CROOKSTON, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Crookston baseball team picked up a Saturday sweep with a pair of victories over Concordia University-St. Paul. The Golden Eagles scored four runs in the first to pick up a 4-2 win in game one. UMN Crookston came from behind utilizing a three-run home run from Mason Ruhlman (R-Sr., 2B, Algonac, Mich.) to upend the Golden Bears 6-3.

Minnesota Crookston moves to 15-1 (11-1 NSIC) with Saturday's victory. Concordia-St. Paul falls to 8-13 (4-12 NSIC) with the wins. The Golden Eagles have won five-straight against the Golden Bears. Minnesota Crookston continues their best start in the school's history as a NCAA Division II program. The Golden Eagles are currently ranked 19^th in the country by the NCBWA.

Game One
UMN Crookston was guided by the play of Jake Dykhoff (Jr., RHP, Wadena, Minn.), who continued his outstanding start. Dykhoff tied the school record previously set by Jayden Grover (R=Sr., RHP, Cooperstown, N.D.) with 14 strikeouts. Dykhoff tossed a complete seven inning game, allowing just two runs on seven hits with no walks. Dykhoff has a 0.96 ERA for the 2021 season. He moved to 3-0 with the win.

Minnesota Crookston was guided by Ben Bryant (R-So., SS/2B, Fargo, N.D.), who went 1-of-3 with one run scored. Ruhlman went 1-of-2 with a run scored, while Landyn Swenson (R-Sr., OF, Devils Lake, N.D.) went 1-of-2 in the first game.

The loss for Concordia-St. Paul went to Luke DeGrammont, who allowed four unearned runs on four hits. DeGrammont had six strikeouts and four walks in four innings of work. Connor Hurley shut down the Golden Eagles in two innings of relief, with five strikeouts.

Minnesota Crookston took a 1-0 lead when Bryant scored on an error at second base. The Golden Eagles extended the lead to 3-0 when Scott Finberg (R-Sr., 3B, Stillwater, Minn.) scored on a throwing error, as did Ruhlman. The Golden Eagles pushed their lead to 4-0 when Jake Hjelle (R-Fr., 1B, East Grand Forks, Minn.) scored on a wild pitch.

Concordia-St. Paul trimmed the deficit to 4-1 when Patrick Bordewick singled to plate Jack Young.

The Golden Eagles got another run with a Nick Thimsen solo home run to cut the deficit to 4-2.

The Golden Bears were unable to make a dent in the lead in the top of the seventh to hold on to the 4-2 win.

Game Two
Minnesota Crookston came back from a 3-0 deficit to pick up the 6-3 victory in game two. The Golden Eagles utilized a clutch home run from Ruhlman, along with a solo shot from Hjelle to help lead them to the Saturday sweep.

Matt Nelson (R-So., RHP, Afton, Minn.) got the win after tossing five innings and allowing three earned runs on six hits, with four strikeouts. Alex Koep (Fr., LHP, Parkers Prairie, Minn.) was strong in relief, throwing 2.1 innings and shutting down the Golden Bears with just one hit allowed, and one strikeout. Brody Sorenson (R-Fr., RHP, Grand Forks, N.D.) picked up his fourth save of the season, tossing 1.2 innings and allowing no runs, on one hit.

Griffin Lapp suffered the loss after giving up four runs on seven hits. He had five strikeouts and four walks. Eric Lundell allowed two runs on two hits in two innings of work.

Concordia-St. Paul got on the scoreboard first when Bordewick's sacrifice fly to right field scored Thimsen to make it 1-0. In the next at-bat Ryan Christopher singled through the left side to drive in Justin McGuigan. The Golden Bears pushed their lead to 3-0 with a Jarod Wandersee single to drive in Christopher.

Minnesota Crookston cut the lead to 3-1 when Ruhlman crossed the plate on a Tyler Jochen (R-Jr., IF, San Jose, Calif.) groundout. The Golden Eagles loaded up with bases with a Hjelle double, Bobby Chu (R-Sr., C, Redwood City, Calif.) reaching on a hit by pitch, and an Eli Jung (R-Jr., OF, Dickinson, N.D.) walk. However, Lapp got a key strikeout of Swenson to keep the score at 3-1.

Minnesota Crookston broke through in the bottom of the fifth with Ruhlman's blast to center field. The home run was his fourth of the season and it gave UMN Crookston a 4-3 advantage.

The Golden Eagles got out of some trouble in the top of the sixth after a Christopher single. Wandersee lined into a double play after a great play by Koep.

Concordia-St. Paul left two on base in the top of the seventh as the score remained 4-3 in favor of the Golden Eagles.

Minnesota Crookston padded their lead in the bottom of the seventh with Hjelle's home run over the left field fence. The Golden Eagles pushed their advantage to 6-3 with a Swenson triple to center field to score Jung.

Concordia-St. Paul looked to rally in the top of the ninth. Ryan Bastyr led off the inning with a single. The Golden Bears got two on with two outs when Thimsen reached on an error at shortstop. McGuigan got the last out of the game with a fly out to right field to come away with the 6-3 victory.

Minnesota Crookston has 35 home runs on the season. The Golden Eagles need just three home runs to set the school record and break the previous record of 37 set during the 2016 season. The 35 home runs is already second all-time in school history.

The Golden Eagles will compete their NSIC series with Concordia-St. Paul with a nine-inning game Sunday, April 11 at 12 p.m. UMN Crookston will play the Golden Bears in a non-conference game at 2 p.m.