CROOKSTON, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Crookston baseball team will head back to the "Show-Me State" of Missouri for three more games Sat., Feb. 23 and Sun., Feb. 24. The Golden Eagles will take on NAIA foe Dakota Wesleyan University at 2 p.m. Saturday, and at 11 a.m., and 2 p.m. Sunday. All games this weekend will be nine inning tilts. The games will be played at Warren Turner Field in Joplin, Mo., the home of Missouri Southern State University baseball.

Minnesota Crookston Preview
Projected Starters
Jr. LF 6 Bryce Jorgenson, 6-0 175, Thunder Bay, Ontario
Jr. CF 1 Landyn Swenson, 5-10 175, Devils Lake, N.D.
Sr. 1B 33 Reed Hjelle, 6-3 225, East Grand Forks, Minn.
Jr. 2B 21 Mason Ruhlman, 5-10 215, Algonac, Mich.
So. RF 20 Brock Reller, 6-3 230, Grand Forks, N.D.
Jr. 3B 18 Scott Finberg, 6-4 220, Stillwater, Minn.
So. C 29 Ben Thoma, 6-0 205, Clearbrook, Minn.
R-Jr. DH 4 Clarke Peterson, 5-8 200, East Grand Forks, Minn.
or R-Jr. DH 32 Hunter Baldwin, 6-3 230, St. Thomas, N.D.
R-So. SS 9 Griffin Fussy, 5-11 185, Ham Lake, Minn.

Top Pitchers
Sr. LHP 24 Zach Rustad, 6-0 180, Blaine, Minn.
Jr. RHP 35 Jayden Grover, 6-3 220, Cooperstown, N.D.
Fr. RHP 28 Matt Nelson, 6-5 265, Afton, Minn.
Sr. RHP 37 Louis Gerzin, 5-11 210, Ely, Minn.
Jr. LHP 34 Graeme Cherry, 6-2 175, Millarville, Alberta

The Golden Eagles enter the weekend with a 0-3 mark as they dropped a trio of games to Central Missouri University, who was ranked No. 20 at the time. Minnesota Crookston will look to bounce back this weekend against Dakota Wesleyan.

The Golden Eagles are paced by 2018 NSIC Player of the Year, and 2019 NSIC Preseason Player of the Year Reed Hjelle (Sr., 1B, East Grand Forks, Minn.), who is hitting .333 with two runs scored, one home run and one RBI. Scott Finberg (Jr., 3B, Stillwater, Minn.) comes in hitting .333 with one run scored, one home run and two RBIs. Bryce Jorgenson (Jr., UT, Thunder Bay, Ontario) enters Saturday with a .250 batting average with two runs scored. The Golden Eagles are looking to improve at the plate as they come in hitting just .177 on the season.

Minnesota Crookston is looking to improve on the bump where they struggled in the first week. Matt Nelson (Fr., RHP, Afton, Minn.), Zach Rustad (Sr., LHP, Blaine, Minn.), and Jayden Grover (Jr., RHP, Cooperstown, N.D.) earned the starts in the first three games of the season. All three will look to improve heading into the weekend. Louis Gerzin (Sr., RHP, Ely, Minn.) had the team's lowest ERA and led the team with two strikeouts.

Dakota Wesleyan Preview
Top Players
Jr. IF 2 Reed Harter, 5-8 170, Colome, S.D.
Sr. IF 8 Wes Anderson, 5-10 180, Duluth, Minn.
Jr. C 27 Chandler Bakley, 6-0 190, Martin, S.D.
Sr. RHP 42 Gavin Reichmuth, 6-6 220, Chandler, Ariz.
Jr. LHP 13 Dominique Boerger, 5-11 200, Milbank, S.D.

Dakota Wesleyan opens their 2019 season on Saturday against the Golden Eagles. The Tigers are in their fifth season under Steve Gust protégé John Greicar. The Tigers went 11-28 on the 2018 season. Minnesota Crookston took two out of three games from Dakota Wesleyan last season.

The Tigers hit .239 as a team last season with 166 runs scored, 48 doubles, seven triples, seven home runs and 145 RBIs. 

Dakota Wesleyan returns seven players from their line-up from last season's squad. The Tigers are led by junior infielder Reed Harter, who hit .328 last season with 29 runs scored, four doubles, one triple, one home run, and 13 RBIs. Senior Wes Anderson also returns after batting .296 with 31 runs scored, nine doubles, one triple, three home runs, and 20 RBIs. In addition, Chandler Bakley is back after hitting .276 last season with nine runs scored, seven doubles, and 24 RBIs.

On the mound, Dakota Wesleyan posted a 6.45 ERA last season. The Tigers are paced by Gavin Reichmuth, who went 5-4 last season with a 4.61 ERA in 52.2 innings pitched with 15 strikeouts and 15 walks. In addition, left-hander Dominique Boerger returns after posting a 1-6 mark with a 4.72 ERA in 55.1 innings pitched with 41 strikeouts and 10 walks.