AUBURNDALE, Fla. – The University of Minnesota Crookston baseball program opened their eight-game excursion in Florida with a doubleheader sweep over West Virginia Wesleyan Tues., March 6 at Lake Myrtle Sports Complex in Auburndale, Fla. The Golden Eagles opened the day with an 8-3 victory over the Bobcats. Minnesota Crookston completed the sweep as they came through with an 11-10 win despite a six-run seventh inning for West Virginia Wesleyan.

Minnesota Crookston improves to 5-4 on the season with the pair of victories. West Virginia Wesleyan fell to 1-5 with Tuesday's losses. The Bobcats lone win came Mon., March 6 over University of Minnesota Duluth.

Game One
Parker Hanson (Jr., RHP, Hawley, Minn.) got the ball in the first game for the Golden Eagles. Hanson put together an impressive outing, giving up just three runs on seven hits in six innings on the mound. Hanson notched seven strikeouts with just one walk. Hanson moved to 1-1 with Tuesday's game one win.

The Golden Eagles were guided by their leadoff man as Anthony Stewart (R-Sr., OF, Oak Harbor, Wash.) was a perfect 4-of-4 in game one with three RBIs and three runs scored. Stewart had three singles and a triple as he set the tone for the rest of the lineup.

Reed Hjelle (Jr., 1B, East Grand Forks, Minn.) finished 2-of-4 with two RBIs. Mitchell Bornhauser (Sr., OF, Northfield, Minn.) went 1-of-3 with one RBI and one run scored. Zach Frazier (R-Sr., C, Grand Rapids, Minn.) broke through with his first two hits of the season, both coming on bunt singles, as he ended the day 2-of-4 with two RBIs. David Anaya (R-Sr., 2B/SS, Tucson, Ariz.) finished 1-of-4 with two runs scored.

Louis Gerzin (Jr., RHP, Ely, Minn.) had a strong inning of relief for the Golden Eagles. Gerzin gave up no hits and no runs with one walk.

West Virginia Wesleyan looked to Wyatt Adkins, who was 2-of-3 for the game. Kyle Kania finished 1-of-2 with two RBIs and one run scored.

The loss went to Jake Hakey, who falls to 0-1, after giving up five earned runs on seven hits with four strikeouts and three walks. Hunter Rotarius came on in relief and gave up just one run on four hits with two strikeouts in 2.2 innings of work. Sean Cliff finished the game, giving up no runs on one hit in one inning of relief.

Stewart got the Golden Eagles going out of the gate with a leadoff single. He came around to score on an Ethan Mushitz (Sr., SS, East Grand Forks, Minn.) sacrifice fly to right field in the top of the first to make it 1-0.

The Golden Eagles added two to their lead in the top of the third. With bases loaded, Hjelle came through with a single to left field to drive in Stewart and Anaya.
Minnesota Crookston brought four runs in in the top of the fourth. Stewart delivered in a big spot with a triple to right field to plate Anaya and Frazier. Bornhauser continued the scoring onslaught with an infield single to bring Stewart in to make it 6-0. Jonathan Lund (Jr., 3B, Tolna, N.D.) rounded out the scoring for the inning with a single to right field to plate Bornhauser and make it 7-0.

The Golden Eagles added a run in the top of the fifth as Stewart came through again, this time with a single through the right side to bring home Ben Thoma (Fr., UT, Clearbrook, Minn.).

West Virginia Wesleyan broke the shutout in the bottom of the sixth. Kania delivered a double down the left field line to plate Nick Grotti and Riley Metz. Dominic Castello then singled down the left field line to drive in Kania. Hanson got Minnesota Crookston out of any further trouble as they held on to the 8-3 lead, a tally they would win by.


Game Two
Justin Yutrzenka (So., RHP, Argyle, Minn.) got the game two start and put Minnesota Crookston in a position to win. Yutrzenka gave up four runs on seven hits in four innings with two strikeouts and two walks. Gabriel Cavasos (Sr., RHP, San Antonio, Texas) continued to come through as one of the best relievers for the Golden Eagles. He allowed no runs on two hits in two innings with two strikeouts and no walks as he earned his second win of the season. Jacob Butcher (R-Sr., RHP, Palmer, Alaska) struggled as he gave up five runs on four hits. Graeme Cherry (Jr., LHP, Millarville, Alberta) retired his one batter faced, giving the ball to closer Zach Seipel (Jr., RHP, Eagan, Minn.). Seipel gave up one run on two hits with two strikeouts in 0.2 innings pitched as he earned his second save of the season.

Hjelle propelled Minnesota Crookston as he went 2-of-4 with one RBI and two runs scored. Mushitz finished 2-of-3 with two runs scored. Frazier came through with a clutch double to finish 1-of-3 with three RBIs and one run scored, while Stewart finished off a big day going 1-of-2 with one RBI and one run scored.

Ryan Reicoff got the game two start for the Bobcats. Reicoff gave up just one earned run on three hits in four innings of work with two strikeouts and four walks. David McLeod got the loss in his first career appearance, giving up six earned runs on four hits with one strikeout and three walks. Cliff gave up just one earned run on one hit in one inning in his second appearance of the day.

West Virginia Wesleyan was led by Greg Smith, who was 3-of-5 with three RBIs and two runs scored. Adkins finished 3-of-5 with one RBI. Eric Forbrick was 3-of-4 with one run scored, while Metz was 2-of-2 with one RBI and two runs scored.

The Bobcats took an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first when Smith scored on a Metz sacrifice fly to right field.

Minnesota Crookston evened the slate 1-1 as Hjelle reached on an error at short stop and Bornhauser came in to score.

West Virginia Wesleyan responded and took the lead back 2-1 when Smith doubled to left field to plate Forbrick. Adkins singled to left field in the next at-bat, but James Cullinane (Sr., OF, San Francisco, Calif.) threw out Smith at home on a laser from left.

The Bobcats extended their lead to 3-1 when Grotti crossed the dish on a sacrifice fly by Kolby Wolf.

Minnesota Crookston countered with a big bottom of the fourth. Mushitz set the table with a double to left center to lead off the frame. Mushitz would come into score as Frazier was walked with the bases loaded. Anaya delivered a sacrifice fly to right to plate Lund to knot the score up 3-3.

West Virignia Wesleyan took the lead back 4-3 in the top of the fifth when Metz scored on a wild pitch.

The Golden Eagles responded in a big way with seven runs in the bottom of the sixth. Stewart again set things up with a leadoff triple down the right field line. Stewart came in to score on a Hjelle infield single. Lund then delivered a single to right field to plate Mushitz. Cullinane reached on an error at third base as Mushitz scored. Frazier would then come through with a crucial double down the left field line to drive in Lund and Hjelle. Cullinane crossed the plate on a wild pitch to move the lead to 9-4. The final run in the inning came across as Stewart hit a sacrifice fly to left field to plate Stewart and move the advantage to 10-4.

Minnesota Crookston moved their lead to 11-4 as Wyatt Peppel (R-So., DH, Greenbush, Minn.) had what would prove to be a crucial RBI on a groundout to plate Hjelle.

Butcher came on in the top of the seventh for the Golden Eagles. He ran into trouble beginning with an Alex Skinner single through the left side to plat Metz and Grotti. Kania then singled to left field to drive in Skinner to cut the deficit to 11-7. Cherry then came on to face Forbrick and got him to pop out to the short stop. He set up Seipel who came on to shut down the Bobcats. Smith doubled off Seipel to bring in Kania and Wolf and cut the lead to 11-9. Adkins then delivered a double down the left field line to plate Smith. Seipel came through with a clutch strikeout of Grotti as Minnesota Crookston won 11-10.

The Golden Eagles return to action Wed., March 7 at 10 a.m. C.T. against Greensboro College at the University of Tampa Baseball Field in Tampa, Fla.