CROOKSTON, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Crookston baseball team opens up their eight-game excursion to Florida and the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational Sun., March 3. The Golden Eagles will play a tough schedule of NCAA Division II opponents in Florida.

Minnesota Crookston opens up Sun., March 3 as the Golden Eagles take on Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University at 4 p.m. C.T. at Osceola County Stadium in Kissimmee, Fla., the home of the Class A-Advanced Florida Fire Frogs of the Atlanta Braves system. The stadium is the former Spring Training home of the Houston Astros.

Mon., March 4, the Golden Eagles will take on Walsh University at 8:45 a.m., at Osceola Heritage Park Field 3 in Kissimmee, Fla. Tues., March 5, Minnesota Crookston faces Grand Valley State University at 11 a.m. C.T., and Cedarville University at 2:30 p.m. C.T., at Osceola Heritage Park Field 3. After a practice day, Minnesota Crookston takes on University of the Sciences Thurs., March 7 at 2:30 p.m. at Osceola Heritage Park Field 2 in Kissimee, Fla. Fri., March 8 at 11:45 a.m., the Golden Eagles will face New York Institute of Technology at Osceola Heritage Park Field 2. Sat., March 9, Minnesota Crookston will come up against West Virginia Wesleyan University at 8:15 a.m. C.T., at Lake Myrtle Sports Complex Field 2. The Golden Eagles conclude their trip to the "Sunshine State" Sun., March 10, as they take on New York Institute of Technology for the second time, this time at 8:15 a.m. C.T, at Osceola Heritage Park Field 3.

Minnesota Crookston vs. Embry-Riddle
Sun., March 3, 4 p.m. C.T. 
Live Stats - eraustats.com
Audio Stream - erauathletics.com/live 

Minnesota Crookston comes into the week with a 2-4 mark, after picking up a series win last weekend over Dakota Wesleyan University in Joplin, Mo. The Golden Eagles are hitting .299, as they had a strong weekend against the Tigers at the plate, putting up games with 20 and 19 runs. Minnesota Crookston has been led by Griffin Fussy (R-So., SS, Ham Lake, Minn.), who is hitting .375 with five runs scored, one triple, and five RBIs. Hunter Baldwin (R-Jr., 1B/3B, St. Thomas, N.D.) comes in hitting .364 with three runs scored, and two RBIs. Ben Thoma (So., C/SS, Clearbrook, Minn.), is hitting .348 with six runs, three doubles, two triples, one home run and six RBIs. Reed Hjelle (Sr., 1B, East Grand Forks, Minn.), the 2018 NSIC Player of the Year, has had a strong start to his senior campaign, hitting .333 with nine runs scored, one double, two home runs and six RBIs.

The Golden Eagles are looking to improve on the mound where they currently have a 10.57 ERA. Minnesota Crookston has been led by reliever Louis Gerzin (Sr., RHP, Ely, Minn.), with a 0-0 mark and a 3.86 ERA. Gerzin has yet to give up a hit on the season. Jayden Grover (Jr., RHP, Cooperstown, N.D.) had a strong outing last weekend in a start against Dakota Wesleyan. Grover went six innings and allowed just one earned run on four hits, with five strikeouts and two walks.

Embry Riddle
Embry Riddle comes in to this matchup with a 4-7 record. They have opened up their schedule with challenging opponents like Valdosta State University, No. 3 Columbus State, and Nova Southeastern. Embry Riddle is coming off a 20-30 season last year and is looking to improve on that this season.

The Eagles are led offensively by Kirk Sidwell who is batting .326, half of his 14 hits have been extra base hits. Sidwell also has four RBIs on this young season. John Devine is also hitting .320 and has one stolen base on one attempt. Luis Olivier is batting .273 but has a team high nine RBI's. Oliver has one homerun along with four walks.

The Eagles lean towards Troy Naab to get the job done on the mound, he comes in with a 3-1 record on two starts with five appearances. Naab has posted a 4.50 era on the season and has recorded 16 strikeouts in 15 inning pitched. Daniel Agramont is 1-1 up to this point and has made three starts. Agramont has a 5.79 era and has nine strikeouts through 14 innings.

Walsh University
Walsh University Ohio has posted a 1-3 record as they have only played one series against California Pa. They come in with a team batting average of .317 and have scored 24 runs on the young season.  The Cavilers pitching staff also brings in a team era of 8.54.

The Cavilers are led offensively by Junior Andrew Czech who is hitting .500 through four games. Czech has one Homerun, five RBIs, and five runs scored on the season. Sophomore Alec DeBruler brings in a .462 average on the season. DeBruler has four RBIs and two runs scored.

Brant Alazaus is a freshman left. Alazaus went five innings in his college debut and posted a 3.60 era. In his lone outing this season he struck out nine batters and only gave up two hits. Senior Anthony Krokos has been lights out coming out of the bullpen. In one appearance Kroks has thrown 2.2 innings and has only given up one hit while striking out four batters.

Grand Valley State University
Grand Valley State University enters the tournament with a 1-3 record. Last season the Lakers finished the season with an overall record of 28-23. The Lakers are hitting .314 as a team up to this point and have collected 19 total RBIs. Grand Valley State also brings in a team era of 3.48 and have racked up 35 strikeouts as a pitching staff.

Joe Laudont is one of the Lakers top hitters as he is 5-out-of-9 hitting .556 on the young season. Chase Carpenter is hitting .385 with two RBI's and three runs scored. The Lakers are a solid hitting team and bring in eight hitters that are currently batting above the .280 mark.

Rylan Peets leads the grand Valley State University pitching staff with a 0.00 era and one win on the season. Peets got a win in his lone start of the season going seven innings and giving up zero earned runs while notching seven strikeouts. Christian Mercure is another starter who has put together a quality outing for the Lakers. He has started one game and while he gave up six runs none of them were earned which keeps his era at 0.00. Mercure has thrown four innings and recorded seven strikeouts as well.

Cedarville University
Cedarville University comes into the tournament with a 1-1 record on the season. Last season the Yellow Jackets finished the season going 9-29 and are looking to improve on that this year. Cedarville University is hitting .182 as a team and has posted a 3.60 era as a staff.

The Yellow Jackets are led offensively by Payton Eeles and Logan Eby who are both hitting a team high .333 through two games. Logan Eby has one Homerun and two 2 RBIs. Payton Eelees has collected six hits and one of those was a double, he has scored one run as well.

The pitching staff for Cedarville University comes in with five of their pitchers posting a 0.00 era. Drew Minnich has one start for the Yellow Jackets pitching staff and pitched 4.1 innings while giving up two earned runs. His era is 4.15 and he has a team high four strikeouts. Gage Voorhees is a reliever but owns the lone win for the Cedarville University pitching staff. Voorhees has thrown 2.2 innings for the Yellow Jackets and currently holds a 3.37 era. Voorhees also has three strikeouts on the season.

University of The Sciences
University of The Sciences has only played one series so far and they are 1-3 on the season. Last year the Devils finished 8-35 overall and are looking to improve on that. The Devils are hitting .174 as a team and have an on base percentage of .343. The pitching staff has posted an 8.16 ERA so far.

Nate Steele is 5-for-12 hitting .417 for the Devils. Steele has both of the teams Homerun's and has scored three runs so far. Steele also brings in a team leading five RBIs. Nick Amicon and Matt McClennen are both hitting .250 for the Devils. Nick Amicon is 3-for-12 and has one run scored along with four RBIs. Matt McClennen is also 3-for-12 and has four runs scored.
Andrew Szpindor brings in a 2.45 era to the tournament. Szpindor has one start and has thrown 3.2 innings. He has only given up one earned run and has three strikeouts so far. Austin Blumetti is a reliever but has the lone win for the Devils pitching staff. In 1.1 innings of work he has posted a 0.00 era and has one strikeout.

New York Institute of Technology
New York Institute of Technology has started the season off a perfect 4-0. This is the start they were hoping for after coming off a 13-25-1 overall record last year. The bats are hot for the Bears as they come in swinging .366 as a team and have collected 17 extra base hits. The Bears pitching staff has a combined era of 5.25. They have nine pitchers that have logged an era under 2.00.

The bears bring in seven batters that are currently hitting above .300. Matt Malone is 7-for-11 with a .636 average. He has one double, seven runs scored, and three RBIs under his belt. John LaRocca is 9-for-16 with a .563 average. He has one Homerun, three doubles, five runs scored, and three RBIs so far. EJ Cumbo is 6-for-18 with a .333 average. Cumbo has two Homerun's, three runs scored, and five RBIs. The Bears will look to keep the bats hot during the Florida tournament.

The NYIT pitching staff has a combined no-hitter against Franklin Pierce. Moises Robles went 5.1 innings and Dean Fazah came in for the save pitching 3.2 innings, the two also had a combined eight strikeouts in the no-hitter. Chris Mott is another starter for the bears with a 0.00 era, he went four shutout innings and struck out five batters. The NYIT pitching staff will look to maintain this same success in Florida.

West Virginia Wesleyan College
West Virginia Wesleyan College has only played one series this far and they are 1-3 coming into the tournament. Last year the Bobcats finished the season with an overall record of 11-36. The Bobcats bring in a .222 team batting average and a 5.92 era as a pitching staff.

West Virginia Wesleyan's Greg Smith is 6-for-10 with a .600 batting average. Smith has two doubles, and three walks. Johnathan Cintron is 3-for-8 with a .375 average and has one run scored on the season. Ryan Kiser is hitting .273 for the Bobcats, he has one triple, two runs scored, and a team high four RBIs.

The Bobcats pitching staff has five pitchers with an era under 2.00. Michael Maiolo has one start for the Bobcats and owns the only win as he went six scoreless innings and notched seven strikeouts. Dominic Castello is the most reliable arm up to this point, he has posted a 0.00 era in 3.1 innings pitched and has struck out three batters.