Box Score WINTER HAVEN, Fla. – The University of Minnesota Crookston baseball team dominated Gannon University 15-1 Sun., March 1 at Chain O' Lakes Stadium in Winter Haven, Fla. Conner Richardson (So., RHP, Grand Forks, N.D.) continued his fantastic start to the season as he pitched a one-hit shutout over his six innings on the mound.

The Golden Eagles had a strong day at the plate led by Mason Ruhlman (Sr., 2B, Algonac, Mich.), who went 3-of-3 with two RBIs. Brock Reller (Jr., OF, Grand Forks, N.D.) finished 2-of-3 with three RBI, while Brad Morris (Jr., OF, Auckland, New Zealand) was 2-of-4 with three RBIs. Landyn Swenson (Sr., OF, Devils Lake, N.D.) went 2-of-4 for the game.

Minnesota Crookston moves to 5-4 with Sunday's win at the old Spring Training complex for the Cleveland Indians and Boston Red Sox. The Golden Eagles are 4-2 in six games at the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational. Gannon falls to 0-6 with the loss. The Golden Knights were a 33 win team during the 2019 slate.

Richardson has been phenomenal through three starts for the Golden Eagles. The Grand Forks, N.D. native is an unblemished 3-0 on the 2020 season and has a sub 1.00 ERA, as he currently boasts a 0.50 ERA with just one run allowed in 18 innings on the mound. Yadiel Ortiz (Jr., RHP, Patillas, Puerto Rico) came on in relief and gave up one run on two hits in one inning of work.

Benjamin Visnesky suffered the loss for the Golden Knights on the mound. At the plate, Trey Zeroski was the only player to get a hit off Richardson. Ian Hess and Ryan Kalbfus each had doubles in the seventh inning.

The Knights looked to get a two-out rally going in the top of the first as Elijah Quiceno and Brandon Wetherholt were walked back-to-back. However, Richardson got a key out of Hess to get out of any danger and keep the game at 0-0.

In the bottom of the first, Ruhlman opened up the scoring with a single to plate Ben Bryant (R-So., 2B/SS, Fargo, N.D.) to give the Golden Eagles an early 1-0 lead. Minnesota Crookston extended their advantage to 3-0 as Scott Finberg (Sr., 3B, Stillwater, Minn.) hit a two RBI double to drive in Ruhlman and Reller.

Ruhlman delivered again in the bottom of the second with a single to drive in Jake Hjelle (Fr., East Grand Forks, Minn.) to widen the lead to 4-0.

Gannon looked to get something going with their first hit of the game from Zeroski. However, Richardson got Justin Hamm to ground into a double play to preserve the 4-0 advantage headed into the bottom of the third.

Neither team got much going offensively in the bottom of the third and top of the fourth. Richardson controlled the Golden Knights in order in the top of the fourth, as the score remained 4-0 in favor of Minnesota Crookston.

Minnesota Crookston got another scoring rally going in the bottom of the fourth. Hjelle led off the frame with a single for the Golden Eagles. The Golden Eagles picked up two bases runners as Eli Jung (Jr., OF, Dickinson, N.D.) reached on an error by the pitcher. After the Golden Knights had secured two outs, Ruhlman reached on a walk to load up the base paths. Morris then came through in a pinch, as he singled to plate Hjelle and Jung and extend the lead to 6-0. In the next at-bat Reller tripled to clear the bases and drive in Ruhlman and Morris to widen the gap to 8-0 in favor of Minnesota Crookston.

Both Richardson and Gannon reliever Mason Haley made quick work of the opposition in the fifth inning, as the Golden Eagles remained in an 8-0 lead. Richardson dominated the Golden Knights in the top of the sixth to continue his dominant game on the bump for Minnesota Crookston.

Minnesota Crookston broke through for another strong inning in the bottom of the sixth, as they chased Haley from the game for Gannon. Swenson led off the inning with a single. Swenson came in to score on a Morris single to move the lead to 9-0. Minnesota Crookston extended their advantage to 10-0 as Reller doubled to plate Ruhlman. With one out, a Brandon Mitchell wild pitch scored Morris to push the lead to 11-0. Reller came in to score later in the frame on a Hjelle sacrifice fly to give Minnesota Crookston a 12-0 advantage. A walk offered to Ben Bryant loaded up the bases late in the frame. Swenson came through with a single to score Ben Thoma (Jr., C, Clearbrook, Minn.) and Chad Musser (Jr., OF/1B, Plymouth, Minn.) to widen the gap to 14-0. A Tyler Jochen (Jr., IF, San Jose, Calif.) single continued the outburst as he plated Bryant to extend Minnesota Crookston's lead to 15-0. Thomas Boyd was finally able to pitch the Golden Knights out of the big inning, but not before the Golden Eagles scored six runs.

The Golden Knights got on the scoreboard in the top of the seventh as Kalbfus and Hess traded places with a Kalbfus double to drive in Hess and put the Golden Eagles up 15-1. Ortiz got the final out of the game as Minnesota Crookston picked up the dominant 15-1 win over the Golden Knights.

Minnesota Crookston heads to Saint Leo, Fla., on Mon., March 2 to take on Saint Leo University at 5 p.m. C.T.