Crookston, Minn.—The University of Minnesota Crookston is back at it this weekend for four games against Winona State and Upper Iowa on Sunday and Monday. The Golden Eagles will travel to Forest City, Iowa on Sunday to play Winona State and Fayette, Iowa for a doubleheader with Upper Iowa.
 
The Golden Eagles will look to rebound this weekend after dropping two games to the University of Mary on Wednesday afternoon, 5-2 and 8-2 in frigid temperatures.
 
This weekend doesn't get any easier for the Golden Eagles as they host Winona State and Upper Iowa. The Warriors are 29-5 overall and 14-0 in conference play and are ranked 12^th in the entire nation. After losing two in a row in Missouri in mid-March, including losing 5-1 to the University of Central Oklahoma, who is ranked second in the nation, the Warriors have won 14 in a row.
 
Winona State at Minnesota Crookston
Sun., April 14—1/3 PM—Waldorf University Softball Field
Forest City, Iowa
Live Stats-- https://goldeneaglesports.com/sidearmstats/softball/summary
 
Upper Iowa at Minnesota Crookston
Mon., April 15—1/3 PM—Eischeid Softball Complex
Fayette, Iowa
Live Stats-- https://goldeneaglesports.com/sidearmstats/softball/summary
 
Minnesota Crookston Preview
Projected Starters
So. C/DP 2 Jordan Peterson, .327, 9 runs, 4 2B, 8 RBIs
Sr. 1B 3 Rocky Bjorge, .304, 9 runs, 6 2B, 3 HR, 17 RBIs
Jr. 2B 17 Malia Pula, .302, 20 runs, 9 2B, 1 3B, 3 HR, 22 RBIs
Sr. 3B 26 Maggie Morales, .276, 9 runs, 6 2B, 3 HR, 21 RBIs
Jr. SS 33 Mika Rodriguez, .286, 27 runs, 8 2B, 5 HR, 13 RBIs
Fr. LF 22 Leah Macias, .248, 12 runs, 9 2B, 1 HR, 10 RBIs
Sr. CF 1 Haley Strachan, .297, 11 runs, 6 2B, 1 RBI
Fr. RF 7 Hannah Macias, .276, 11 runs, 3 2B, 2 3B, 1 HR, 16 RBIs
Jr. DP/C 29 Samantha Proctor, .262, 6 runs, 3 2B, 8 RBIs

Top Pitchers
Jr. RHP 11 Paige Pitlick, 6-14, 3.11 ERA, 8 CG, 105.2 IP, 83 K, 33 BB
So. RHP 15 Taylor Graven, 5-6 3.96 ERA, 100.2 IP, 63 K, 31 BB
 
The University of Minnesota Crookston will look to bounce back this weekend in Bemidji against Winona State and Upper Iowa. Due to Mother Nature, the games have been pushed back a day and have been moved to Iowa.
 
Offensively, the Golden Eagles are tied for 15^th in the conference in batting average with a .267 mark. The Golden Eagles have 16 homeruns on the season, including five from Mikaela Rodriguez (Jr., SS, Laveen, Ariz.) and three each from Rocky Bjorge (Sr., 1B, Prior Lake, Minn.), Malia Pula (Jr., UT, Gilroy, Calif.) and Maggie Morales (Sr., 3B, Tucson, Ariz.). The Golden Eagles have gotten good production from the middle of the lineup in Pula, Morales and Bjorge. Those three lead the team in RBI's, with 22, 21 and 17, respectively. Freshman Hannah Macias (Fr., OF, West Covina, Calif.) has been on a tear in the batter's box. In her last six games, going back to game one with MSU Moorhead last Friday, Macias has collected eight hits in 17 at-bats, including hitting her first career homerun, good for a .470 batting average. Macias has raised her average 16 points, from .253 to .269. Macias will look to continue her strong offensive play this weekend.
 
In the circle, the Golden Eagles have gotten excellent starts from Paige Pitlick (Jr., P, Jordan, Minn.) and Taylor Graven (So., P, Greene, Iowa). Pitlick has a 3.11 ERA with a 6-14 record in 18 starts and 21 appearances. The junior right hander has eight complete games on the season. In 105.2 innings pitched, Pitlick has struck out 83 and has allowed 75 runs, but just 47 of those have been earned. Graven, the former Western Kentucky Hilltopper has had a solid first season as a Golden Eagles. Graven has a 5-6 record with a 3.96 ERA in 15 starts. In 100.2 innings this season, Graven has 63 strikeouts, compared to just 31 walks. Look for Pitlick and Graven to slow down the Warriors and Peacocks this weekend.
 
Winona State
Projected Starting Lineup
Jr., CF 10 Katie Kolb .288, 31 R, 5 2B, 16 RBI
Fr., RF 23 Kayla Kerkman .327, 19 R, 9 RBI
Sr., SS 17 Lani Van Zyl .472, 27 R, 10 2B, 4 HR, 27 RBI
Jr., C 11 Alison Nowak .464, 22 R, 12 2B, 9 HR, 38 RBI
Jr., 1B 23 Alexis Kelsey .349, 11 R, 6 HR, 26 RBI
So., 3B 21 Ann Smolenski .386, 16 R, 9 2B, 4 HR, 15 RBI
So., DP 4 Rylee Stout .259, 8 R, 3 2B, 1 HR, 8 RBI
So., 2B 12 Jen Giesey .282, 15 R, 5 2B, 1 HR, 15 RBI
So., LF 13 Carly Kordich .301, 16 R, 6 RBI
 
Top Pitchers
So., P 14 Liz Pautz .71 ERA, 10-2, 5 CG, 78.1 IP, 113 SO, 29 BB
Jr., P 3 Jordyn Kleman 1.84 ERA, 15-1, 12 CG, 102.2 IP, 133 SO, 28 BB
 
Winona State comes in with a 29-5 record on the year and comes in as the number 12 team in the nation. The Warriors are scorching hot as they bring in an unblemished record in conference play at 14-0. The Warriors took down powerhouse Augustana Tuesday in a midweek matchup that saw two undefeated teams. Even though he Warriors are perfect in conference play they are 6-1 on the road which means Crookston will have as good an opportunity as any to knock them off and take a game or two this weekend. Winona State is putting up unreal numbers at the plate as they are hitting an unbelievable .340 as a team. If that wasn't enough the Warriors pitching staff has been practically unhittable with a 1.56 ERA.
The Warriors bring in five hitters who are currently at the top amongst the conference. Lani Van Zyl leads the team with a .472 average. Van Zyl has recorded 50 hits, 10 doubles, four homeruns, 27 runs scored, and 27 RBI's. Alison Nowak also has a .464 average and an incredible .813 slugging percentage. Nowak has collected 52 hits, 12 doubles, a team high nine homeruns, and a team high 38 RBI's. Ann Smolenski is currently hitting .386, Alexis Kelsey is hitting .349, Kayla Kerkman is hitting .327, and Carly Kordich is hitting .301. The Warriors will look to put up a lot of runs in this matchup with Minnesota Crookston as they have all season.
Winona State ranks fourth in the nation in ERA as they have been lights out all year long. Liz Pautz comes in with a 0.89 ERA and a WHIP of 1.09. Pautz brings in a 10-2 record on 14 starts in 16 appearances. Pautz has only given up 10 earned runs in 78.1 innings pitched, and has 113 punch outs on the season. Jordyn Kleman has a 1.84 ERA in 102.2 innings pitched on the year. Kleman has 133 strikeouts and has given up 27 earned runs. Opponents are only hitting .169 against Kleman. The pitching staff will look to dominate in the matchup with Minnesota Crookston this weekend.
 
Upper Iowa
Projected Starting Lineup
Fr., 2B, 8 Kaylee Frenette .380, 23 R, 5 2B, 8 RBI
Sr., CF Sami Kay Shafranski .284, 22 R, 6 RBI
Jr., LF 1 Kennedy Newell .302, 10 R, 2 RBI
Jr., 3B 2 Jordyn Brennan .323, 22 R, 3 HR, 26 RBI
So., 1B 4 Katie Crogan .351, 18 R, 6 HR, 28 RBI
Sr., SS 3 Julia Buffington .418, 14 R, 6 2B, 1 3B, 4 HR, 19 RBI
Jr., DP 11 Michaela Schumacher .276, 2 R, 5 RBI
Fr., C 18 Emily Draeger .169, 7 R, 2 HR, 8 RBI
Sr., RF O Erin Drahozol .247, 13 R, 5 HR, 18 RBI
 
Top Pitchers
Jr., P 20 Emily Kisch 3.07 ERA, 10-5, 5 CG, 86.2 IP, 55 SO
Sr., P 0 Erin Drahozol 3.74 ERA, 2-0, 33.2 IP, 8 SO, 7 BB
Sr., P 7 Jaclyn Thompson 4.65 ERA, 2-4, 37.2 IP, 30 SO, 30 BB
 
Upper Iowa brings in a 16-13 record (8-6 NSIC). The Peacocks are currently on a five game win streak. The Peacocks are coming off a midweek sweep of Wayne State. The Peacocks are currently in sixth place in the NSIC. Crookston will have a good shot of getting a split this weekend. Upper Iowa is a solid hitting team, they bring in a .296 batting average as a team. The pitching staff has an ERA of 4.20 on the season.
Offensively the Peacocks are led by Julia Buffington who is hitting .418. Buffington has 28 hits, six doubles, one triple, four homeruns, and 19 RBI's. Kaylee Frenette is hitting .380, 23 runs scored, five doubles, and eight RBI's. Katie Crogan is also hitting .351 with 18 runs scored, nine doubles, and six homeruns on the season. Jordyn Brennan is hitting .323 and Kennedy Newell is hitting .302. The offense will be looking to these big bats to generate some runs this weekend.
Emily Kisch leads the Peacocks pitching staff with a 3.07 ERA and a 10-5 record on 12 starts in 19 appearances. Kisch has thrown 86.2 innings and has thrown five complete games. Kisch also has 55 strikeouts on the year. Erin Drahozal brings in a 3.74 ERA and a 2-0 record. Jaclyn Thompson and Sydney Wilcox both have around 37 innings pitched on the year with records of 2-4. The Peacocks pitching staff will look to hold the Minnesota Crookston offense at bay.