WINONA, Minn. – Despite scoring the opening run in both games, big blats and big innings capsized the University of Mary in the Marauders search for their first Northern Sun baseball win of the season. Winona State University recorded four home runs and four multi-run innings to none for U-Mary and the Warriors swept the Marauders 5-1 and 13-3.
McKeon Meyhoff tossed his first complete game of the season and fourth of his career but two innings proved to be his downfall in the Marauders 5-1 opening game loss. In six innings the junior lefty struck out six, walked one and allowed 10 hits and five runs.
Andrew Beyer led off the game with a walk and scored on a two-out single to right by
Will Pettener for a 1-0 U-Mary lead.
The Marauders advantage evaporated two hitters into the Warriors lineup. Michael Hommes led off with a singled and scored on a double by Andrew Geislinger. After a strikeout, Travis Evanson cracked a 2-run homer to right. The game-winning hit provided a 3-1 lead for WSU.
Meyhoff then settled down, retiring nine straight hitters. Winona State next touched him in the fourth inning with back to back doubles and two runs scored.
Offensively the Marauders struggled.
Ben Hildestad reached second on an error and a stolen base in the fifth, the first U-Mary runner to move into scoring position since the opening inning. The Marauders also had runners reach second in the sixth and seventh but no further.
Beyer paced the Marauders with a single, a walk and a run scored. In all U-Mary totaled four hits.
Jordan Plamann was 3-for-3 with a run scored for WSU. Hommes finished 2-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI.
Chase Blazier tossed a complete game for the Warriors. In seven innings he walked two and allowed four hits while striking out four.
Just as in the opener, the Marauders scored first what became a 13-3 loss in the night cap.
After stroking a one out single to center,
Seth Meide moved to second on a single by
Sean Hennen. A wild pitch advanced both runners before Meide scored on a ground out to first by Pettener.
The Warriors immediately tied the game in the first inning before burying the Marauders with eight runs in the second. The big blast was a grand slam by Taylor Field. Tyler Nehring later added a three-run home run in the inning for a 9-1 WSU lead.
The Marauders scored single runs in the third and fifth innings. A Hennen ground out scored Beyer in the third but Nahring matched the tally with a solo homer in the fourth. Hennen singled home his second run of the game in the fifth but Evanson responded with a run-scoring double in the home half of the inning. The ten-run rule came into effect once the Warriors added two more runs in the sixth inning.
Meide and Hennen both finished 2-for-4 in the game, combining for four of the Marauders seven hits. Meide scored a run and Hennen had two RBIs.
Nahring was 4-for-4 for WSU with four runs scored and four RBIs. Geislinger was 2-for-3 with two runs scored. Nathan Kruse was 2-for-3 with two runs scored and an RBI.
Pitching the second complete game of the day for the Warriors, Hayden Krimmer struck out seven hitters in seven innings. He allowed one walk and seven hits.
The Marauders (2-18 overall, 0-6 NSIC) and the Warriors (6-12, 4-2) complete the four-game series on Sunday, March 29, starting at 12 noon.
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