CROOKSTON, Minn. – Ethan Mushitz (Jr., SS, East Grand Forks, Minn.) laced a single to right field to drive in Reed Hjelle (So., 1B, East Grand Forks, Minn.) as the University of Minnesota Crookston baseball team walked off in the ninth inning with a four-game sweep of University of Minnesota Duluth.

Mushitz's single in the bottom of the ninth pushed the Golden Eagles to the 3-2 come-from-behind victory over the Bulldogs. The win was the second walk-off victory in as many days for the Golden Eagles as Mushitz's former East Grand Forks High School teammate Scott Mortenson (Jr., OF, East Grand Forks, Minn.) hit a walk-off sacrifice fly to drive in David Olson in an 8-7 victory in the 11^th inning Saturday.

Minnesota Crookston opened the day with a 5-1 victory over Minnesota Duluth. The Golden Eagles were led by a strong performance from Justin Yutrzenka (Fr., RHP, Argyle, Minn.) on the mound.

With the sweep of Minnesota Duluth, the Golden Eagles are now right back in the thick of the playoff hunt as they are currently in eighth place with a four-game road series against Southwest Minnesota State University remaining on their regular-season schedule. Minnesota Crookston has moved to 22-24 (16-18 NSIC) with Sunday's victories. The Bulldogs are sitting in sixth place in the NSIC as they move to 21-24 (16-17 NSIC). The top eight teams in the standings at the conclusion of the regular-season make it to the conference tournament beginning May 10 in St. Cloud, Minn.

Game One
Yutrzenka got the game one start for Minnesota Crookston. The freshman pitched a complete game, giving up one unearned run on five hits with seven strikeouts on the game. Yutrzenka moved to 4-2 on the season in the victory.

Minnesota Crookston broke a scoreless tie in the fourth inning when Patrick Higgins (Sr., OF, Eagan, Minn.) hit a sacrifice fly to left field to bring home Mortenson.

The Golden Eagles added to their lead in the fifth when Patrick Amerson (Sr., IF, Eloy, Ariz.) singled through the left side to drive in Zach Frazier (R-Jr., C, Grand Rapids, Minn.). They would continue their run in the fifth when Mushitz was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to bring in Amerson. In the next at-bat, Higgins would earn the walk, driving in Hjelle to make it 4-0. David Olson (Sr., C/3B, Stillwater, Minn.) rounded out the scoring in the inning when he was walked with the bases loaded to plate Mortenson and make it 5-0.

The Bulldogs got their one and only run of the game in the top of the seventh when Brett Milazzo hit a sacrifice fly to center field to drive in Chris Saltzmann.

Nick Dorfman got the start for UMD but would exit early due to an apparent injury. He would go just one inning, giving up one hit and no runs.

Travis Berg suffered the loss after giving up four earned runs on two hits with three walks and two strikeouts in 1.2 innings.

Kole Zuidmulder was effective in his one inning for the Bulldogs, striking out the side.

Minnesota Crookston was led in game one by Amerson, who went 2-of-4 with one RBI and one run scored. Mushitz went 1-of-2 with one RBI and Hjelle went 1-of-2 with one run scored. Higgins had two RBI's in the game without getting a hit.
 
Game Two
Cody Pamperin (Sr., RHP, Shakopee, Minn.) got the start in game two for Minnesota Crookston. He got within one game of tying the school record for appearances previously set by his former teammate and assistant coach Ryan Paasch. Pamperin set the Golden Eagles up for success as he went seven innings, giving up just one earned run on five hits with nine strikeouts. One of the most prolific pitchers in school history, he currently holds the school record for Earned Run Average (ERA).

Minnesota Crookston opened up the scoring in the first when Higgins singled to left field to bring in Anthony Stewart (R-Jr., OF, Oak Harbor, Wash.).

Minnesota Duluth knotted the game up at 1-1 in the fourth as Alex Welder singled to bring home Tyler Midas. They would take the lead later in the inning when Drew Stewart scored on a Brian Pierce ground out.

Pamperin had his best inning of the outing as he struck out the side in the fifth. His strikeout of Ben Danielson in the frame set the school record for strikeouts in a season, surpassing Jeff Knudtson's career record set in 2004.

The Golden Eagles would knot the game up 2-2 in the eighth when Mushitz came into score on a Frazier RBI fielder's choice.

Minnesota Crookston would not quit in the bottom of the ninth despite getting two quick outs. That is when Hjelle came through with a single to center field to give the U of M Crookston a base runner. Higgins would earn the walk to give the Golden Eagles two on and two out. That is when Mushitz made it two days in a row with walk offs as he laced one to right field, bringing home Hjelle and again bringing his teammates on to the field as they celebrated their sweep of UMD.

Gabriel Cavasos (Jr., RHP, San Antonio, Texas) earned the win in relief after shutting down the Bulldogs in two innings. He would allow just one base-runner with no hits and two strikeouts. Cavasos moves to 3-5 on the season with the victory.

Kevin Stocke started the game for UMD and had a strong outing on the bump for the Bulldogs. He would go 7.1 innings, giving up just two earned runs on six hits with five strikeouts. Colton Sinning suffered the loss after giving up one run on two hits in 1.1 innings.

Minnesota Crookston was led by Mushitz, who was 2-of-4 with one RBI and one run scored. Higgins went 1-of-4 with one RBI, while Hjelle was 1-of-4 with one run scored.

The doubleheader served as the last home games for Minnesota Crookston seniors Higgins, Pamperin, Brandon Kresl (Sr., 1B, Crookston, Minn.), Cayden Barta (Sr., RHP, Fargo, N.D.), Matthew Dallas (Sr., RHP, Boise, Idaho), Jeremy Spinner (Sr., IF, Phoenix, Ariz.), Zac Carrillo (Sr., RHP, Manteca, Calif.), Olson and Amerson. The Minnesota Crookston senior class is the winningest in program history with 62 victories. They have already helped the Golden Eagles to back-to-back 20 win seasons for the first time in program history. The group is looking to lead Minnesota Crookston to back-to-back NSIC Tournament appearances.

The Golden Eagles will wrap up the regular-season May 5-6 at Southwest Minnesota State University at 1:30 p.m. on Friday and 12 p.m. on Saturday.