CROOKSTON, Minn.- The University of Minnesota Crookston baseball team will hop on the bus for their final Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) road trip as they head to Aberdeen, S.D. to face Northern State University April 25 and 26 at 1 and 3 p.m. The Golden Eagles are looking to finish up their last six games of the season on a strong note after already eclipsing their all-time win total for the program last weekend.
Minnesota Crookston comes into the weekend with a 11-33 (5-23 NSIC) mark. The Golden Eagles' 11 wins are their most-ever, while they are just two wins shy of tying their all-time mark for conference wins in a season. The UMC bats have been strong on the season as they are hitting .284 on the season with 253 runs scored, 78 doubles, 13 triples, 13 home runs and 201 runs batted in (RBI').
The Golden Eagles have had several players step up at the plate this season.
Jesse Jennings (Sr., OF, Robbinsdale, Minn./Criminal Justice) has shown vast improvement at the plate, hitting .341 on the year with 17 runs scored, three doubles, two triples, one home run and 17 RBI's. In addition to Jennings,
Kenny Perez (Jr., DH/IF, Orlando, Fla./Health Science) has been a major addition to the UMC line-up, hitting .333 with 21 runs scored, 16 doubles, four home runs and a team-leading 31 RBI's.
Ryan Haggstrom (Jr., 1B/RHP, Apple Valley, Minn./Accounting) has also been a major piece of the puzzle for the Golden Eagles, hitting .327 with 33 runs scored, 11 doubles and 26 RBI's.
UMC's pitching staff has been led by
Nolan Wahlberg (Jr., RHP, Blaine, Minn./Criminal Justice), who is 5-3 with a 3.92 earned runs average in 64.1 innings pitched. He just needs 2.2 innings to tie
Richie Navratil's (Sr., RHP, Blansko, Czech Republic/Management) school record for innings pitched in season. His innings pitched leads the entire NSIC, while his ERA is ranked 11th in the league. In addition to Wahlberg,
Jarad Nelson (Jr., RHP, Karlstad, Minn./Education) has put up a strong season and is coming off one of his best outings of the year in a win over University of Mary last Friday. Nelson is 3-2 with a 6.04 ERA in 56.2 innings pitched on the year.
Northern State comes into the weekend with 20-19 (13-13 NSIC) mark. The Wolves were swept by No. 8 Minnesota State University, Mankato Wednesday before bouncing back with a 14-7 non-conference win over Presentation College. The Wolves have been led on the year by Lucas Lorenz, who is hitting .386 with 41 runs scored, nine home runs and 42 RBI's. Along with Lorez, Jack Schmidt is hitting .381 with 32 runs scored, 14 doubles and 29 RBI's. Northern State is a strong hitting team, averaging .328 on the season.
On the mound, Colton Boucher leads the Wolves with a 5-3 mark and a 4.35 ERA in 49.2 innings pitched. In addition to Boucher, Cody Johns comes in with a 4-4 mark and a 6.57 ERA in 49.1 innings pitched. In the bullpen, Marcus Manderbach leads the bullpen with a 1-1 mark and a 2.57 ERA in 21.0 innings pitched.
For more information, visit the Golden Eagle Athletics website at www.goldeneaglesports.com.
Follow the Golden Eagles on Facebook at Golden Eagle Sports and on Twitter at @UMCAthletics.
The University of Minnesota Crookston is a NCAA Division II university located in the Red River Valley of Northwest Minnesota. UMC sponsors 11 intercollegiate athletic teams with membership in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate conference (NSIC) and the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association (IHSA). The NSIC is a 16-team conference with schools situated in Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota and Nebraska.
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