MINNETONKA, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Crookston baseball team continued to struggle to hit Concordia University-St. Paul as they fell 15-0 and 2-0 Sun., March 18 at Veterans Memorial Field in Minnetonka, Minn. The Golden Bears have gone 47.1 innings without allowing a run, including six shutouts as Minnesota Crookston fell victim to the Concordia-St. Paul pitching.

The Golden Eagles drop to 10-9 (0-4 NSIC) after losing the four-game series to open Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference play. Concordia-St. Paul moved to 11-3 (4-0 NSIC) with the series sweep.

Game 1 vs. Concordia-St. Paul
Minnesota Crookston struggled on the mound for the first time during the series as they allowed 15 runs in game one of the day to the Golden Bears. At the plate, the Golden Eagles were unable to hit Josh Gaworski as he picked up the no-hit shutout with just two walks on the game.

Jayden Grover (So., RHP, Cooperstown, N.D.) was saddled with the loss after giving up five runs on seven hits with one strikeout and two walks in 1.2 innings. Grover wasn't able to mirror his 10 strikeout performance in his last start Sept. 8 in a 7-3 win over University of Missouri-St. Louis.

Jacob Butcher (R-Sr., RHP, Palmer, Alaska) had his scoreless streak on the bump end after 7.2 innings as he hadn't allowed a run since March 6 against West Virginia Wesleyan as he had four appearances. Butcher gave up three earned runs on five hits with two strikeouts and a walk. Eric Newman (R-So., RHP, Buffalo, Minn.) allowed two runs on one hit in 0.0 innings of work, while Wyatt Huso (R-Sr., RHP, Eagan, Minn.) gave up one run on two hits in 1.1 innings.

Concordia-St. Paul looked to Drew Sannes, who was 4-of-4 with four RBIs and one run scored. Carter Schmidt finished 3-of-5 with one RBI and two runs scored, while Connor Olson was 2-of-4 with four RBIs and three runs scored.

The Golden Bears opened up the scoring in the bottom of the first when Olson led off the inning with a solo shot over the left field fence to make the score 1-0.

Concordia-St. Paul added four runs in the second frame paced by a Sannes two RBI single to knock in Connor Trygstad and Connor Olson.
The Golden Bears moved the lead to 8-0 in the bottom of the third when Olson hit a three-run shot over the left field fence to plate himself, Ben Suits and Patrick Bordewick.

Concordia-St. Paul added to the onslaught in the bottom of the fifth with six runs paced by a Ryan Christopher two RBI single to plate Mickey Leius and Bordewick. The Golden Bears led by the tally of 14-0 at the conclusion of the inning.

Concordia-St. Paul extended the lead to 15-0 in the bottom of the sixth when Sannes doubled to right center to drive in Schmidt. Minnesota Crookston would be unable to comeback from the 15-0 deficit as they would be unable to get a hit on the game.

Game 2 vs. Concordia-St. Paul
Justin Yutrzenka (So., RHP, Argyle, Minn.) led the effort with his performance on the bump as he allowed just one run on eight hits with four strikeouts and a walk in the six inning start. Yutrzenka suffered the loss in the 2-0 defeat despite his stellar performance.

Zach Seipel (Jr., RHP, Eagan, Minn.) came on in relief and gave up one run on one hit with three strikeouts and three walks in two innings.
Louie Varland got the win in the second game for the Golden Bears as he picked up the shutout with eight strikeouts and one walk. Varland allowed just five hits. Riley Sweeney came on for his fourth save of the year, as he allowed no runs and no hits with four strikeouts in two frames.

Minnesota Crookston spread five hits across the second game. Anthony Stewart (R-Sr., OF, Oak Harbor, Wash.), Ethan Mushitz (Sr., SS, East Grand Forks, Minn.), Wyatt Peppel (R-So., DH, Greenbush, Minn.), Jonathan Lund (Jr., 3B, Tolna, N.D.) and James Cullinane (Sr., OF, San Francisco, Calif.) all had one hit in the game.

Schmidt paced Concordia-St. Paul as he went 3-of-3 for the game. Christopher finished 2-of-3 with one RBI and one run scored, while Bordewick was 1-of-3 with one run scored.

Stewart got the bats going for Minnesota Crookston as he led the game off with a base knock to give the Golden Eagles their first hit of the day after being no-hit in game one. However, Varland would retire the next three batters to keep Stewart from scoring.

The Golden Bears took the 1-0 advantage when Christopher singled up the middle to plate Bordewick in the bottom of the second.

Minnesota Crookston had a scoring chance in the top of the third as Ben Thoma (Fr., UT, Clearbrook, Minn.) and Mushitz got on the bases with two outs. However, Varland retired Reed Hjelle (Jr., 1B, East Grand Forks, Minn.) to get out of the threat.

Concordia-St. Paul moved their advantage to 2-0 in the bottom of the seventh as Seipel walked Isaac Hormann with the bases loaded to score Christopher.

Minnesota Crookston would be unable to put anything together in the eighth and ninth innings as the Golden Bears would hang on for the 2-0 victory and the series sweep.

The Golden Eagles will return to action against No. 12 Augustana University Sat., March 24 at 1 and 3 p.m. in Sioux Falls, S.D.