BRANDON, S.D. – The University of Minnesota Crookston moved to 9-0 with a pair of victories over the University of Sioux Falls Thursday, March 25 at First National Bank Field in Brandon, S.D. The Golden Eagles won 15-3 in game one and 7-5 in the second game of the double-dip. The two teams combined for an impressive eight home runs on the day.
The Golden Eagles continue their impressive start with the sweep. UMN Crookston is 9-0 (5-0 NSIC). The Golden Eagles are in a tie for first in the NSIC with Minnesota State University, who is receiving votes in the NCBWA poll. Sioux Falls drops to 4-5 with Thursday's pair of losses.
Game One
The Golden Eagles opened up Thursday's doubleheader with a commanding 15-3 win over Sioux Falls.
Brody Sorenson (Fr., RHP, Grand Forks, N.D.) picked up his first career win. Sorenson tossed 3.1 scoreless innings of relief, allowing just one hit in an outstanding outing.
Payton Livingston suffered the loss for USF after allowing five runs on four hits in 1.2 innings of work.
Minnesota Crookston was led by the play of
Will Zimmerman (R-Sr., OF/SS, Park River, N.D.). Zimmerman went 3-of-5 with three RBIS and a run scored.
Brock Reller (Sr., OF, Grand Forks, N.D.) continued his great start to the season. The two-time NSIC Player of the Week was 2-of-3 with three RBIs and three runs scored.
In addition,
Jake Hjelle (R-Fr., 1B, East Grand Forks, Minn.) went 2-of-4 with an RBI and three runs scored.
Bobby Chu (R-Sr., C, Redwood City, Calif.) finished the game 2-of-4 with two runs scored, while
Ben Bryant (R-So., SS/2B, Fargo, N.D.) was 1-of-3 with two RBIs and a run scored.
Jayden Grover (R-Sr., RHP, Cooperstown, N.D.) got the start for Minnesota Crookston. He went 2.2 innings and allowed two earned runs on two hits with five walks, and a strikeout.
Trace Brayton (R-Fr., LHP, Prentice, Wis.) pitched in relief and gave up no runs on one hit with two strikeouts in an inning of work.
The Golden Eagles jumped right out of the gate as Reller hit his league-leading eighth home run over the center field fence to drive in himself and Zimmerman and give UMN Crookston a 2-0 head start on the Cougars.
The Cougars got the runs back in the bottom of the first when Ryan Bernardy singled to right field to drive in Tyler Cate and Connor King.
The Golden Eagles were able to get the lead back in the second stanza. Bryant started things out as he singled in Hjelle to give the Golden Eagles a 3-2 advantage.
Mason Ruhlman (R-Sr., 2B, Algonac, Mich.) walked with the bases loaded to score
Eli Jung (R-Jr., OF, Dickinson, N.D.) to extend the UMN Crookston lead to 4-2. Reller was then walked with the bases loaded to plate Bryant to widen the gap to 5-2 in the top of the second.
The Cougars trimmed the lead to 5-3 in the bottom of the third when Grover walked Trey Hubers with the bases loaded to plate Cate. The Golden Eagles then went to the bullpen where they looked to Sorenson. He was able to get the crucial out with the bases loaded to keep the score at 5-3.
UMN Crookston scored five more runs in the fifth.
Scott Finberg (R-Sr., 3B, Stillwater, Minn.) opened things up with a single to left field to plate Reller. Jung then delivered with a double to center to bring home Finberg. Later in the inning, with the bases loaded Bryant was walked to plate Chu and pushed the lead to 8-3. Zimmerman put a stamp on the inning with a two RBI double to score
Landyn Swenson (R-Sr., OF, Devils Lake, N.D.) and Jung.
The Golden Eagles pushed their lead to 11-3 in the sixth when Hjelle stole third and scored on an error at third base. UMN Crookston widened their lead to 12-3 when Zimmerman doubled in Chu.
UMN Crookston put the final touches on their win in the seventh. Hjelle singled to center field to plate Reller to make it 13-3. Later in the inning, Finberg scored on a pick-off at first base. To cap it off,
T.J. Hokanson (R-Jr., 3B, Chanhassen, Minn.) singled in Hjelle to give UMN Crookston the 15-3 win.
Game Two
The Golden Eagles fended off a late charge in game two and picked up a 7-5 victory over the Cougars. USF scored one run in the seventh and two in the eighth, but UMN Crookston was able to pick up the win.
Jake Osowski (R-Fr., RHP, East Grand Forks, Minn.) picked up his second career win. Osowski pitched 2.1 innings of relief and allowed two runs on two hits with two strikeouts.
Jake Dykhoff (Jr., RHP, Wadena, Minn.) came on in a rare relief appearance and got the save. Dykhoff, who has given up just one run on the season, allowed no runs on one hit in one inning of work. He struck out two in the stanza.
Alex Koep (Fr., LHP, Parkers Prairie, Minn.) made his first career start for the Golden Eagles. He tossed four innings in a quality start. Koep allowed just one run on three hits with seven strikeouts.
Andrew Maslowski picked up the loss for USF. He allowed six runs on six hits with five strikeouts.
Minnesota Crookston scored seven runs on 10 hits in the game. UMN Crookston was guided by Finberg, who went 2-of-4 with an RBI and two runs scored. Hjelle also had a big game for UMN Crookston. He went 2-of-4 with two RBIs and a run scored, while Swenson was 2-of-4 with two RBIs and a run scored from the nine-hole for the Golden Eagles.
After a scoreless first inning, Minnesota Crookston got on to the scoreboard with a two run home from Hjelle, driving in himself and Finberg for the Golden Eagles to go ahead 2-0.
USF got a run back when Bernardy hit a solo shot over the center field fence to trim the lead to 2-1.
UMN Crookston added a run in the fifth when Swenson hit his second home run of the season to put the Golden Eagles ahead 3-1.
The Golden Eagles continued the slugfest into the sixth inning. Finberg started out the scoring with a solo shot to left field for his third home run of the season, followed by a shot from
Parker Stroh (R-Fr., C, Grand Forks, N.D.) as he launched his first collegiate home run to make it 6-1.
Bernardy responded with his second home run of the game to cut the lead to 6-2 in the bottom of the sixth.
USF extended the slug fest when Noah Buss homered to right field to cut the UMN Crookston lead to 6-3 in the bottom of the seventh.
Sioux Falls pulled within two at 6-4 when Jared Binsfeld singled to right field to plate Bernardy. USF cut the lead to one at 6-5 later in the frame when Binsfeld scored on a King ground out.
Tyler Hegg (R-So., RHP, Thompson, N.D.) got a crucial out to get out of the inning to keep USF at arm's length.
Minnesota Crookston pushed the lead to 7-5 in the top of the ninth when Zimmerman scored on a Rulhman ground out.
Dykhoff came on to try to preserve the victory for UMN Crookston. Grant Lung led off the inning with an infield single, but Dykhoff would retire the next three as the Golden Eagles picked up the 7-5 win. Dykhoff now has a 0.64 ERA on the season with a team-high 21 strikeouts.
Both teams combined for seven home runs in the second game. UMN Crookston continues to lead the NSIC in home runs with 25 on the season. The Golden Eagles are hitting .323 as a team with a 1.126 OPS and a .656 team slugging percentage. UMN Crookston's 25 home runs is ranked fifth all-time in the program's Division II history. The Golden Eagles need just 13 home runs to break the school record of 37 set during the 2016 season.
Minnesota Crookston remains on the road to take on Upper Iowa University in a three-game series Saturday, March 27 and Sunday, March 28 in Fayette, Iowa.
