senior from Washington, Iowa, to complete the sweep with an 11-5 victory.
Winona State led 5-0 after four innings but Bemidji State battled back to cut the deficit to 5-2 in the top of the fifth. However, an
Alex Berreth home run to start the bottom of the fifth inning gave Winona State a jump start in the back half of the nine-frame game, with the 6-2 scoreline providing cushion to WSU. The Warriors would go on to plate single runs in the sixth and seventh inning, as well as three more in the bottom of the eighth, to dispatch the Beavers in the 11-5 win.
WSU used a pitching by committee approach in the late innings of the nightcap with
Mason Beltrand and
Sawyer Hoffman combining for the final three innings; Beltrand and Hoffman had five strikeouts combined, while walking just one Beaver.
Winona State (7-13, 4-6 NSIC) is schedule to host Bemidji State (1-18, 0-9 NSIC) in a doubleheader on Friday, March 22, with a noon start. Fans, families and followers of Winona State baseball are encourage to monitor WSU social media for updates to the Friday schedule.
