WINONA, Minn. -- The Minnesota State baseball team overcame a two-run deficit for a 6-3 victory to take game one of three in a series against the Winona State Warriors in a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference baseball game played at Loughrey Field, Friday afternoon.
With the win, MSU now owns a 23-5 overall record this season with a 14-3 mark in league games for second place in the NSIC standings. The Warriors now stand 9-15 (7-6 NSIC) following the loss.
Late scoring was the key to success for the Mavericks in their 12-3 victory over the Warriors in Friday's NSIC baseball game. MSU recorded each of their 12 runs in the final four innings, scoring four in the sixth and eighth as well as two in the seventh and ninth. Leading the way on the offensive for the Purple and Gold was junior infielder Mikey Gottschalk who batted four-for-five in the game with five RBI
However, the Warriors struck first in Friday's contest when Nicolas Herbst hit a double to right-center and Carter Brinkman singled up the middle. Each hit scored one run and led to WSU claiming a 2-0 advantage in the bottom of the fifth inning.
Wasting no time, the Mavericks tied the game and took the lead in the next half inning (top of the sixth inning) when Nick Altermatt, Gottschalk and Cam Kline each singled for RBI. After WSU's Dane Weiland drew a bases-loaded walk to cut the Mavericks' lead in half during the bottom half of the sixth, MSU carried a 4-3 lead after six innings of play in Winona.
The Mavericks reigned supreme in the rest of Friday's contest, scoring two more runs in the seventh to take a 6-3 lead before piling on four more in the eighth to go up 10-3 and another two runs thanks to a two-run home run by Ben Livorsi in the ninth to take a 12-3 lead, where it ultimately stood.
Senior right-handed pitcher Brendan Knoll made his team-high seventh start of the season in Friday's ballgame and improved to a 6-1 record as MSU's pitcher of record. Knoll pitched five and two-third innings where he gave up three runs on eight hits, walked five and struck out seven. In relief, junior right-handed pitcher Jack Zigan earned his first save of the season after he entered the game to pitch for Knoll and went the distance, allowing just one hit in three and a third innings of work. He never surrendered a walk and struck out a pair of WSU batters.
MSU outhit WSU, 15-9, in the series opener. In terms of defensive efficiency, The Mavericks held the edge with just one error opposed to the Warriors' pair of defensive miscues. WSU left twice as many runners on base in the ballgame than MSU by a 12-6 margin.
The Mavericks and Warriors wrap up the three-game series with a seven and nine-inning doubleheader beginning at 1:00 p.m. Saturday at Loughrey Field.
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