LIBERTY, Mo. – The Winona State University baseball team took the season-opening series against William Jewell, winning two of three games and scoring 25 runs along the way.
The Warriors earned an 8-5 victory in the season opener on Friday, then won 13-2 in the frontend of Saturday's doubleheader before losing the series finale 6-4.
Game One: WSU (8) – WJC (5)
Strong early pitching delivered a pair of scoreless innings to start the game before a William Jewell single plated the first run of the game in the bottom of the third.
Klayton Hawkins scored
Easton Arendt on a sacrifice fly in the fourth, then
Dylan Harer brought
Max Pederson in to score on a fielder's choice in the fifth to give WSU the 2-1 advantage through five innings.
William Jewell tallied three runs in the sixth to jump ahead, but WSU answered right back in the seventh, scoring six runs on four hits to take a commanding 8-4 lead. WJC tallied a run in the ninth but stranded two runners on base as the Warriors held on for an 8-5 win.
Jack Funke had two of WSU's six hits in the ballgame, while Hawkins drove in a pair of runs.
Hunter Guenther earned the start on the mound, going 6.0 innings and allowing four runs on five hits while striking out seven.
Sawyer Hoffman collected the victory after pitching the game's final three innings.
Game Two: WSU (13) – WJC (2)
It was all Winona State in the second game of the series as WSU scored seven runs in the first two innings to blow the game wide open. Hawkins' second-inning homer gave WSU a 7-0 lead and the Warriors never looked back. William Jewell tallied a pair of runs in the third before the Warriors scored another in the fourth and four more in the fifth. WSU added a final run in the seventh to pick up the 13-2 seven-inning victory.
Dylan Harer and Arendt each collected three hits during the game as three Warriors tallied multiple RBIs.
Peyton Lee went 3.0 innings to start the game and allowed just a pair of hits.
Mason Beltrand came in for the next three innings and gave up two runs on three hits, and
Logan LaPlante pitched the final inning for the Warriors.
Game Three: WJC (6) – WSU (4)
In the series finale, WSU struck first on a Funke RBI single to right followed by a Hawkins RBI singe to give WSU a 2-0 lead halfway through the first. William Jewell answered right back with a run in the first and another in the third to tie it up.
In the fifth inning, WSU regained the lead as
Adam Wall plated
Christian Varsho on a single up the middle. WJC answered with four runs in the bottom of the fifth to take a three-run lead. The Warriors rally in the seventh came up short, scoring just one run and stranding a pair of runners to take the 6-4 defeat.
Nathan Vela went 4.0 innings and allowed just one earned run while striking out six after making the start.
Boyd Skelley picked up the lost, giving up four unearned runs during the fifth inning.
Max Strecker,
Josh Hatano, Funke, and Arendt each tallied multi-hit games at the plate for WSU.
The Warriors will open NSIC play next weekend as they travel to Parkville, Mo. to compete against Minot State in a pair of doubleheaders.
