(Crookston, Minn.)- The University of Minnesota, Crookston Softball team opens the 2012 NSIC season in an unlikely place for March 24 and 25; at home. On Saturday UMC hosts No. 7 Winona State and Sunday the team hosts Upper Iowa. Both days will be double-headers with the first game starting at 1 p.m. Live stats are available at www.goldeneaglesports.com.
 
Minnesota, Crookston- (6-11, 0-0 NSIC) The University of Minnesota, Crookston Softball team went 4-3 last week at Cocoa Beach Spring Training in Titusville, Fla. The Golden Eagles were led by freshman Courtney Bridge (SS, 5-8, Fr., Port Coquitlam, British Columbia) who hit .519 (14-27) in seven games played. She hit one double, tallied one RBI and tied a team-high with seven runs scored. She earned 16 assists and nine putouts from the shortstop position. Pitcher Paige Schaust (P, 5-7, So., Delano, Minn.) went 2-1 on the week with a 2.21 ERA. She threw 19 innings and gave up nine runs (six earned) while striking out 12 opponents. At the dish she was 10-21 (.476) with six RBI, four runs scored, a double, and a homerun.
 
#7 Winona State- (19-2, 0-0 NSIC) Molly Link, 1B, Sr., Holy Cross, Iowa (Western Dubuque) had a spectacular week for the No. 7 Warriors, going 10-of-23 (.435) at the plate as WSU posted a 5-1 record. She had 12 RBI in the six games and hit two homers. Link had two hits and four RBI in WSU contests against Millersville and East Stroudsburg, hitting a home run in both games. She also had a pair of RBI in WSU's comeback win over St. Cloud State Saturday. Link scored five runs and also recorded a stolen base. Stacey Struzynski, P, Sr., Homewood, Ill. (Homewood-Flossmoor) saw action in three games last week for the Warriors, posting a 2-1 record while allowing just two earned runs in 18 innings. Struzynski threw a one-hit shutout against Bentley while striking out a season-high 16 batters. It marked the third start this season that saw Struzynski give up one hit or less. She followed with her first loss of the season, giving up a pair of earned runs against Minnesota State. She also pitched four innings of relief against St. Cloud State, earning the win after giving up no runs and striking out two. For the week Struzynski struck out 22 in her 18 innings of work while allowing just 13 hits. She is 10-1 this season with a 0.99 ERA.
 
Upper Iowa- (8-15, 0-0 NSIC) The Peacock softball team opened their home schedule Wednesday afternoon in Fayette against the Cougars of the University of Sioux Falls. Upper Iowa split the double header to snap their six-game losing streak and move their record to 8-15 on the year. Upper Iowa trailed 1-0 after the first half inning of game one, but Rachael Anello vaulted the home team into the lead, 3-1, thanks to a three-run homer over the fence in left center. After a pair of USF runs tied the game, the Peacocks answered with two of their own in the fourth to reestablish their lead, 5-3. The runs came on back-to-back extra base hits with two outs; a Tara Duran double and a Whitney Williams triple. The Peacocks lit up the scoreboard with 6 runs in the bottom of the fifth to end the game, 11-3, due to the run-rule. In the Peacocks' big inning, the team racked up 6 hits including a triple by Bailee Haberman, a run-scoring single by Hailley Haning, an rbi-double from Katie Mnichowicz, an rbi-single by Erin Van Praag, a two-run single for Williams and a second hit from Haberman in the inning, an rbi-single that ended the contest. Knop improved to 5-7 on the season throwing 5 innings and allowing three runs on six hits while striking out three. In game two, the Cougars raced out to a 15-0 lead after just three innings. Upper Iowa posted their lone run of the contest in the fourth when Haning knocked one over the wall in left center.

For more information, visit the Golden Eagle Athletics website at: www.goldeneaglesports.com.   
 
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The University of Minnesota, Crookston is an NCAA Division II Institution and a member of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC). The Golden Eagle Equestrian team is a member of the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association (IHSA).
 
 
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