CROOKSTON, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Crookston baseball team fell in a pair of games with Concordia University-St. Paul Sun., April 2 at Jim Karn Field in Crookston, Minn. The Golden Eagles struggled on the mound in game two as they gave up 12 runs on 15 hits in a 12-4 loss to the Golden Bears. In game two, Justin Yutrzenka (Fr., RHP, Argyle, Minn.) and Josh Lenz went toe-to-toe in a pitcher's duel with the Golden Bears edging the Golden Eagles 1-0.

Minnesota Crookston falls to 11-15 (5-9 NSIC) with the pair of losses Sunday. Concordia-St. Paul takes the sweep of the four-game series as they move to 16-10 (10-4 NSIC) with the victories. The U of M Crookston sits in a tie for 11^th place after the weekend. Concordia-St. Paul is in a tie for third place.

Game One
Gabriel Cavasos (Jr., RHP, San Antonio, Texas) got the game one start for the day but he would struggle as he gave up six earned runs on 10 hits in three innings with four walks and one strikeout.

The win for Concordia-St. Paul went to Ray Wellner, who pitched four innings of relief with one earned run on three hits with three strikeouts.
The Golden Bears opened up the scoring in the top of the first as Mickey Leius singled through the left side to plate Carter Schmidt and Isaac Hormann to make it 2-0.

Minnesota Crookston cut the deficit to 2-1 when Ethan Mushitz (Jr., SS, East Grand Forks, Minn.) powered one over the left field fence for his first home run of the season. The Golden Eagles would add one more in the first as James Cullinane (Jr., OF, San Francisco, Calif.) crossed the plate on a passed ball to even the score at 2-2.

The Golden Bears would threaten in the top of the second with the bases loaded with two outs, however Cavasos got a ground out to get out of trouble to keep the score knotted at 2-2.

Concordia-St. Paul would take the lead back 3-2 when Connor Olson hit an infield single to drive in Zach Elder. Hormann would then hit an infield single to plate Patrick Bordewick to extend the advantage to 4-2.

Minnesota Crookston would again threaten in the bottom of the third as Mushitz doubled to deep left center and Hjelle singled through the left side to open the inning. Mushitz would come into score as Cullinane reached on a fielder's choice. CSP would be able to get out of any further trouble still holding on to the 4-3 lead.

Concordia-St. Paul would have a big frame in the top of the fourth. Leius would chase Cavasos from the game with a two RBI single to drive in Roch Whittaker and Schmidt to make it 6-3.

Aaron Hollcraft (So., LHP, Crookston, Minn.) would come to attempt to get Minnesota Crookston out of trouble. Adam Hildebrandt would single to left center to plate Leius to extend the lead to 7-3. With two outs, Hormann would keep it going for Concordia-St. Paul with a single to right field to drive in Elder. Tanner Holmquist then singled to right field to plate Hildebrandt. The U of M Crookston would get of the inning as Zach Frazier (R-Jr., C, Grand Rapids, Minn.) caught Holmquist stealing.

However, Concordia-St. Paul would do their damage as they would lead 9-3.

With Hollcraft still on the mound in the top of the fifth, Elder would hit a three-run home run to drive in Elder, Schmidt and Leius to push the lead to 12-3.

Minnesota Crookston would get strong pitching in the final two innings from Eric Newman (R-Fr., RHP, Buffalo, Minn.). Newman would strike out the side in the seventh and would give up just one hit to six batters faced.

The Golden Eagles would cut the lead in the bottom of the seventh when Matt Nelson (R-So., 1B, Lakeville, Minn.) hit a sacrifice fly to drive in Hjelle, who had tripled to lead off the inning. However, the U of M Crookston would be unable to get any closer as Concordia-St. Paul picked up the 12-4 win.

Minnesota Crookston would be led by Mushitz, who was 2-of-4 with oen RBI and two runs scored. Hjelle would go 2-of-4 with one run scored, while Wyatt Peppel (R-Fr., OF, Badger, Minn.) went 2-of-4 on the day.

Game Two

Yutrzenka would get the ball in game two and would put together another great start for Minnesota Crookston. Yutrzenka would give up one unearned run on six hits with two strikeouts in seven innings pitched. He would fall to 3-1 on the season with the loss in the pitcher's duel.

Josh Lenz would pick up the win for the Golden Bears as he shut out the Golden Eagles with no runs on five hits with 11 strikeouts in eight innings pitched. Jake Kounkel would preserve the shut out with his third save of the year with no runs and no hits in one inning with two strikeouts.

The Golden Bears would be the first to threaten in the top of the second as Schmidt reached on an error by Jeremy Spinner (R-Jr., IF, Phoenix, Ariz.) at third and Leius was hit by a pitch. Yutrzenka would strike out Elder and get a fly out to right from Ben Suits to preserve the 0-0 tie.

Concordia-St. Paul would again threaten in the top of the third as Hildebrandt reached on an infield single and Hormann reached on an error by Spinner. Yutrzenka would get Holmquist to hit into a double play to get out of danger and keep the score at 0-0.

The Golden Bears would get back-to-back two-out singles in the top of the fifth but Yutrzenka was clutch again as he got Hormann to foul out to keep the score knotted at 0-0.

Peppel would double in the bottom of the fifth to lead off the inning for U of M Crookston. However, Lenz got three-straight outs to keep the game scoreless.

The Golden Bears would finally get a run to cross as Yutrzenka hit Ben Suits with a pitch with the bases loaded to drive in Holmquist. Yutrzenka would come up with a big fly out to strand three runners and keep the Golden Eagles within striking distance down just 1-0.

Minnesota Crookston would look to get on the scoreboard in the bottom of the eighth. David Olson (Sr., C, Stillwater, Minn.) led off the inning with a pinch-hit single. With two outs, Anthony Stewart (R-Jr., OF, Oak Harbor, Wash.) would single through the right side to give the Golden Eagles two on with two out. Patrick Higgins (Sr., OF, Eagan, Minn.) would pinch-hit to look to get the U of M Crookston on the board. The senior would get a hold of the ball but it would end up being caught in center field to keep the score at 1-0 in favor of CSP.

Kounkel would come on for the Golden Bears in the bottom of the ninth and would mow down the Golden Eagles to preserve the 1-0 lead.
Minnesota Crookston would be able to get just five hits in the second game. Spinner would go 1-of-4 on the day. Peppel went 1-of-4, while Hjelle went 1-of-4, as did Stewart.

Zach Seipel (So., RHP, Eagan, Minn.) would also pitch for Minnesota Crookston. He would give up no runs on two hits with three strikeouts.

Minnesota Crookston will return to action April 5 at 1 and 3:30 p.m. versus University of Mary in Crookston, Minn.