WINONA, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Crookston team picked up a doubleheader sweep of Winona State University to open up Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) play Saturday, March 20 at Loughrey Field in Winona, Minn. The Golden Eagles picked up a 10-0 shutout victory in the first game and used a Will Zimmerman (R-Sr., OF/SS, Park River, N.D.) bases-clearing double in the ninth inning to aid a 12-11 win in the second tilt.

UMN Crookston moves to 6-0 as they maintain their unblemished record. The Golden Eagles continue their best start during their time as a NCAA Division II program. Winona State falls to 3-4 with Saturday's losses. The victories snapped a five-game losing streak for UMN Crookston against the Warriors, dating back to an 11-6 victory exactly four years ago on March 20, 2017 in Winona, Minn. The Golden Eagles start out the NSIC season with a 2-0 mark. Minnesota Crookston started their 2019 NSIC slate with a 6-0 conference mark.

Game One
Jake Dykhoff (Jr., RHP, Wadena, Minn.) was outstanding in the 10-0 shutout victory for the Golden Eagles in game one over the Warriors. Dykhoff pitched a complete game four-hit shutout. He struck out 10 batters Saturday with just two walks. Dykhoff has a 0.69 ERA in 13 innings pitched for UMN Crookston.

The Golden Eagles had 10 runs on seven hits with six guys reaching on walks. Parker Stroh (R-Fr., C, Grand Forks, N.D.) led the UMN Crookston bats, going 2-of-4 with one run scored. Brock Reller (Sr., OF, Grand Forks, N.D.) continued his outstanding start as the reigning NCBWA Central Region Player of the Week went 1-of-1 with four RBIs and two runs scored, with the RBIs coming on a grand slam. Jake Hjelle (R-Fr., 1B, East Grand Forks, Minn.) went 1-of-4 with an RBI and two runs scored. Reller and Eli Jung (R-Jr., OF, Dickinson, N.D.) had home runs for the Golden Eagles.

Ben Bryant (R-So., SS/2B, Fargo, N.D.) started out the scoring for UMN Crookston as he singled to center field to drive in Stroh in the second inning.

UMN Crookston extended their lead to 2-0 when Hjelle reached on an error in center field, allowing Reller to come around to score. Later in the frame, Hjelle and Scott Finberg (R-Sr., 3B, Stillwater, Minn.) came home on an error at first base. Jung rounded out the stanza with a solo shot, for his third home run of the season which is tied for second on the team. The Golden Eagles led 5-0 after the third inning.

Minnesota Crookston utilized Reller's grand slam in the fourth to push the advantage to 9-0. Reller drove in himself, Mason Ruhlman (R-Sr., 2B, Algonac, Mich.), Zimmerman, and Bryant. Reller leads the conference with seven home runs.

UMN Crookston put a stamp on the game one victory as Hjelle scored after Landyn Swenson (R-Sr., OF, Devils Lake, N.D.) reached on an error.

Kyle Gendron suffered the loss for Winona State. He allowed two earned runs on three hits with six strikeouts in the game.

Game Two
Minnesota Crookston came from behind to pick up the Saturday sweep over Winona State 12-11.

The victory for the Golden Eagles went to Jake Osowski (R-Fr., RHP, East Grand Forks, Minn.) in relief. Brody Sorenson (Fr., RHP) made his debut on the mound and picked up his first career save with two strikeouts.

Matt Nelson (R-So., RHP, Afton, Minn.) got the start and gave up six earned runs on five hits in 2.1 innings. Jayden Grover (R-Sr., RHP, Cooperstown, N.D.) made a rare relief appearance, and put up a zero in 1.2 innings with three hits allowed. Garrett Hohn (R-Sr., RHP, Wausau, Wis.) also shut the Warriors down in one inning of work from the bullpen.

Austin Savary was strong in the start for the Warriors, allowing just one earned run on two hits in five innings. The loss for the Warriors went to Nicolas Herold, as he allowed three earned runs in the top of the ninth.

Minnesota Crookston scored 12 runs on eight hits. The Golden Eagles were guided by Finberg, who went 3-of-4 with two runs scored. Zimmerman had the clutch hit in the ninth frame, and went 2-of-5 with five RBIs and a run scored. Jung finished game two 1-of-4 with one RBI and two runs scored.

The Golden Eagles got on the scoreboard first when Bobby Chu (R-Sr., C, Redwood City, Calif.) hit a sacrifice fly to right field to plate Finberg to make it 1-0 in the second. Later in the stanza, Swenson reached on an error, allowing Hjelle to come home unscathed and push the lead to 2-0.

Winona State had an answer in the second when Derek Baumgartner hit a solo home run to left field to trim the deficit to 2-1.

The Warriors made a big dent in the third and chased Nelson from the mound. Tanner Williams started things out with a single to right field to drive in Derek Martin and knot the score up 2-2. Cooper Kapanke then singled to left field to plate Sam Kohnle to give the Warriors a 3-2 lead. Williams would come in on a wild pitch to push the lead to 4-2. Later in the frame, a Joe Ihrke triple brought home Carter Brinkman and Baumgartner to give Winona State the 6-2 advantage.

After two scoreless innings, Minnesota Crookston countered in the sixth. With the bases loaded, Hjelle came into score when Swenson was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. Bryant then reached on a fielder's choice driving in Chu to cut the lead to 6-4. Minnesota Crookston tied up the game at 6-6 when Zimmerman doubled to left center to bring in Jung and Bryant.

Winona State had an answer in their half of the sixth. Kohnle singled to left center to drive home Martin. Baumgartner continued a big game, when he doubled to right center to bring in Kohnle to give the Warriors an 8-6 lead.

Winona State pushed their lead to 9-6 when Ihrke hit a solo shot to left field in the seventh.

The score remained 9-6 until Minnesota Crookston came up with a ninth inning rally. The Golden Eagles cut the deficit to 9-7 as Jung singled in Finberg. Hjelle would come in a wild pitch to bring UMN Crookston within one at 9-8. That is when Zimmerman came up in the clutch with a bases clearing double to bring home Swenson, Jung, and pinch-runner Matthew Thielen (Fr., SS, Wheaton, Minn.).

The Warriors did not go down easy as they rallied in the bottom of the ninth. Martin came through with a single to bring in Jake Brill to trim the UMN Crookston lead to 12-10. Williams then came through with a double down the line to plate Martin. With runners on second and third, and just one run between them, Sorenson came up big as he got Kapanke to fly out to center to preserve the 12-11 win.

The Golden Eagles have continued to have hot bats, as they are hitting .335 on the season with 87 runs scored, 14 doubles, six triples, 18 home runs, and 73 RBIs.

Minnesota Crookston will look to sweep the series when they take on the Warriors at 12 p.m. Sunday, March 21 in Winona, Minn.