Crookston, Minn.—After setting the school record for wins last Saturday in the game one win over Northern State, the University of Minnesota Crookston softball team is set to hit the road for a quick two game hiatus against the University of Mary in the capital of North Dakota, Bismarck.
 
In his first season as head coach, Travis Owen not only made history on Saturday, but he did it against his alma mater, Northern State, where he was also a graduate assistant at one time.
 
The Golden Eagles are looking for more this week for a conference game with the Marauders. The Marauders are currently 13-17 overall and 4-6 in the NSIC. The Marauders currently sit in 13^th in the NSIC with that 4-6 conference mark, just two spots ahead of the Golden Eagles.
 
Minnesota Crookston at UMary
Location—Bismarck, N.D.
University of Mary Softball Field
Wed., April 10—2/4 p.m.
Live Stats: https://goumary.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, .318, 9 runs, 6 2B, 3 HR, 17 RBIs
Jr. 2B 17 Malia Pula, .317, 20 runs, 9 2B, 1 3B, 3 HR, 22 RBIs
Sr. 3B 26 Maggie Morales, .273, 8 runs, 6 2B, 3 HR, 21 RBIs
Jr. SS 33 Mikaela Rodriguez, .263, 27 runs, 7 2B, 5 HR, 13 RBIs
Fr. LF 22 Leah Macias, .250, 12 runs, 9 2B, 1 HR, 10 RBIs
Sr. CF 1 Haley Strachan, .306, 12 runs, 2 RBI
Fr. RF 7 Hannah Macias, .257, 11 runs, 3 2B, 2 3B, 15 RBIs
Jr. DP/C 29 Samantha Proctor, .241, 5 runs, 2 2B, 6 RBIs

Top Pitchers
Jr. RHP 11 Paige Pitlick, 6-13, 2.94 ERA, 102.1 IP, 81 K, 30 BB
So. RHP 15 Taylor Graven, 5-6 3.79 ERA, 98.0 IP, 63 K, 30 BB
 
The Golden Eagles will head west to Bismarck, N.D., for their midweek series with the Marauders feeling pretty good about themselves. At 13-23, the Golden Eagles have already broke the school record for wins, with 18 games left in the 2019 season.
Head coach Travis Owen has to be feeling pretty good about his offense. The Golden Eagles have four hitters that have a batting average of .300 or better, including Jordan Peterson (So., C, Lakeville, Minn.), Rocky Bjorge (Sr., 1B/3B, Prior Lake, Minn.), Malia Pula (Jr., UT, Gilroy, Calif.) and Haley Strachan (Sr., OF, Phoenix, Ariz.). Bjorge, Pula and Strachan have all started in 30 or more games on the season. Pula also leads the team in RBI's with 22. Maggie Morales (Sr., 3B, Tuscon, Ariz.) is second on the team in RBI's with 21. As a team, Minnesota Crookston has hit .268 on the season, with 16 homeruns, which is six more than last season's total.
 
In the circle, the Golden Eagles have gotten outstanding starting pitching. Western Kentucky transfer Taylor Graven (So., P, Greene, Iowa) and Paige Pitlick (Jr., P, Jordan, Minn.) have started a combined 32 of the possible 36 games this season for the Golden Eagles. Pitlick has arguably been the most consistent starting pitcher for Minnesota Crookston. Pitlick has a 6-13 record, but her 2.94 ERA suggests that she has pitched better than her record. The junior righty has eight complete games and two shutouts on the season. In 102.1 innings pitched on the season, Pitlick has struck out 81 hitters and has walked just 30. Opponents have .292 average against Pitlick. Meanwhile, Graven has a 5-6 record and 3.79 ERA in 15 starts. Graven has four complete games on the season, including a complete game shutout of Caldwell down in the sunshine state. The duo will look to be consistent in a bevy of games this week and weekend.
 
UMary
Projected Starting Lineup
Jr., CF 5 Rebekkah Keller .376, 22 R, 3 2B, 3, 3B, 1 HR, 7 RBI
So., C 26 Rachael Laetsch .207, 14 R, 4 2B, 5 RBI
So., 3B 24 Kaitlyn Alvarado .375, 16 R, 6 2B, 12 RBI
So., 1B 9 Kasidy Chileen .389, 18 R, 2 2B, 1 HR, 20 RBI
Sr., SS 1 Paige Matsuki .314, 21 R, 6 2B, 3 HR, 15 RBI
Jr., LF 16 Emma Noble .291, 16 R, 9 2B, 3 HR, 19 RBI
Sr., 2B 8 Kylie Alto .261, 13 R, 1 3B, 6 HR, 20 RBI
Fr., RF 7 Mariah Sanchez .241, 15 R, 4 3B, 1 HR, 8 RBI
Fr., DH 55 Haley Berube .276, 9 R, 8 2B, 4 HR, 22 RBI
 
Projected Starters
Sr., RHP 11 Brieann Backes 9-7, 5.34 ERA, 13 CG, 98.1 IP, 68 SO
So., RHP 24 Kaitlyn Alvarado 2-4, 5.64 ERA, 3 CG, 53.1 ERA, 26 SO, 14 BB
Jr., P 23 Madison Jahner 2-7, 7.22 ERA, 3 CG, 42.2 IP, 19 SO, 34 BB
 
The Marauders come into Wednesday's game sitting six games under .500 at 13-19 and 4-8 in conference play. UMary has lost four straight conference games, after getting swept by St. Cloud State and Minnesota-Duluth on back-to-back days.
 
The Marauders are a good hitting team, batting .297 as a team through 32 games. The Marauders have four hitters hitting over .300 on the season, including Kasidy Chileen, who is hitting .389 in 90 at-bats, with one homerun and is tied for second on the team with 20 RBI's. Rebekkah Keller is another offensive force for her team. Keller has 41 hits in 109 at bats, good for a .376 average and has six extra base hits.
 
In the circle, the Marauders have struggled to keep teams from crossing the plate. As a team, they have an ERA of 5.89, which is 15^th in the NSIC. Breiann Backes has been the most consistent Marauder starter. Backes is 9-7 with a 5.34 ERA, in seventeen starts. Backes has struck out 68 hitters, while walking just 54 and is tied for third in the conference with 13 complete games. Kaitlyn Alvarado and Madison Jahner have combined to start 14 games on the season. The duo has a combined 45 strikeouts between them and has a combined win-loss record of 4-11.