CROOKSTON, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Crookston baseball team opens up NSIC play Sat., March 14 and Sun., March 15 at Louhgrey Field in Winona, Minn. The Golden Eagles will play a three-game series with the Warriors.

Minnesota Crookston is looking to improve on an 8-5 mark to open the 2020 season. The Golden Eagles opened up the 2018 season with a 9-4 mark. The Golden Eagles are looking to get off to good footing in the NSIC.

Golden Eagle Projected Line-Up (Based on Most Recent Line-Up)

R-So. SS 23 Ben Bryant (5-8 160, Fargo, N.D.) - .353, 10 runs, 1 2B, 6 RBIs
Sr. 2B 21 Mason Ruhlman (5-10 215, Algonac, Mich.) - .360, 11 runs, 2 2B, 2 HR, 13 RBIs
Jr. CF 16 Brad Morris (6-3 200, Auckland, New Zealand) - .382, 13 runs, 5 2B, 1 3B, 8 RBIs
Jr. RF 20 Brock Reller (6-3 230, Grand Forks, N.D.) - .360, 15 runs, 2 2B, 4 3B, 5 HR, 17 RBIs
Sr. 3B 18 Scott Finberg (6-4 220, Stillwater, Minn.) - .383, 14 runs, 3 2B, 5 HR, 15 RBIs
Jr. C 29 Ben Thoma (6-0 205, Clearbrook, Minn.) - .342, 8 runs, 2 2B, 2 HR, 7 RBIs
Jr. DH 15 Eli Jung (6-2 210, Dickinson, N.D.) - .294, 3 runs, 2 HR, 7 RBIs
Fr. 1B 12 Jake Hjelle (6-2 220, East Grand Forks, Minn.) - .286, 8 runs, 3 2B, 2 3B, 1 HR, 6 RBIs
Sr. LF 6 Bryce Jorgenson (6-1 180, Thunder Bay, Ontario) - .200, 5 runs, 1 HR, 5 RBIs

Top Starting Pitchers
So. RHP 28 Matt Nelson (6-5 260, Afton, Minn.) – 1-0 1.98 ERA, 13.2 IP, 19 K, 4 BB
So. RHP 17 Conner Richardson (6-4 205, Grand Forks, N.D.) – 3-0 2.57 ERA, 21.0 IP, 7 K, 5 BB
Sr. RHP 35 Jayden Grover (6-3 220, Cooperstown, N.D.) – 2-1 3.86 ERA, 23.1 IP, 26 K, 7 BB
Jr. RHP 40 Phil Hindes (5-9 170, Tucson, Ariz.) – 1-0 5.40 ERA, 13.1 IP, 4 K, 2 BB

Top Relief Pitchers
So. RHP 14 Tyler Hegg (6-4 235, Thompson, N.D.) – 1-0 0.00 ERA, 7.0 IP, 8 K, 5 BB
Sr. RHP 8 Garrett Hohn (6-0 165, Wausau, Wis.) – 0-0 0.00 ERA, 2.2 IP, 6 K, 4 BB
Sr. LHP 36 Dalton Grose (6-4 235, Waterville, Minn.) – 0-0 2.35 ERA, 7.2 IP, 11 K, 4 BB, 2 Saves

Top Other Bats
Sr. OF 1 Landyn Swenson (5-10 175, Devils Lake, N.D.) - .313, 3 runs, 1 2B, 2 RBIs
Jr. 2B/SS 13 Tyler Jochen (6-0 195, San Jose, Calif.) - .500, 3 runs, 1 RBI
Sr. SS 10 Will Zimmerman (5-8 180, Park River, N.D.) - .294, 5 runs, 3 2B, 1 RBI

Minnesota Crookston comes into NSIC play hitting an impressive .324 at the plate with 101 runs scored, 22 doubles, seven triples, 18 home runs, and 89 RBIs. The Golden Eagles have been led by the play of Scott Finberg (Sr., 3B, Stillwater, Minn.), who is hitting .383 with 14 runs scored, three doubles, five home runs, and 15 RBIs. Junior college transfer Brad Morris (Jr., OF, Auckland, New Zealand) comes in hitting .382 with 13 runs scored, five doubles, one triple, and eight RBIs. Reining NSIC Player of the Week Brock Reller (Jr., OF, Grand Forks, N.D.) is coming off a great week in Florida, as he is hitting .360 with 15 runs scored, two doubles, four triples, five home runs and 17 RBIs. In addition, Ben Bryant (R-So., 2B/SS, Fargo, N.D.) enters the weekend batting .353 with 10 runs scored, one doubles, and six RBIs.

On the mound, the Golden Eagles have a 4.05 ERA as a squad. Matt Nelson (So., RHP, Afton, Minn.), has been strong on the bump with a 1-0 mark and a 1.98 ERA in 13.2 innings pitched with 19 strikeouts and four walks. Opponents are hitting just .180 against Nelson. Conner Richardson (So., RHP, Grand Forks, N.D.) is an unblemished 3-0 with a 2.57 ERA in 21.0 innings pitched with seven strikeouts and five walks. Jayden Grover (Sr., RHP, Cooperstown, N.D.) has also been impressive, going 2-1 with a 3.86 ERA in 23.1 innings with 26 strikeouts and seven walks. Grover is six strikeouts from surpassing Zach Seipel for the all-time strikeouts record at Minnesota Crookston.

Out of the bullpen, Tyler Hegg is 1-0 with a perfect 0.00 ERA in seven innings pitched with eight strikeouts and five walks. Opponents are batting just .083 against Hegg this season. In addition, Garrett Hohn (Sr., RHP, Wausau, Wis.) is yet to give up a yet in 2.2 innings of work with a 0.00 ERA and six strikeouts. Dalton Grose (Sr., LHP, Waterville, Minn.) continues to be the stopper in the pen, as he has two saves with a 2.35 ERA with 11 strikeouts and four walks.

Winona State Projected Starters

Jr. 2B 22 Zac Stange (6-0 195, Eau Claire, Wis.) - .400, 20 runs, 5 2B, 3 3B, 12 RBIs
So. DH 27 Derek Baumgartner (5-10 180, Almond, Wis.) - .154, 5 runs, 1 RBI
Sr. 1B 33 Sam Kohnle (6-3 205, Tisch Mills, Wis.) - .400, 10 runs, 5 2B, 13 RBIs
Jr. 3B 21 Tanner Williams (6-3 175, Sussex, Wis.) - .397, 12 runs, 7 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 10 RBIs
Sr. RF 6 Andrew Pliner (6-0 180, Oregon, Wis.) - .143, 5 runs, 4 RBIs
Sr. C 17 Nick Nalewanski (6-2 200, Rockford, Ill.) - .200, 4 runs, 1 2B, 6 RBIs
Sr. SS 2  Derek Martin (6-1 195, Waconia, Minn.) - .175, 10 runs, 2 2B, 4 RBIs
Jr. CF 10 Nathan Loomis (6-3 190, Beloit, Wis.) – .250, 1 run
So. LF 12 Mitchell Seager (6-0 185, Beloit, Wis.) - .111, 1 run

Top Pitchers

Sr. RHP 24 Aaron Mutter (6-5 240, Burlington, Wis.) – 3-0 2.25 ERA, 24.0 IP, 18 K, 12 BB
Jr. LHP 14 Austin Savary (6-4 195, Dubuque, Iowa) – 1-2 3.45 ERA, 15.2 IP, 11 K, 2 BB
So. RHP 19 Kyle Gendron (6-3 190, Silver Lake, Wis.) – 1-0 4.29 ERA, 21.0 IP, 16 K, 9 BB
So. RHP 3 Justin Firpo (6-0 190, Burnsville, Minn.) – 1-0 1.84 ERA, 14.2 IP, 11 K, 1 BB
Fr. RHP 34 Bailey Banaszynski (6-1 230, Milwaukee, Wis.) – 0-0 4.70 ERA, 7.2 IP, 8 K, 5 BB

Other Bats

Jr. 1B 14 Austin Savary (6-4 195, Dubuque, Iowa) - .350, 8 runs, 1 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 5 RBIs
R-Fr. OF 31 Nick Herbst (McFarland, Wis.) -  .326, 5 runs, 2 3B, 7 RBIs
Sr. OF 7 Chad Herbst (6-0 170, McFarland, Wis.) - .250, 5 runs, 3 2B, 8 RBIs

Sat., March 14 – at  Winona State, 12 p.m., Winona, Minn.
Sat., March 14 – at Winona State, 2 p.m., Winona, Minn.
Sun., March 15 – at Winona State, 12 p.m., Winona, Minn.
Live Stats – winonastatewarriors.com/sidearmstats/baseball/summary
 

Winona State University comes into the weekend with a 6-8 mark overall. The Warriors had one game remaining in Florida against Florida Southern College, at the time of press. Winona State has gone 1-3 in games in the Sunshine State.

The Warriors come in hitting .283 with 89 runs scored, 25 doubles, seven triples, two home runs and 72 RBIs. Winona State has been paced by Sam Kohnle, who is hitting .400 with 10 runs scored, five doubles, and 13 RBIs. Zac Stange comes in batting .400 with 20 runs scored, five doubles, three triples, and 12 RBIs. In addition, Tanner Williams is hitting .397 with 12 runs scored, seven doubles, one triple, one home run and 10 RBIs.