CROOKSTON, Minn.  – The University of Minnesota, Crookston baseball team will trek to Florida for five games from March 15-19. The Golden Eagles will first take part in the Winning Inning Invitational at Jack Russell Stadium, the old Philadelphia Phillies Spring Training site, in Clearwater, Fla. The Golden Eagles will play one game March 15 against Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference foe Upper Iowa University in the tournament, as well as three games (one game on March 15 and two games on March 16) versus Mansfield University out of Mansfield, Penn. UMC will conclude the trip with a game March 19 versus Florida Christian College at Saint Cloud High School in Saint Cloud, Fla.
 
The UMC Golden Eagles enter their Florida trip with an overall mark of 0-8 after playing eight games at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis, Minn., to open the season. The Golden Eagles have had the last two weeks to prepare for their games in the “Sunshine State” as they last played Feb. 27 against Mayville State University.
 
UMC has been led at the plate this season by redshirt freshman Kameron Crandall (P/IF/OF, Zimmerman, Minn.), who sat out last season with an injury. Crandall is hitting .333 with one run scored and five runs batted in on the year. The Golden Eagles have also gotten production from Tony Madsen (Jr., IF, Mounds View, Minn.) with a .308 average and Ryan Haggstrom (Fr., C/1B, Apple Valley, Minn.) who is hitting .300.
 
On the mound, the Golden Eagles have been led by Matt Korte (Jr., P/IF/OF, St. Cloud, Minn.). Korte is 0-2 in 10 innings pitched with a 4.50 earned runs average. In addition, the Golden Eagles will look even more to J.C. Crane (C/OF/P, Tucson, Ariz.) as a pitcher, after the senior went out and had a great relief outing against Mayville State University Feb. 27. Crane went four-and-a-third innings with a 2.08 ERA only allowing four hits and one run. Haggstrom has also been strong out of the bullpen, as the freshman has an unblemished earned runs average in two-and-two-thirds innings this season, only allowing one hit.
 
The Peacocks of Upper Iowa are already down in Florida playing games this week. Upper Iowa has an overall record of 6-2 this season and is 3-1 so far in the Winning Inning Invitational with a pair of wins of Ohio Valley Univeristy and a split with Kentucky Wesleyan College. The Peacocks and Golden Eagles met at the Metrodome in the first games of the year for UMC as Upper Iowa won 6-1 and 8-1 Feb. 15. Upper Iowa has been led at the plate this season by lead-off hitter Tyler Adams, who is hitting .480 with 10 runs scored and nine RBI's. Adams has a .629 on-base percentage from his lead-off spot. He is joined by Mikey Henrichs, who is hitting .400 with 10 runs scored and seven RBI's this season.
 
On the mound, Upper Iowa has been led by junior Martin Valdez. Valdez is 2-0 with a 0.64 ERA in 14 innings pitched this season. He has only allowed eight hits in two appearances with 15 strikeouts.
 
Mansfield University comes into the week with a 2-1 overall mark after sweeping the College of Saint Rose March 2 and falling to Slippery Rock University March 3. The Mountaineers will face Ohio Valley University March 14 to open play at the Winning Inning Invitational in Clearwater, Fla. In addition to facing UMC, Mansfield also has games scheduled in Florida against Upper Iowa, Saint Leo University and Eckerd College. The Mountaineers are led at the plate by Stephen Stopper, who is hitting .600 with four runs scored and five runs batted in. In addition, Matt Fisher comes in batting .455 with four runs scored and four RBI's.
 
On the bump, Mansfield has been led by southpaw Joe Candelmo, who is 1-0 with a 3.00 ERA in 6.0 innings pitched.
 
UMC's final opponent, Florida Christian College is 4-2-1 on the year. In 2012, the Suns went 27-24-0 on the year. From that team, Eric Santamaria returns after hitting .438 with 26 runs scored and 24 runs batted in. Florida Christian also returns Mark Vidal, who had 46 runs scored and 30 runs batted in last year with a .414 batting average. The Suns pitching staff is led by Santamaria, who was 3-3 with a 4.66 earned runs average in 38.2 innings pitched. They also return Andres Cancio, who was 4-5 with a 5.14 ERA last season.   
 
For more information, visit the Golden Eagle Athletics Web site 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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