Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 TUCSON, Ariz. – The Winona State University baseball team split the final two games in a four-game series against Minot State University at the Tucson invitational in Tucson, Ariz. WSU won the first contest 8-0 and lost the second contest 16-5.
After scoring six runs in the bottom of the third and winning the first contest 8-0, the Warriors fell short in the second contest to close out the four-game series against Minot State 1-3.
Game 1 | WSU 8, MISU 0:
Through the first two innings of the contest, both Winona State and Minot State remained scoreless, creating a pitching battle between
Boyd Skelley and Connor Hill. Going into the bottom of the third inning, WSU scored first on a double from
Max Pederson to left field, allowing
Kyle Yu to score off an error from the left fielder. Throughout the bottom of the third innings, the Warriors bats remained hot with singles from
Adam Wall,
Josh Hatano, and
Josh Gullickson. At the end of the third inning, the score was WSU 6, MISU 0. In the bottom of the following inning, Winona State would go on to increase the lead to eight on a double from
Cole Fuecker to the left fielder, allowing Pederson and
Payton Beyer to score. A strong pitching performance from Skelley and
Easton Arendt held the Beavers to no runs scored in the contest, bringing the final score to WSU 8, MISU 0.
Game 2 | WSU 5, MISU 16:
Starting game two, the Beavers started the contest scoring three runs in the top of the first on a double from Noah Madas, an RBI fielder's choice from Michael Williamson, and a catcher's interference allowing Jake Orthner to score. The Warriors would answer back in the bottom of the first with Fuecker stealing home. In the top of the second inning, Minot State added four more runs with singles from Madas, Javier Gutierrez, and Orthner. In the bottom of the second and third innings, Winona State would remain scoreless while leaving two runners on base. After the Beavers added four more runs in the top of the third and fourth innings, the Warriors made a push into the scoring deficient in the bottom of the fourth inning with
Jess Ondell reaching on a ground ball and
Alex Berreth scoring on an error from shortstop, Gullickson hitting a ground out RBI, and
Ben Hefel doubling to bring the score to MISU 11, WSU 4. In the top of the fifth inning, the Beavers would tack on five more runs with hits from Orthner, Jessen West, and Madas. The Warriors scored one run in the final inning of the contest with a walk from
Tyler Flis, allowing
Ethan Patterson to score. The final score at the end of the contest was MISU 16, WSU 5.
Individual Leaders:
- In game one, Pederson and Gullickson led the Warriors in batting average, each with 1.000. Gullickson led Winona State in total bases with four. Fuecker led the Warriors in quality at-bats with four. Skelley and Arendt led on the mound with three strikeouts each.
- In game two, Hefel and Patterson led the Warriors in batting average, each with 1.000. Hefel led Winona State in total bases with three. Berreth led the Warriors in quality at-bats with three. Brian Wrenn led on the mound with 34 total strikes.
Team Comparison:
- Winona State collected a total of 68 plate appearances, 19 hits, nine RBIs, and 13 runs.
- Minot State collected a total of 77 plate appearances, 25 hits, 16 RBIs, and 16 runs.
- WSU as a team batted .583 in game one and .227 in game two.
- MISU as a team batted .300 in game one and .515 in game two.
Winona State will play the final two contests of the Tucson Invitational against Macalester College on Monday, March 17th, at 11:00am MST and Augsburg University (MN) on Tuesday, March 18th, at 9:00am MST.
