CROOKSTON, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Crookston baseball team will open play at the 2017 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) Tournament Wed., May 10 in St Cloud, Minn.

 The Golden Eagles are the No. 8 seed in the tournament. They will take on No. 1 seed Minnesota State University-Mankato Wed., May 10 at 12 p.m. at Joe Faber Field in St. Cloud, Minn. The winner will advance to play the winner of No. 4 Wayne State College (Neb.) and No. 5 Minot State University Thurs., May 11 at 3:30 p.m. at Faber Field. The loser of Wednesday's game will play the loser of the Wayne State/Minot State game May 11 at 12 p.m. at Faber Field.


NSIC Tournament
Wed., May 10
Minnesota Crookston (8) vs. Minnesota State (1)
12 p.m., Faber Field, St. Cloud, Minn.

Thurs., May 11
Minnesota Crookston (8) vs. Wayne State (4) or Minot State (5)
12 p.m. (if lose Wednesday), 3:30 p.m. (if win Wednesday)

Live Stats - http://www.sidearmstats.com/stcloudstate/baseball/
Radio – 1260 KROX AM/105.7 FM
Video - https://portal.stretchinternet.com/nsic/



Minnesota Crookston
Projected Around The Horn
R-Jr. C 7 Zach Frazier
So. 1B 33 Reed Hjelle, .344 avg., 32 runs scored, 7 doubles, 4 triples, 26 RBI's
Sr. 2B 2 Patrick Amerson, .317 avg., 8 runs scored, 3 doubles, 8 RBI's
or Jr. 2B 10 Jason Angelo, .188 avg., 7 runs, 1 double, 5 RBI's
Sr. 3B 26 David Olson, .284 avg., 12 runs, 3 doubles, 9 RBI's
Jr. SS 27 Ethan Mushitz, .272 avg., 20 runs, 10 doubles, 3 triples, 2 HR's, 31 RBI's
Jr. LF/RF 8 Scott Mortenson, .246 avg., 13 runs, 1 double, 8 RBI's
R-Jr. CF 1 Anthony Stewart, .338 avg., 46 runs, 7 doubles, 4 triples 5 HR's, 34 RBI's
Jr. RF 20 Mitchell Bornhauser, .213 avg., 15 runs, 5 doubles, 1 HR, 12 RBI's
Sr. DH 11 Patrick Higgins, .231 avg., 6 runs, 9 RBI's
or Sr. DH 42 Brandon Kresl, .273 avg. 2 runs, 1 double, 4 RBI's

Top Starting Pitchers
Sr. RHP 34 Cody Pamperin, 1-6 3.28 ERA, 71.1 IP, 51 K's, 18 BB's
So. RHP 23 Parker Hanson, 4-2 4.52 ERA, 65.2 IP, 43 K's, 24 BB's
R-Jr. RHP 16 Jacob Butcher, 6-3 4.75 ERA, 47.1 IP, 30 K's, 18 BB's

Top Relief Pitchers
So. RHP 21 Zach Seipel, 1-4 2.54 ERA, 39.0 IP, 12 saves, 52 K's, 22 BB's
Fr. RHP 35 Jayden Grover, 1-0 5.34 ERA, 28.2 IP, 26 K's, 10 BB's

Minnesota State
Projected Around The Horn
Jr. C 40 Ryan Moffett, .302 avg., 9 runs, 3 doubles, 2 HR, 7 RBI's
or Sr. C 39 Hunter Harnisch, .292 avg., 5 runs, 2 doubles, 1 HR, 4 RBI's
Jr. 1B 5 Dylan Dresel, .335 avg., 46 runs, 8 doubles, 1 triple, 11 HR's, 48 RBI's
R-Fr. 2B/DH 3 Tommy McDonald, .317 avg., 28 runs, 7 doubles, 2 triples, 4 HR's, 34 RBI's
Sr. 3B 9 Eric Peterson, .392 avg., 55 runs, 12 doubles, 2 triples, 7 HR, 28 RBI's
Jr. SS 17 Luke Waldek, .195 avg., 24 runs, 8 doubles, 2 HR's, 28 RBI's
Fr. LF/2B 2 Teddy Petersen, .333 avg., 26 runs, 5 doubles, 1 triple, 8 RBI's
Jr. CF 6 Josh Wenzel, .312 avg., 35 runs, 10 doubles, 1 triple, 10 HR's, 44 RBI's
So. RF 16 Jordan Hart, .366 avg., 44 runs, 9 doubles, 3 triples, 9 HR's, 41 RBI's
Sr. DH/LF 19 Hunter Walsh, .266 avg., 24 runs, 6 doubles, 4 HR, 18 RBI's

Top Starting Pitchers
Jr. RHP 10 Dalton Roach, 8-1 1.94 ERA, 69.2 IP, 107 K's, 8 BB's
Sr. RHP 37 Mitchell Bauer, 7-0 2.80 ERA, 74.0 IP, 61 K's, 16 BB's
Jr. LHP 32 Brody Rodning, 6-3 3.41 ERA, 58.0 IP, 68 K's, 27 BB's

Top Relief Pitchers
Jr. RHP 23 Ricky Digrugilliers, 6-0 1.59 ERA, 39.2 IP, 23 K's, 2 BB's
Jr. LHP 18 Aaron Rozek, 4-1 0.00 ERA, 27.2 IP, 2 saves, 35 K's, 3 BB's

The Minnesota Crookston earned their second-consecutive NSIC berth last weekend as they clinched the No. 8 seed with a split against Southwest Minnesota State. The Golden Eagles enter the week with a 24-26 (18-20 NSIC) mark. The U of M Crookston is just one win shy of their program record for wins of 25, which was set during the 2016 season. Minnesota Crookston has won 63 games in the last three seasons under Head Coach Steve Gust as he has ushered in one of the biggest turnarounds in a program over his time in Crookston. The Golden Eagles had won just one game each season prior to Gust's arrival.

The U of M Crookston is led by their pitching staff. The Golden Eagles look to closer Zach Seipel (So., RHP, Eagan, Minn.) to lead the way. Seipel has been one of the best closers in the nation over the best two seasons with 23 saves. Seipel is 1-4 with a 2.54 ERA with 12 saves as a sophomore. The Minnesota Crookston starting rotation looks to Cody Pamperin (Sr., RHP, Shakopee, Minn.), who is one of the most prolific pitchers in school history. Pamperin has a 3.28 ERA in 15 appearances this season. He is one appearance from setting the school record in that category, breaking his former teammate and assistant coach Ryan Paasch's mark.

In addition, Parker Hanson (So., RHP, Hawley, Minn.) has been strong on the bump for the Golden Eagles. Hanson came in with confidence and led the Golden Eagles to a victory on Saturday in a must-win situation against the Mustangs. Hanson is 4-2 on the season with a 4.52 ERA in 65.2 innings pitched.

Minnesota Crookston has continued to improve at the plate, finding the right combination of guys in recent weeks. The Golden Eagles are hitting .261 as a team. The U of M Crookston is led by Reed Hjelle (So., 1B, East Grand Forks, Minn.), who is hitting .344 with 32 runs scored, seven doubles, four triples and 26 RBI's. Anthony Stewart (R-Jr., OF, Oak Harbor, Wash.) has been one of the league's best leadoff hitters. Stewart is hitting .338 with 46 runs scored, seven doubles, four triples, five home runs and 34 RBI's.

The Golden Eagles have also been led recently by the play of a pair of seniors. Patrick Amerson (Sr., 2B, Eloy, Ariz.) is batting .317 with eight runs scored and eight RBI's. David Olson (Sr., 3B/C, Stillwater, Minn.) had a big weekend for U of M Crookston against SMSU. Olson is hitting .284 with 12 runs scored, three doubles and nine runs scored.

Minnesota State enters the week ranked No. 13/19 in the nation. The Mavericks are 40-9 (35-5 NSIC) mark. Minnesota State won the regular-season NSIC Championship.

The Mavericks have a strong pitching staff that has posted an impressive 2.77 team ERA. Dalton Roach has led the way with an 8-1 mark and a 1.94 ERA in 11 starts. In addition, Mitchell Bauer is 7-0 with a 2.80 ERA in 11 starts. The bullpen for Minnesota State looks to Ricky Digrugilliers, who is 6-0 with a 1.59 ERA and Aaron Rozek, who is 4-1 with a 0.00 ERA.
Minnesota State is hitting .301 overall as a team on the year. The Maverick look to Eric Peterson, who is batting .392 on the year with 55 runs scored, seven home runs and 28 RBI's. Jordan Hart is hitting .366 with 44 runs scored, nine home runs and 41 RBI's, while Dylan Dresel is batting .335 with 46 runs scored, 11 home runs and 48 RBI's.

The Mavericks beat the Golden Eagles in non-conference play Feb. 25 at U.S. Bank Stadium 8-2. Brody Rodning got the win for the Mavericks on the day.

Minot State enters the week with a 28-20 (23-17 NSIC) mark. The Beavers are led by Jordan Schulz, who is batting .375 on the season with 44 runs scored, five home runs and 31 RBI's. Michael Borst is hitting .359 with 31 runs scored, six home runs and 57 RBI's. On the mound, Minot State looks to Tanner Alexander, who is 6-4 with a 3.35 ERA, while Justin Demary is 5-2 with a 3.36 ERA.

Wayne State comes into the week with a 28-22 (23-16 NSIC) record. The Wildcats are led by David Janes, who is hitting .363 with 20 runs scored and 24 RBI's. Jackson Petersen comes in batting .374 with 22 runs scored and 20 RBI's, while Cody Jenkins is batting .341 with 31 runs scored, six home runs and 38 RBI's. On the bump, the Wildcats look to Aiden Breedlove with a 5-4 mark and a 3.17 ERA. Out of the bullpen, Kyle Kennebeck leads the way with a 1-0 mark and a 1.35 ERA in 33.1 innings pitched.