Game 1 Box
Game 2 Box

MARSHALL, Minn. – Eight days after Southwest Minnesota State swept a doubleheader in Winona, Minn., Winona State returned the favor on Thursday afternoon with a 14-3, 13-10 sweep over SMSU in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference play Marshall.

WSU cruised in the opener jumping to an early 5-0 lead, then rallied from an 8-3 deficit in game two to earn the sweep.

The two victories lifts WSU past SMSU into third place in the NSIC standings with four games remaining in the regular season.  WSU is now 27-16 overall, 19-9 NSIC, while SMSU falls to 24-9 overall, 14-8 NSIC.  SMSU also entered the game ranked fifth in the latest NCAA Central Region rankings.

On a windy day in Marshall, Winona State offense blitzed SMSU's pitching staff, racking up 27 runs and 35 hits in the two games, including 15 extra-base hits.  WSU hit eight home runs in the two games.

In the opener, WSU scored at least one in the first innings to cruise to the 14-3 victory.  The Warriors cracked out 13 hits off of SMSU starter Curtis Smith, who entered the game 6-0 on the season.  WSU built a 5-0 lead after two and a half innings before SMSU cut into the lead on a two-run double by Jake Munsch scoring Derek West and Andrew Kinney.

WSU scored single runs in the fourth and fifth innings before blowing the game open with a seven-run sixth inning.

Smith allowed eight earned runs, 13 hits and three walks, while striking out six WSU batters.  WSU starter Jim Kovacs was outstanding tossing the complete game allowing three runs on seven hits while striking out 11 SMSU batters.

Jake Munsch led the Mustang offense going 2 for 3 with three RBI and a run scored.

In game two, SMSU loaded the bases in the bottom of the first with no outs on three straight singles by Derick Swenson, Greg Laughlin and Kinney.  Following a strikeout by Matt Bauer, West hit an infield single to third base to score Swenson and put SMSU in the early lead.  WSU starter Andrew DeSousa then held SMSU in check striking out Doug Stearns and Scott Rambow to end the inning and a potential big inning.

WSU scored a pair of runs off of SMSU starter Chris Koep in the top of the second, before SMSU answered with a big five-run inning taking advantage of a key WSU error.  With a runner on second base and two outs, Laughlin hit a grounder to the WSU shortstop but his throw was wild at first allowing Laughlin to reach and keep the inning alive.  SMSU took advantage of the error as Kinney doubled to center field to score two runs and put the Mustangs back in the lead at 3-2.  Bauer and West then walked to lead the bases before Doug Stearns was walked to force in a run and make the score 4-2.  Rambow then blooped a two-run single down the left field line to score two more runs and push the lead to 6-2 after two innings.

WSU pushed across a solo run in the fourth inning to trim the lead to 6-3, before SMSU struck back with two more runs.  Kinney lead off the inning with a solo home run to center field and later in the inning Josh Nolan dropped in a single to right field to score another run and push the margin to 8-3.

Koep retired the first batter of the fifth inning, but then the flood gates opened as WSU put together eight runs on eight hits off of Koep and relievers Aaron Rocheleau and Tyler Paulson to take its first lead of the game.  With SMSU leading 8-7 and facing runners on second and third base with one out, Rocheleau nearly got out of the jam coaxing a pop out for the second out of the inning.  But the next WSU hitter dropped a single into shallow center field to give WSU a 9-8 lead.  Winona State added two more runs to build a three-run lead heading into the bottom of the fifth.

SMSU picked up two important runs in the home half of the inning as Kinney and Bauer each belted solo home runs to cut the WSU lead to 11-10.  Paul pitched a scoreless sixth inning to keep SMSU to within one run, but SMSU went in order in both the sixth and seventh innings, while the Warriors added two insurance runs in the seventh to earn an important road sweep.

Koep pitched 4.1 innings and earned a no-decision, giving up five earned runs and six hits, while Rocheleau suffered the loss allowing five hits and five runs in one third of an inning.  

Kinney had a big game two for the Mustangs, cracking out four hits and two home runs while driving in four runs and scoring three.  West and Nolan each collected two hits to lead a 12-hit Mustang attack.

Southwest Minnesota State will travel to Bismarck, N.D., to conclude the regular season this weekend versus the University of Mary.  Saturday's doubleheader begins at 1 p.m.  SMSU needs two victories to secure a spot in the NSIC tournament.