ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Warriors offense exploded for 20 runs in game one to earn an NSIC split with the Concordia-St. Paul Golden Bears.
WSU posted a season-high 20 runs in game one powered by a 10-run sixth inning en route to a 20-8 victory. Game two told a different story as Winona State was shut out 4-0 after only three hits in the loss.
Game One: WSU (20) – CSP (8)
Winona State got the bats going early with a five-spot in the first inning.
Easton Arendt was hit by a pitch followed by back-to-back walks drawn by
Dylan Harer and
Hunter Guenther, which loaded the bases with no outs.
Adam Wall hit a sacrifice fly to score Arendt, making it 1-0. In the next at-bat,
Jack Funke drilled a three-run moonshot giving WSU a 4-0 lead. Following a double by
Ethan Patterson,
Garrett Hietpas made it 5-0 on an RBI single scoring Patterson.
The Golden Bears tightened their deficit to 5-3 after a two-run home run in the first and a solo-shot in the second. After a scoreless inning from the Warriors, CSP scored one in the bottom of the third to make it a tight 5-4 edge for WSU.
The Warriors extended their narrow lead to 6-4 after an RBI double from Harer scored
Josh Hatano in the fourth inning. Concordia-St. Paul gained their run back in the bottom of the fourth, putting the contest at 6-5. In the top of the fifth, Arendt recorded an RBI on his second hit-by-pitch of the day, scoring
Christian Varsho to give WSU a 7-5 advantage.
Winona State blew the game open with 10 runs in the top of the sixth inning.
Boone Kirst, Patterson, Hietpas,
Hunter Guenther,
Adam Wall, and
Max Pederson all plated runners in the inning with Patterson recording four RBIs in the inning on two separate hits. In total, the Warriors sent 16 hitters to the plate, logged eight hits, and registered four walks, to make it 17-5 at the end of the inning.
WSU tacked on three more runs in the seventh with
Peyton Lee bashing an RBI double to score
Joe Fischer, to end the top half of the inning 20-5. The Golden Bears added three runs in the seventh to make it a final at 20-8.
Hietpas led WSU with four hits while Patterson added a team-best four RBIs on three hits. Funke and Pederson also recorded multi-hit games in the win. 10 different Warriors tallied hits in the offensive outburst.
Nathan Vela got the start on the mound, going 2.1 innings allowing four earned runs and four hits.
Carson Jones (1-0) earned the win, tossing 1.2 frames, giving up one unearned run on one hit.
Boyd Skelley (S, 1) tallied his first save of the season, pitching the final 3.0 innings.
Game Two: CSP (4) – WSU (0)
The nightcap was a completely different story as stellar pitching was on full display. Neither team registered a hit until the bottom of the third, but CSP was left scoreless after stranding two runners on base.
Kirst and Fischer had consecutive hits in the top of the fourth. After a walk by Patterson loaded the bases, Winona State struck out in their next two at-bats to keep the game knotted at 0-0. In the top of the fifth, Hietpas reached third base on one out but was unable to cross home plate.
Concordia-St. Paul jumped on the board in a big way after back-to-back home runs in the bottom of the sixth made it 2-0. CSP opened up their advantage to the final 4-0 after two insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth.
WSU was held to only three hits in game two after posting 17 in game one.
Wesley Johnson earned the start, tossing 3.0 scoreless innings.
Max Strecker (1-1) suffered the loss, going 2.0 innings, allowing two earned runs with five strikeouts.
Peyton Lee went 2.0 frames while Arendt pitched the final inning in the loss.
The Warriors (12-15, 7-7 NSIC) are scheduled to play Jamestown in a three-game series later this week.
