SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – Winona State baseball concluded their 2026 season with a high-scoring 11-9 loss to the University of Mary.
After falling behind 8-3, Winona State's
Adam Wall drilled a three-run homer to bring the Warriors within two runs.
Dylan Harer tied the game at 9-9 with an RBI double, but two runs from the Marauders in the bottom of the eighth were enough to fend off the Winona State comeback.
UMARY (11) – WSU (9)
Harer recorded a one-out hit and later swiped second base.
Jack Funke gave WSU a 1-0 lead on an RBI single, plating Harer in the first frame. UMary responded with two runs in the bottom of the first giving them a 2-1 edge.
Back-to-back one-out singles by
Garrett Hietpas and
Josh Hatano unfortunately did not lead to any runs in the second inning. UMary added a run in the second to make it 3-1.
Klayton Hawkins tied the game 3-3 with a two-run blast in the third inning. The Marauders charged back with a five-spot in the bottom of the third, putting the Marauders ahead 8-3. A two-out three-run moonshot from Wall brought Winona State within two runs at 8-6. The University of Mary gained a run back to make it 9-6 after four innings.
In the top of the fifth, after an
Ethan Patterson single and a
Max Pederson walk, Hietpas doubled, cutting the deficit to 9-7. Hatano made it a one-run game at 9-8 when he tallied an RBI groundout.
The game went without scoring until the Warriors came back and knotted the game at 9-9 in the top of the eighth, when Harer knocked in Hatano on a double. UMary took advantage of a Warriors error and two hits, giving them an 11-9 advantage, heading into the ninth. Funke started the ninth inning off with a double, but three straight outs from WSU ended their comeback bid.
Harer led Winona State with three hits while Funke, Hawkins, and Hietpas all had two hits apiece. Wall tallied a team-high three RBI in the loss.
Carson Jones earned the start, pitching one inning while allowing two earned runs.
Ryan Buchta (1-3) suffered the loss, tossing 4.2 innings, giving up three hits and two earned runs while fanning three.
Winona State (27-26, 20-16 NSIC) finishes the season tied for the most wins since 2014 when the Warriors went 27-22.
