Photo courtesy of SMSU Athletic Communications SMSU’s Connor Johnson awaits a pitch during their game against Wayne State College on April 11. Johnson hit a three-run walk-off home run against Winona State University on Sunday as the Mustangs won 7-6.

WINONA – Connor Johnson belted a three-run walk-off home run with two outs in the seventh inning to rally Southwest Minnesota State to a dramatic 7-6 victory over Winona State in game one of a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference baseball doubleheader at Loughrey Field. WSU bounced back in a big way in game two collecting 19 hits and taking advantage of 12 walks to record an 18-4 victory and secure the Sunday split.

The two teams split the four-game series which was originally scheduled to be played in Marshall, but was moved due to poor field conditions.

SMSU is 11-19 overall, 6-14 NSIC, with the four-game split, while WSU is 14-15 overall, 13-9 NSIC.

In game one, SMSU trailed 6-4 heading into the bottom of the seventh inning before the dramatic victory. With one out, Ben Heichel singled before Jake Hendricks flew out deep to right field for the second out. Jayden Fleck was then hit by a pitch to bring Johnson to the plate. Johnson, who hit a home run on Saturday, worked the count full before ripping the home run over the fence for his third homer of the season.

WSU opened the scoring with two runs in the first inning before SMSU cut the deficit in half in the second on an RBI ground out by Brady Lanoue to score Johnson.

WSU added a single run in the third and fourth innings to build a 4-1 advantage, but SMSU rallied back to tie the game in the fourth. With one out, Fleck and Johnson singled before Spencer Rudnik walked to load the bases. The first run scored on a wild pitch before Liam Lopez singled down the left field line to make the score 4-3. Nathan Kuhn followed with a sac fly to score Rudnik and tie the game at 4-4.

WSU scored a pair of unearned runs in the sixth to regain the lead before the SMSU rally in the seventh. The walk-off home run was the first by SMSU since Patrick Rients versus Missouri Western in 2014.

Chase Meyer (3-1) recorded the win in relief, tossing 1 1/3 shutout innings and allowing one hit.

Cole Petersen started on the mound for the Mustangs and allowed 12 hits, six runs (four earned) in 5 2/3 innings, with three walks and two strikeouts.

Johnson and Fleck each finished with two hits in the victory while Johnson scored three times and Fleck crossed the plate twice.

In game two, the Warriors jumped on the board quickly with two first inning runs and eventually built a 6-0 lead after two and a half innings. SMSU wouldn’t go away and mounted a rally in the home half of the third. Tanner Strommen started the frame with a solo home run before SMSU later loaded the bases and scored a run on a WSU throwing error. Jake Hendricks would later come through with a two-run single to make the score 6-4.

The two-run deficit didn’t stay for long as WSU scored three in the fourth, two more in the fifth and put the game away with a seven-run sixth inning.

Jeremy Stouffer (0-2) took the loss for SMSU tossing the first 1 2/3 innings and allowing five runs on four hits with five walks.

Shane Sellner and Hendricks each collected two hits for SMSU, which ended the game with five hits.

Southwest Minnesota State will continue its road trip on Wednesday with a doubleheader versus Upper Iowa in Fayette.

SATURDAY

WINONA – Jayden Fleck belted a one-out solo home run in the bottom of the eighth to snap a 4-4 game and help lift Southwest Minnesota State to a 6-4 victory over Winona State in game two of a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference doubleheader on Saturday at Loughrey Field. WSU used a 10-run sixth inning to snap a 1-1 game and win 11-3 in game one.

The four-game series was scheduled to be played in Marshall, but field conditions forced the relocation to Winona.

SMSU, which snapped its seven-game losing streak with the victory in game two, is now 10-18 overall, 5-13 NSIC, while WSU is 13-14 overall, 12-8 NSIC.

In the nightcap, Connor Johnson opened the scoring as he belted a two-run homer over the right-centerfield wall to give the Mustangs a 2-0 lead.

WSU quickly answered in the third behind a two-run double, while also scoring runs on a wild pitch and a passed ball, to build a 4-2 lead.

SMSU tied the game up in the fourth as Shane Sellner and Fleck smacked back-to-back doubles to make the score 4-3. With two outs, Spencer Franko would come through with a clutch single to score Fleck and make the score 4-4.

The game would remained tied until the eighth when Fleck belted his team-leading sixth homer of the season with one out. Jake Hendricks would follow with a single and later scored on a Johnson two-out double to give SMSU a big insurance run.

Alex Jorgensen (2-2), who came on in relief with two outs in the sixth, secured the win in the final frame stranding the tying run on first base. Jorgensen tossed 3 1/3 innings of shutout relief to pick up the victory, allowing three hits with one strikeout.

Fleck, Hendricks, Johnson and Franko all finished with two hits to pace SMSU’s nine-hit attack.

John Bezdicek started on the mound for the Mustangs and lasted 5 2/3 innings, giving up four runs on seven hits with five strikeouts and four walks.

In game one, WSU opened the scoring in the top of the first using a walk, a sac bunt, a wild pitch and a sac fly to take an early 1-0 lead.

SMSU tied the score in the bottom of the second as Fleck started the rally with a lead-off walk, before moving to second on a sac bunt by Johnson. Following a ground out, Brady Lanoue hit a run-scoring single to tie the game at 1-1.

The game remained 1-1 behind the solid pitching of SMSU starter Justin Clark (1-4), who had allowed only two hits with six strikeouts, through the first five innings. The Warriors finally broke through putting together the decisive rally using six hits and two SMSU errors to score 10 runs.

SMSU pushed across its final two runs of the game in the sixth inning behind a two-run single by Nathan Kuhn.

Clark finished the game pitching five-plus innings and allowing six runs (four earned) on five hits with six strikeouts and two walks.

Sellner had two of SMSU’s eight hits in the game.

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