Crookston, Minn.—The University of Minnesota Crookston softball team is back in on the road again for doubleheaders against Minnesota State University Mankato and Concordia-St. Paul.
 
The Golden Eagles are wrapping up a six games in three day stretch that saw the Golden Eagles play doubleheaders with Winona State, Upper Iowa and St. Cloud State.
 
This weekend, the Golden Eagles will look to end a nine-game losing streak as they look to upend the Mavericks and Golden Bears this weekend. Minnesota Crookston is currently 13-31 overall (2-18 NSIC).
 
Minnesota Crookston at Minnesota State University Mankato
Fri., April 19—1/3 p.m.
Mankato, Minn.
MSU Softball Diamond
History-- https://msumavericks.com/opponent-history/softball/university-of-minnesota-crookston/12/16
Live Stats-- https://msumavericks.com/sidearmstats/softball/summary
 
Minnesota Crookston at Concordia-St. Paul
Sat., April 20—12/2 p.m.
St. Paul, Minn.
Carlander Field
History-- https://cspbears.com/opponent-history/softball/university-of-minnesota-crookston/8/9
Live Stats-- https://cspbears.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, .272, 10 runs, 6 2B, 3 HR, 17 RBIs
Jr. 2B 17 Malia Pula, .291, 22 runs, 9 2B, 1 3B, 4 HR, 23 RBIs
Sr. 3B 26 Maggie Morales, .277, 10 runs, 6 2B, 3 HR, 23 RBIs
Jr. SS 33 Mika Rodriguez, .258, 28 runs, 8 2B, 6 HR, 16 RBIs
Fr. LF 22 Leah Macias, .243, 13 runs, 10 2B, 1 HR, 10 RBIs
Sr. CF 1 Haley Strachan, .288, 14 runs, 6 2B, 2 RBI
Fr. RF 7 Hannah Macias, .252, 14 runs, 4 2B, 2 3B, 1 HR, 16 RBIs
Jr. DP/C 29 Samantha Proctor, .263, 7 runs, 5 2B, 9 RBIs

Top Pitchers
Jr. RHP 11 Paige Pitlick, 6-17, 4.27 ERA, 8 CG, 113.0 IP, 87 K, 43 BB
So. RHP 15 Taylor Graven, 5-8, 4.24 ERA, 112.1 IP, 68 K, 37 BB
 
The Golden Eagles will once again hit the road for four games this weekend, two with the Mavericks of Minnesota State University Mankato and two with the Golden Bears of Concordia-St. Paul. Minnesota Crookston will look to break a nine-game losing streak, their longest of the season.
 
Offensively, Minnesota Crookston is hitting .255 as a team, compared to opponents hitting .341 on the season. The Golden Eagles are led offensively by Jordan Peterson (So., C/UT, Lakeville, Minn.), who is hitting .327 with nine runs and eight runs batted in. Junior College transfer Malia Pula (Jr., UT, Gilroy, Calif.) is having a solid first season for head coach Travis Owen. Pula is hitting .291 with 22 runs scored. Pula also has nine doubles, four homeruns and 23 RBI's to go along with her 22 runs scored. Haley Strachan (Sr., OF, Phoenix, Ariz.), Maggie Morales (Sr., 3B, Tuscon, Ariz.) and Rocky Bjorge (Sr., 1B/3B, Prior Lake, Minn.) are all hitting above .270 in their final season in the maroon and gold. Mikaela Rodriguez (Jr., SS, Laveen, Ariz.) has a team leading six homeruns and will look to continue her power surge this weekend.
 
In the circle, the Golden Eagles have two underclassmen that have gotten a majority of the starts this season, in Taylor Graven (So., P, Greene, Iowa) and Paige Pitlick (Jr., P, Jordan, Minn.). Graven and Pitlick have combined for 39 starts and have combined to pitch 225.1 innings on the season. Graven, the former Western Kentucky Hilltopper has been solid with a 5-8 record with a 4.24 ERA, while striking out 68 and has given up just 37 walks. Pitlick has a 6-17 record with eight complete games. Pitlick leads the pitching staff in strikeouts with 87 and innings pitched with 113.0. The Golden Eagles will look to rely on the right-handers to break them out of the losing streak this weekend.
 
Minnesota State Mankato
Projected Starting Lineup
Sr., LF 4 Mckenzie Paap .343, 31 R, 2 2B, 1 3B, 15 RBI
Fr., RF 11 Kayla Moky .304, 19 R, 5 RBI
Sr., C 15 Cori Kennedy .370, 18 R, 9 2B, 4 HR, 21 RBI
Jr., 1B 7 Amber Kral .327, 13 R, 6 2B, 2 HR, 14 RBI
So., SS 18 Torey Richards .266, 15 R, 2 HR, 10 RBI
So., DH 14 Emma Schifferle .259, 20 R, 7 2B, 7 HR, 27 RBI
So., 2B 1 Julia Bastian .258, 10 R, 1 HR, 7 RBI
Jr., 3B 21 Kennedy Rieck .178, 6 R, 9 RBI
So., CF 12 Courtney Potter .312, 15 R, 21 RBI
 
Top Pitchers
So., P 17 Mackenzie Ward 13-11, 2.65 ERA, 18 CG, 156.0 IP, 181 SO, 36 BB
So., P 5 Lexi Schoper 6-3, 3.44 ERA, 65.1 IP, 37 SO, 15 BB
 
Minnesota State enters the weekend with a 25-17 overall record and a (10-10 NSIC) record. Minnesota State is currently on a three game win streak but brings in a sub-par 2-4 record at home. The Mavericks are in a four way tie and are sitting in sixth place at the moment and will be looking to shake up the standings with a win a few wins this weekend. The Mavericks are hitting .293 as a team, and have tallied 86 extra base hits. The Mavericks pitching staff comes in with a 3.56 ERA and an opponent batting average of .260.
Minnesota State brings in eight hitters who are hitting above 250. They are led offensively by Cori Kennedy who is hitting .370 and has a slugging percentage of .567. Kennedy also has 18 runs scored on the year, nine doubles, four homeruns, and two triples. McKenzie Paap is hitting .343 but she is also very dangerous on the base paths. Paap has 26 stolen bases on 31 attempts. She 31 runs scored along with 15 runs batted in. Amber Karl is also swinging a hot bat as she comes in hitting .327 and has a slugging percentage of .455. Karl has six doubles, two homeruns, and 14 runs batted in. The Mavericks will be looking to keep the bats hot against Crookston.
The pitching staff for the Mavericks is led by Mackenzie Ward who brings in a low 2.65 ERA and has a record of 13-11. Ward has also tossed 18 complete games and has notched three saves on the year. In 156 innings of work Ward has given up 46 earned runs and has mowed down 181 hitters. Lexi Schoper has come on as another strong pitcher as she sports a 3.44 ERA and a 6-3 record. In 65.1 innings thrown Schoper has 37 punch outs. The Mavericks pitching staff does a great job of limiting extra base hits and will be looking to hold the Crookston hitters.
 
Concordia-St. Paul
Projected Starting Lineup
Sr., CF 20 Carlie Hart .391, 38 R, 6 2B, 2 3B, 3 HR, 22 RBI
Jr., RF 2 Kris McIntyre .381, 29 R, 8 RBI
Sr., 3B 12 Justine Schattner .344, 22 R, 8 2B, 3 HR, 29 RBI
So., 1B 14 Hanna Mortenson .299, 16 R, 8 2B, 5 HR, 20 RBI
So., C 8 Amanda Parsons .241, 14 R, 1 HR, 11 RBI
Fr., LF 6 Katie Carlson .130, 7 R, 2 HR, 9 RBI
So., 2B 7 Cam Veenbaas .231, 15 R, 6 RBI
Fr., SS 5 Emma Adamek .308, 10 R, 4 RBI
 
Top Pitchers
Jr., P 24 Samantha Sullivan 3.07 ERA, 10-8, 8 CG, 109.1 IP, 83 SO, 34 BB
Jr., P 23 Kalli Kaestner 3.07 ERA, 4-4, 4 CG, 68.1 IP, 47 SO, 31 BB
Jr., P 25 Aryka Knoche 3.12 ERA, 8-6, 8 CG, 85.1 IP, 65 SO, 23 BB
 
Concordia- St. Paul currently has a record of 22-18 (9-11 NSIC). CSP is sitting in tenth place but a weekend split or sweep could drastically change the conference standings. With the season nearing an end this weekend is very big for the Golden Bears playoff hopes. The Golden Bears are currently in the mix of a three game skid and need to break this streak. Concordia- St. Paul is hitting .295 as a team and has 79 stolen bases as a team. As a pitching staff the Golden Bears bring in an ERA of 3.03.
The Golden Bears bring in six hitters who are hitting above .250, four of which are hitting above .300. Carlie Hart has been on fire all season as she leads the team offensively hitting .391. Hart has 38 runs scored, six doubles, two triples, and three homeruns. Hart has a .529 slugging percentage and adds 22 runs batted in. Hart is just as dangerous on the bases as she is at the plate, she has 35 stolen bases on 37 attempts. Kris McIntyre is right behind her hitting .381 with 29 runs scored and two doubles on the season. McIntyre has also swiped 20 bags on 21 attempts. Aryka Knoche is another hot bat that is hitting .380 with 10 doubles and 23 runs batted in. The Golden Bears will look to get runners on and use their speed to advance runners and score runs.
The Concordia- St. Paul pitching staff consist of three pitchers who all have an ERA under 3.5. Samantha Sullivan leads the pitching staff with 109.1 innings pitched. Sullivan has a 3.07 ERA with a record of 10-8. Kali Kaestner also brings in a 3.07 ERA with 68.1 innings pitched. Kaestner has only given up 30 earned runs and has 47 strikeouts to go with a 4-4 record. Two way player Aryka Knoche is also getting is done on the mound with a 3.12 ERA and a 8-6 record. Knoche has 65 strikeouts in 85.1 innings pitched. The Golden Bears will look for a continuously solid pitching performance from their staff this weekend.