ST. CLOUD, Minn.— The University of Minnesota Crookston baseball team saw their historic season come to a close Fri., May 10 at the NSIC Tournament as the Golden Eagles fell 10-0 to Northern State University in an elimination game. The game was the second tilt of the NSIC Tournament for the Golden Eagles and was played at Dick Putz Field in St. Cloud, Minn.

 Northern State's effort was led by a two-hit shutout by Luke Chevalier, who had a perfect game going through 6.2 innings before Reed Hjelle (Sr., 1B, East Grand Forks, Minn.) broke up the perfecto.

The Golden Eagles end their season at 28-21, their best wins mark in school history. The Golden Eagles end their season at the NSIC Tournament for the third time in four seasons. The Wolves improve to 26-24 on the season and will advance in the NSIC Tournament to play the loser of number four seed Minot State and number one seed Augustana University Fri., May 10 at 6:30 p.m.

Nate Albrecht (Sr., LHP, Wahpeton, N.D.) got the ball for the Golden Eagles in the start as he did what he did throughout the season, keep the Golden Eagles in it while he was on the mound. Albrecht went 5.1 innings and allowed just two earned runs on six hits with two strikeouts and two walks.

Chevalier got the win for the Wolves, tossing a two-hit complete game shutout with nine strikeouts to just one walk.

The Wolves had at least one base runner in all innings, except the fifth inning and used big inning in the seventh and eighth innings to defeat the Golden Eagles, 10-0. 

The top half of the first inning saw the Wolves mount a threat after a single from Hayden Houts and a walk from Dakota Stilson saw Northern State have two on with just one out. Albrecht got out of that jam with a 6-4-3 double-play off the bat of Spencer Sarringer.

The Golden Eagles would go down in order in the bottom of the first, helped out by Hayden Hall, who made two difficult plays to retire Bryce Jorgenson (Jr., UT, Thunder Bay, Ontario) and Landyn Swenson (Jr., OF, Devils Lake, N.D.).

The game would stay scoreless in the second inning, after Albrecht got out of yet another jam in the top half of the second.

The Wolves would score two runs in back-to-back innings. They struck first on a Hayden Houts RBI groundout in the top of the third and then added on to their lead with a sacrifice fly in the fourth to make it a 2-0 game.

The pitching of Chevalier would keep the bats silent for the first five innings, not allowing a Golden Eagle base runner through the first four innings. Brock Reller (So., OF, Grand Forks, N.D.) would look to change that. Leading off the bottom of the fifth inning, Reller sent a ball deep to center field, but Wolves centerfielder Justin Barreneche made an acrobatic catch crashing into the wall and holding onto it, keeping the perfect game intact for Chevalier.

Reed Hjelle (Sr., 1B, East Grand Forks, N.D.) got the Golden Eagles in the hit column in the bottom of the seventh, lining a 3-1 fastball back up the middle.

The Wolves would continue to add to their lead in the later innings, putting up three runs in the seventh and adding four more in the top half of the eighth inning.

That 10 run lead would be more than enough for Chevalier who finished the game with nine strikeouts and a complete game.

The Wolves finished the game with 13 hits and had four hitters with two or more hits, including Mikey Adams, who went 4-4 at the dish.

As a team, the Golden Eagles could only muster up two hits, one each from Hjelle and Landyn Swenson (Jr., CF, Devils Lake, N.D.).

The Golden Eagles will miss eight seniors next season in Jonathan Lund (Sr., 1B, Tolna, N.D.), Zach Rustad (Sr., LHP, Blaine, Minn.), Aaron Hollcraft (Sr., LHP, Crookston, Minn.), Jordan Deadwyler (Sr., OF, Jacksonville, Fla.), Hunter Baldwin (Sr., 3B, St. Thomas, N.D.), Gerzin, Albrecht and NSIC First-Team performer, Reed Hjelle. The senior class won a school-record 101 games in their four years.

These eight seniors have made the Golden Eagle baseball program a force in the NSIC. The Golden Eagles will look to build on the path set by their alumni as they head into Steve Gust's sixth season in 2020.