WINONA, Minn. – Travis Stevens blasted his first collegiate home run to give the University of Mary an early lead and Nicholas Stobbe and a pair of relievers ran with the advantage, leading the Marauders to a 7-1 win over Winona State University in the second game of a Northern Sun doubleheader. The Warriors won the opener 11-3.
 
Originally scheduled as a four-game set in Bismarck, N.D., the series was shifted to Winona, Minn., due to rainy weather across central North Dakota. U-Mary maintained its status as the home team however.
 
Coming off a disappointing loss in the opener after committing four errors and falling behind early, the Marauders turned the tables in the night cap.
 
After Stobbe kept the Warriors off the board in the top of the first, striking out the final hitter of the inning after allowing singles to first two batters of the game, the Marauders struck quickly.
 
On of the nation's leaders in on base percentage, leadoff hitter Tom Imholte earned a walk and stole second. Two outs later, freshman Connor Doll was hit by a pitch to bring Stevens to the plate with two runners on.
 
A left-handed hitting freshman from Las Vegas, Nevada, Stevens cracked a three-run home run over the right field fence. His first home run provided the Marauders their first lead of the day.
 
The Warriors cut into the Marauders lead with a run in the third, combining a Marauders error, a walk and a single into a run as Tyler Nehring hit a sacrifice fly to center field.
 
The Marauders rebuilt their lead in the fourth. Trenten Hove doubled to left with one out and came around to score when Imholte's ground ball to third base was thrown away for a Warriors error.
 
After holding the Warriors to five hits and a walk in the first five innings, Stobbe gave up a leadoff double and was pulled for Kenny Slominski. After an infield single placed runners on the corners, Taylor Field tagged up from third on a fly ball to right field but was thrown out at home by freshman Chris Scott to complete a double play. Imholte closed the inning by gunning out Nathan Krause attempting to steal third base.
 
Hove keyed the Marauders final outburst in the sixth inning with a one out infield single. After Imholte walked, Jason Shaul pulled a double down the right field line to score Hove. A sacrifice fly to right field by Brad Meyer scored Imholte with the second run of the inning. Doll closed the scoring with a single to left, scoring Shaul and increasing the U-Mary lead to 7-1.
 
Meyer closed out the game for the Marauders on the hill. The junior pitched the final three innings and allowed just one baserunner, a two-out single in the ninth. Meyer would close the game by striking out pinch hitter Paul Mutch.
 
In command all day. Stobbe earned his first win of the season after allowing one unearned run in five innings. He gave up six hits and one walk while striking out six. Slominski pitched a scoreless inning. Meyer picked up his first save.
 
Hove was a perfect 4-for-4 on the day with a double and two runs scored. The four hits for the junior centerfielder is a career high. Doll and Shaul were both 2-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI.
 
Defensive miscues placed the Marauders in a deep hole early in the first game and the team could never recover.
 
With two outs in the top of the first inning and one runner on base, an infield fielding error by U-Mary allowed the inning to continue. After Marauders starting pitcher McKeon Meyhoff walked the next batter to load the bases, Warriors catcher Taylor Field singled up the middle to score the first two runs of the game, both unearned.
 
More misplays in the third led to a six run outburst by the Warriors. Jesus Cazares led off with a triple to right center and scored on a one-out double to center by Tyler Nehring, pushing the Winona State lead to 3-0. On what should have been the second out of the inning, Field reached on an infield error to place runners on the corners. Both Nehring and Field then scored on a double by Mitchell Heid for a 5-0 lead. Meyhoff struck out the next hitter for the second out before a single by Kipp Younquist again placed runners at first and third. Another infield error by the Marauders, the second of the inning, brought home one more run. Still not finished, a Ryan Nyhagen single brought home two more runs for an 8-0 Warriors lead. Of he six runs scored in the inning, four were unearned.
 
The Warriors didn't need any help from Marauders to score in the fourth as Cazares and Mitch Voter hit back-to-back home runs to lead off the inning.
 
The Marauders broke onto the scoreboard in the home half of the fifth. After a two-out infield single by Imholte, Shaul hit a run-scoring double to left center.
 
U-Mary tacked on two more in the seventh. Daulton Sauce doubled to left to start the inning and moved to third on a one out single to right field by Hove. Imholte singled to center to score Sauce before Shaul drove in Hove on a single down the right field line for the senior's second RBI of the game.
 
Shaul finished the game 3-for-4 with a double and two runs driven in. For the day Shaul was 5-for-8.  Imholte went 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored.
 
Alec DeMaria pitched two scoreless innings for the Marauders, allowing one hit and one walk while striking out two.
 
Jay Voter tossed a seven inning complete game for Winona State, striking out six and giving up three runs on nine hits and a walk.
 
Youngquist was 3-for-3 for the Warriors. Nyhagen was 2-for-4 with three RBIs and a run scored.
 
The Marauders (6-22 overall, 4-11 NSIC) and Warriors (11-19, 8-9) conclude their series at noon on Monday, April 18.
 
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