CROOKSTON, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Crookston baseball team will open up their Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) season Thurs., March 24 and Fri., March 25 at UMC Baseball Field in Crookston, Minn. The games were site relocated from Winona, Minn., due to inclement weather. The Golden Eagles will take on the Warriors at 1 and 3:30 p.m. both days.
UMC is off to their best start in program history with a 7-7 mark on the 2016 season, their second under Head Coach
Steve Gust. Minnesota Crookston has been led by their performance at the plate as they are hitting .307 as a team with 106 runs scored, 26 doubles, two triples, 10 home runs and 90 RBI's.
UMC is led at the plate by freshman
Reed Hjelle (OF/1B, East Grand Forks, Minn.), who has had an impressive start to his young career. Hjelle is hitting .373 on the year with 11 runs scored, three home runs and 11 RBI's. Fellow East Grand Fork Green Wave alum
Ethan Mushitz (SS, East Grand Forks, Minn.) comes in hitting .370 with a team-high 15 runs scored. He has 10 RBI's on the season. Senior
Ryan Haggstrom (Sr., 1B/RHP, Apple Valley, Minn.) has also been seeing the ball well, as he is hitting .364 with 14 runs scored, two home runs and a team-high 16 RBI's.
On the mound, UMC has been led by
Cody Pamperin (Jr., RHP, Shakopee, Minn.), who has worked both out of the bullpen and in a starting role. Pamperin is 0-1 with a 4.38 ERA in 12.1 innings pitched with one save on the year. Reining NSIC Pitcher of the Week
Trevor Buttermore (Sr., RHP, North St. Paul, Minn.) comes in with a 1-0 mark with a 4.42 ERA in 18.1 innings pitched.
Jarad Nelson (Sr., RHP, Karlstad, Minn.) comes in with a 1-1 mark with a 4.67 ERA in 17.1 innings pitched, while
Nolan Wahlberg (Sr., RHP, Blaine, Minn.) is 3-1 with a 5.67 ERA in 27.0 innings pitched.
The Golden Eagles found success in the Clearwater Invitational last week, going 4-2 on the week. They came away with several big wins including upending Grand Valley State University, who has been to 14-straight NCAA Tournaments, which has also included six NCAA Division II World Series appearances. UMC was led in Florida by Haggstrom, who hit .429 with eight runs scored and 10 RBI's. On the mound, they had several strong performances. Buttermore was 1-0 with a 2.57 ERA in 7.0 innings pitched, while Wahlberg was 2-0 with a 3.52 ERA in 15.1 innings pitched.
Winona State University is 3-10 on the season. They last played March 10 after concluding a six-game trip to Florida in which they went 1-6, with their lone win coming over Saint Joseph's College (Ind.).
The Warriors have been led on the season by sophomore Joe Kubera, who is hitting .385 with eight runs scored and four RBI's. In addition to Kubera, Jesus Cazares comes in with a .352 batting average with six runs scored and 11 RBI's, while Tyler Nehring is hitting .306 with 12 runs scored and four RBI's.
Winona State is hitting .270 on the season with 57 runs scored, 24 doubles, five triples, four home runs and 51 RBI's.
On the mound, Winona State is led by Brett Herber, who has worked mostly out of the bullpen. Herber is 1-1 with a 2.53 ERA in 10.2 innings pitched. In addition, Daniel Karlin-Kamin is 0-3 with a 3.37 ERA in 18.2 innings pitched, while Jay Voter is 0-2 with a 4.15 ERA in 21.2 innings pitcher, while Mitchell Stalsberg is 1-2 with a 4.60 ERA in 15.2 innings pitched.
