Box Score ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The University of Minnesota Crookston fell 14-7 to West Chester University Sat., March 15 at the Walter Fuller Complex in St. Petersburg, Fla. The Golden Eagles got their bats going with seven runs on 11 hits but struggled on the mound, giving up 14 runs on 17 hits. UMC also had four errors on the game.

Minnesota Crookston falls to 1-8 with Saturday's loss to the Golden Rams. West Chester improves to 5-1 on the season. The Golden Rams were the National Champions in NCAA Division II baseball in 2012 and went 25-24 last season.

Richie Navratil (Sr., P, Blansko, Czech Republic/Sports and Rec Management) got the start in Saturday's game and came into the contest having probably been UMC's most consistent pitcher through his first two starts. Navratil had moments of brilliance in the start Saturday but also struggled at times. He would go 4.2 innings against the Golden Rams, giving up seven earned runs on 10 hits. Navratil did assert his dominance at times with six strikeouts of West Chester batters.

The Golden Rams would come out of the gate and get two runs led by a Chris Pula triple to plate Matt Petrizzi, who reached on a fielder's choice. Pula would come across on an infield single from Justin Roman. Navratil would find a way to get UMC out of the inning, however.

On the mound, the Golden Rams were paced by early dominance from starting pitcher Andrew Gernert, who would pitch five innings, giving up just one hit and pitching a shutout with four strikeouts.

After strong pitching from Navratil in the second and third innings and two quick outs from the UMC pitcher in the top of the fourth, the Golden Rams would get to Navratil. A Knox single through the right side would get things started for West Chester. He would then steal second and advance to third on an errant throw from Colton Haight (So., C, Buffalo, Minn./Sports and Rec Management) behind the plate. A Diehl single would bring home Knox to make it 3-0. Spekhardt would keep the rally going as he doubled to right field to score Diehl. After a walk was dealt to Raimo, Petrizzi would single up the middle to score Spekhardt to makie it 5-0. The fourth run of the inning would come as Raimo crossed the plate on a Navratil wild pitch.

The UMC pitcher from the Czech Republic would get the Golden Eagles out of the inning as he struck out Roman but the damage had been done with West Chester leading 6-0.

The Golden Eagles would finally end the no-hitter Gernert had going through three innings in the bottom of the fourth as the team's hottest hitter Ryan Haggstrom (So., C/1B/P, Apple Valley, Minn./Accounting) continued his remarkable start with a single. The Golden Eagles would however be unable to get Haggstrom home.

West Chester would add a run to their lead in the top of the fifth. The run would again come on a two-out rally as Knox tripled to right center to get things going. Diehl would then double to left field to score Knox. Cody Pamperin (Fr., P, Shakopee, Minn./Golf and Turf Management) would relieve Navratil and come on to get the final out of the inning.

The Golden Eagles would be unable to get anything in their half of the fifth while Pamperin shut down the Golden Rams in the top of the sixth. Minnesota Crookston however would make things interesting in the bottom of the sixth. With Jon Wilkins now pitching for West Chester, the Golden Eagles would finally heat up.

With one out, Matt Korte (Sr., 3B/P, St. Cloud, Minn./Accounting) would hit a double to left center to give UMC a base-runner. Josh Brehmer (Sr., SS/2B, Falcon Heights, Minn./Communications) would follow it up with a double of his own to bring his fellow Senior Korte home to make it 7-1. Patrick Higgins (Fr., OF, Eagan, Minn./Criminal Justice) would continue a strong start to the season with a single to short stop to move Brehmer over to third. That would bring Haggstrom to the plate and he did what he has done consistently so far this year, get a hit. Haggstrom would hit an infield single to move Higgins to second and plate Brehmer to cut the deficit to 7-2. After the second out, Travis Magdzas (Jr., OF, Duluth, Minn./Criminal Justice) would come through with a single to center to score Higgins and move Haggstrom to third. A fourth run would score in the inning as Haggstrom crossed on a Wilkins' wild pitch to make it West Chester 7, UMC 4.

The Golden Rams would answer though in the seventh off of Pamperin tallying four runs of their own to extend the advantage to 11-4.

With Haggstrom now pitching, West Chester would add three more runs to their lead to make it 14-4. Ryan Paasch (Sr., P, Sauk Rapids, Minn./Sports and Rec Management) would come in to shut things down after Haggstrom struggled on the mound.

The Golden Eagles would cut into the Golden Ram lead in the eighth. With two outs, Haggstrom would get his third hit of the day on a bloop single to right field and would advance to second. Marcus Campbell (So., OF/P, St. Croix Falls, Wis./Golf and Turf Management) then came through in the clutch with his six RBI of the season on a double to left field. A Magdzas single through the left side would move Campbell over to third. In a pinch-hit role Tony Madsen (Sr., 2B/SS, Mounds View, Minn./Natural Resources Management) would come up big with an infield single to bring Campbell home. One more run would be walked in to cut the lead to 14-7.

The Golden Eagles shut down West Chester in the ninth led by strong pitching from Cayden Barta (Fr., P, Fargo, N.D./Criminal Justice). However, UMC would be unable to do anything in the ninth inning at the plate as West Chester got the win.

Gernert would tally the win for the Golden Rams while Navratil had the loss for UMC. The Golden Eagles would be led at the plate by Haggstrom, who went 3-for-5 with two runs scored and one RBI. Haggstrom is now hitting .500 in 34 at-bats with seven runs scored and three RBI's. Haggstrom is just four runs shy of the season leader from last season, who was Korte.

In addition to Haggstrom, Magdzas went 2-for-4 with one run scored and one RBI.

The Golden Rams were led by Petrizzi, who was 3-for-5 with one run scored and four RBI's. Pula was 3-for-5 with one run scored and one RBI while Kno was 3-for-4 with three runs scored and Diehl was 3-for-4 with one run scored and two RBI's.

Minnesota Crookston will continue play at the Winning Inning Invitational Sun., March 16 as they play a doubleheader with the first game set against Slippery Rock University at 10 a.m. E.T. and the second game at 2 p.m. E.T. against Lock Haven University. Both games will be played at Jack Russell Memorial Stadium in Clearwater, Fla.

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).