TUCSON, Ariz. – The Southwest Minnesota State baseball team pushed its win streak to three in a row scoring six runs in the eighth inning to earn a 10-4 non-conference victory over Winona State on Tuesday at the Kino Sports Complex.
SMSU improves to 6-3 on the season, while WSU drops to 6-3 overall. The Mustangs close their spring trip on Wednesday with an 11 a.m. CDT non-conference game versus Minot State.
With the game tied 4-4 in the top of the eighth,
Cory Bantam ripped a 1-2 pitch for a two-run single to put the Mustangs in front, while later in the inning
Chuck Hackett blew the game open with a three-run home run to extend the lead to 10-4.
SMSU matched a season-high with 15 hits for the second straight game with
Jared Cortez collecting a career-high four hits to pace the Mustangs.
Levi Lampert and
Caleb Gardow each finished with three hits with Lampert blasting a two-run home run. Bantam came off the bench to finish with two hits, while
Tyler Froland scored two runs and belted a two-run home run.
WSU opened the scoring in the third inning pushing across an unearned run. The lead nearly moved to 2-0 in the inning but SMSU center fielder
Henry Hammrich fired a strike to home plate to gun down a potential second run.
Trailing 1-0 in the fifth,
Nathan Wheeler reached on a fielding error and one batter later Lampert drilled a two-run home run to right field to put the Mustangs in front. With one out, Bantam singled and a batter later Froland drilled a 3-2 pitch over the left field fence to make the score 4-1.
WSU answered in the home half of the inning with a two-out, two-run double to cut the deficit to 4-3. The Warriors would then use another two-out RBI base hit in the seventh to tie the game at 4-4.
In the decisive eighth inning, Gardow singled to start the rally and moments later pinch runner
Eli Gibbs moved up to second on a sac bunt by Wheeler. A single by Lampert and an intentional walk to Hammrich loaded the bases before Bantam stroked a 1-2 pitch to right field to put SMSU back in front at 6-4. Hammrich later scored on a wild pitch before Hackett hit a three-run homer to make the score 10-4.
Vinny Mauro (1-1), the fourth of five pitchers used in the game for SMSU, earned the victory allowing one run on three hits with two strikeouts in 1 2/3 innings.
Cameron Jensen closed the game tossing two shutout innings with one strikeout.
Noah Cekalla started on the mound and threw two strong innings allowing one hits with two strikeouts.
Bennett Knapper allowed an unearned run in 1 1/3 with one strikeout, while
Cullen Huppert pitched two innings and gave up two runs on three hits with two strikeouts.
Following Wednesday's game, SMSU returns to Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference action on Saturday and Sunday with a four-game series versus St. Cloud State at US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.
