Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 MINOT, N.D. – Pitching been a problem Minot State baseball has been dealing with lately, and that trend continued into Saturday's games against Winona State at Corbett Field.

The Warriors (15-16 Overall, 12-7 NSIC) knocked 26 hits in two games, scoring 20 runs as they defeated the Beavers (9-19 Overall, 3-11 NSIC) 7-4 and 13-4 in the first two games of the four-game Northern Sun series.

Joshua Larsen (Jr., P, Surrey, British Columbia) and Austin Berntson (So., P, Minot, N.D.) started each respective game for MISU, but neither could pitch more than 4.1 innings as they each collected a loss on the day. Larsen allowed six earned runs and eight hits in game one while Berntson allowed seven earned runs and eight hits in game two.

"Our pitchers just have to do a better job spotting up so we aren't playing from behind," said Minot State head coach Brock Weppler. "We need to stick to the game plan and make our pitches; we didn't do that today. There were too many mistakes all day."

In each game the Minot State bullpen stopped the bleeding for a while, but the Winona State offense was just too much. WSU's Travis Evanson and Tyler Nehring each hit two home runs on the day while combining for eight runs batted in.

Offensively, Minot State's Conner Oliver (Jr., OF/P, Dayton, Nev.) and A.J. Begay (Sr., 3B, Salt Lake City, Utah) had solid games in game one. Oliver and Begay each notched three hits while combining for three runs and three RBI.

In game two Andrew Roach (Jr., OF, Gilbert, Ariz.) and Brad Rolff (Jr., Inf., North Fork, Calif.) each had two hits to lead the way for the Beavers.

"We had it going for a couple innings today and we just quit," said Weppler. "We get up and then we give up some runs and after that it just goes downhill. We get frustrated, we get disappointed and we aren't good when that happens. We need to do a better job of controlling ourselves and just having the pride to compete the whole game.

"We need to come to the ballpark with an edge and ready to compete," said Weppler. "We didn't do that today and right now we are too concerned with feeling sorry for ourselves."

The Beavers have now lost eight straight ball games but will have a chance to break that streak on Saturday April 19 as they host Winona State for a twin bill beginning at 12 p.m. at Corbett Field.