Crookston, Minn.—After clinching a spot in the NSIC playoffs on Saturday, it's back to business for the Minnesota Crookston baseball team who will look to continue their strong season with five straight games at home to close out the 2019 regular season.
 
In game one on Saturday, the Golden Eagles came back from down three in the top of the ninth inning to up by one in the bottom of the ninth, after storming back and scoring four runs in the top half of the final inning, highlighted by a Ben Thoma (So., C, Clearbrook, Minn.) go-ahead RBI single with two outs in the inning.
 
With the come from behind victory, the Golden Eagles will be in the NSIC tournament for the third time in four seasons and will look to improve their seeding with all five of their remaining regular season games at home.
 
The five-game home stand will begin when the Golden Eagles welcome in Minnesota-Duluth for a doubleheader on Tuesday. The Bulldogs are currently 12-31 overall (9-22 NSIC), while the Golden Eagles are 25-18 overall (17-11 NSIC).
 
Minnesota-Duluth at Minnesota Crookston
UMC Baseball Field, Crookston, Minn.
Tues., April 30—1:30/3:30 p.m.
Live Stats-- https://goldeneaglesports.com/sidearmstats/baseball/summary
Live Video-- https://portal.stretchinternet.com/crk/#liveEventsTab
 
Minnesota Crookston
Projected Starting Lineup
So. C 29 Ben Thoma, .239 avg., 19 runs, 5 2B, 2 3B, 1 HR, 20 RBIs
Sr. 1B 33 Reed Hjelle, .356 avg., 39 runs, 3 2B, 3 3B, 10 HR, 36 RBIs
Jr. 2B 21 Mason Ruhlman, .203 avg., 17 runs, 4 2B, 2 3B, 4 HR, 15 RBIs
Jr. 3B 28 Scott Finberg, .238 avg., 22 runs, 10 2B, 6 HR, 26 RBIs
R-So. SS 9 Griffin Fussy, .267 avg., 22 runs, 3 2B, 1 3B, 15 RBIs
Jr. LF 6 Bryce Jorgenson, .269 avg., 37 runs, 14 2B, 10 RBIs
Jr. CF 1 Landyn Swenson, .265 avg., 25 runs, 4 2B, 1 HR, 20 RBIs
So. RF 20 Brock Reller, .280 avg., 32 runs, 10 2B, 4 3B, 9 HR, 44 RBIs
Sr. DH 16 Jonathan Lund, .289 avg., 6 runs, 1 2B, 1 HR, 4 RBIs
or R-So. DH 31 Travis Conoryea, .275 avg., 7 runs, 10 RBIs
Top Pitchers
R-So. LHP 36 Dalton Grose, 2-2 2.60 ERA, 34.2 IP, 38 K, 21 BB, 12 saves
Sr. RHP 37 Louis Gerzin, 3-1 5.09 ERA, 17.2 IP, 24 K, 18 BB
Sr. LHP 30 Nate Albrecht, 2-2 3.66 ERA, 46.2 IP, 37 K, 13 BB
Fr. RHP 17 Conner Richardson, 1-1 4.46 ERA, 34.1 IP, 16 K, 8 BB
Sr. LHP 24 Zach Rustad, 6-5 4.53 ERA, 59.2 IP, 46 K, 30 BB
 
Minnesota Crookston will look to finish the regular season on a high note with five consecutive home games. Offensively, Minnesota Crookston has been getting really good production from the middle of the lineup in Reed Hjelle (Sr., 1B, East Grand Forks, Minn.) and Brock Reller (So., OF, Grand Forks, N.D.) has been everything Golden Eagle fans can ask for. Hjelle has 10 homeruns and 36 RBI's on the season, while hitting .356, while Reller has nine homeruns and 44 RBI's. Reller is currently fourth in the conference in RBI's. Between the two greater Grand Forks natives, they have scored 61 runs on the season. The Golden Eagles will also look to Landyn Swenson (Jr., OF, Devils Lake, N.D.), Bryce Jorgenson (Jr., OF, Thunder Bay, Ontario) and Griffin Fussy (R-so., SS, Ham Lake, Minn.) to set the table for the middle of the order this week. As a team, the Golden Eagles are hitting .264 with 239 runs scored and are third in the conference with 32 homeruns.
 
On the mound, Minnesota Crookston has gotten good starting pitching from the trio of Nate Albrecht (Sr., LHP, Wahpeton, N.D.), Zach Rustad (Sr., LHP, Blaine, Minn.) and Jayden Grover (Jr., RHP, Cooperstown, N.D.). Rustad has a 6-5 record, with a 4.53 ERA on the season. Rustad leads the entire pitching staff in innings pitched with 59.2 and strikeouts with 46 punch outs this season. Rustad will look to build off of his last start, where he picked up the win, while going 5.1 innings of work, while giving up just two runs and striking out three. Albrecht has a 2-2 record, with a 3.66 ERA in 46.2 innings pitched and has struck out 37. Grover has also been good, going 5-3 in 10 starts on the season, while also striking out 37. The bullpen has also been solid this season, including Dalton Grose (R-so., LHP, Waterville, Minn.), who leads the NSIC in saves with 12 and is one save shy from breaking the school record.
 
Minnesota-Duluth
Projected Starting Lineup
So., CF 2 Henry George .393, 31 R, 7 2B, 2 3B, 1 HR, 19 RBI
Fr., RF 25 Tim Pokornowski .220, 7 R, 3 2B, 2 HR, 13 RBI
Sr., DH 21 Tyler Wojciechowski .305, 21 R, 7 2B, 5 HR, 29 RBI
Fr., 1B 33 Totsen Mann .333, 16 R, 9 2B, 2 3B, 11 RBI
Fr., SS 17 McCale Peterson .277, 19 R, 6 2B, 1 HR, 16 RBI
Sr., LF 8 Cory Krolikowski .311, 14 R, 6 2B, 1 HR, 17 RBI
Sr., 3B 11 Eric Yachinich .281, 18 R, 7 2B, 1 HR, 16 RBI
Fr., C 14 Tyler Peterson .161, 3 R, 3 2B, 1 RBI
Fr., 2B 15 Frankie Cistaro .074, 3 R
 
Top Pitchers
Jr., LHP 18 Rece Dietrich 3.59 ERA, 3-3, 1 CG, 42.2 IP, 24 SO
So., RHP 22 Mitchell Waletzki 6.21 ERA, 1-2, 37.2 IP, 21 SO
Sr., RHP 20 Nick Dorfman 7.16 ERA, 2-3, 1 CG, 27.2 IP, 17 SO
So., RHP 28 Liam Blaschko 4.45 ERA, 1-3, 30.1 IP, 22 SO, 9 BB
 
The Bulldogs come into the Tuesday doubleheader with the Golden Eagles struggling. The Bulldogs have lost six in a row, including getting swept by Minot State in a four-game series last weekend. The Golden Eagles will welcome the Beavers to Crookston to close out the regular season. Offensively, the Bulldogs have been led by second year man Henry George. The Bulldog centerfielder is hitting .393, while scoring 31 runs as the leadoff man for UMD. The Bulldogs don't hit many homeruns, hitting just 21 as a team, but Tyler Wojciechowski leads the team in homeruns with five and runs batted in with 29. Totsen Mann and Cory Krolikowski are other batters that hit over .300 and they will need to contribute this weekend against Minnesota Crookston.
 
On the mound, the Bulldogs' most consistent starter has been Rece Dietrich. The junior southpaw has a 3-3 record with a3.59 ERA in eight games started and 24 strikeouts in 42.2 innings of work. Mitchell Waletzki and Ben Shepard have also gotten six starts on the hill on the season and they will look to get big outs on Tuesday. As a team, the Bulldogs have a 7.46 ERA with 228 strikeouts and 208 walks in 328.1 innings pitched. Defensively, the Bulldogs have struggled, totaling 75 errors on the season, while their opponents have just 55.