CROOKSTON, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Crookston baseball team picked up a split Sunday, April 11 with Concordia University, St. Paul. The Golden Bears scored six runs in the top of the seventh to pick up a 9-4 win in game one. In the second game of the doubleheader, UMN Crookston scored six runs in the first two innings to pick up a 6-1 victory.

The Golden Eagles continue their best start in the program's history of NCAA Division II, improving to 16-2 (11-2 NSIC) with the split. UMN Crookston remains at first place in the NSIC. The Golden Eagles are currently ranked No. 19 in the NCBWA poll. Concordia-St. Paul moves to 9-14 (5-13 NSIC) with the split. Sunday's first game was a NSIC game, while the second game was a non-conference tilt. UMN Crookston won the NSIC series 2-1, while taking 3-of-4 games on the weekend.

Game One
Concordia-St. Paul took the first game of the doubleheader 9-4. The Golden Bears scored six runs in the top of the seventh inning led by three hits and two errors. The Golden Eagles held and early 2-1 lead on Concordia-St. Paul. Minnesota Crookston knotted up the game 3-3 in the bottom of the sixth before Concordia-St. Paul's big inning.

Conner Richardson (R-So., RHP, Grand Forks, N.D.) had a quality start for the Golden Eagles. Richardson tossed 5.2 innings and allowed just two earned runs on four hits. Richardson had five strikeouts, and three walks. Tyler Hegg (R-So., RHP, Thompson, N.D.) came on in relief and gave up two earned runs on three hits. Garrett Hohn (R-Sr., RHP, Wausau, Wis.) pitched 1.1 innings, and gave up no runs. Trace Brayton (R-Fr., LHP, Prentice, Wis.) came on and tossed an inning, allowing no runs.

Michael Voss got the start for the Golden Bears. He went five innings and gave up just two runs on four hits. He had four strikeouts and just two walks. T.J. Johnson came on in relief, and got the win. Johnson threw one inning, and allowed no hits in one inning. Connor Hurley picked up his second save of the season. Hurley went three innings and allowed just one run on two hits.

Minnesota Crookston was guided by the play of one of the NSIC's top hitters Brock Reller (Sr., OF, Grand Forks, N.D.). He went 3-of-5 with one RBI. Eli Jung (R-Jr., OF, Dickinson, N.D.) finished 1-of-2 with two runs scored. Landyn Swenson (R-Sr., OF, Devils Lake, N.D.) was 1-of-2 with an RBI. Will Zimmerman (R-Sr., OF, Park River, N.D.) went 1-of-5 with an RBI, including his fifth home run of the season.

Concordia-St. Paul took a 1-0 lead in the first when Jarod Wandersee walked with the bases loaded to drive in Matt Pietsch. Richardson got out of the bases loaded situation with a strikeout of Ryan Bastyr.

The Golden Eagles knotted up the score 1-1 with a Reller single to plate Mason Ruhlman (R-Sr., 2B, Algonac, Mich.).

Minnesota Crookston took a 2-1 lead on a Swenson single to drive in Swenson. UMN Crookston left two runners on base in both the bottom of the second, and the bottom of the fourth.

Concordia-St. Paul took a 3-2 advantage with a two-run home run from Patrick Bordewick to drive in himself, and Pietsch.

The Golden Eagles tied up the game 3-3 when Jung crossed the plate on a wild pitch.

The Golden Bears broke through in the top of the seventh. Concordia-St. Paul took a 4-3 lead when Nick Thimsen singled up the middle to drive in J.T. Hoffman. The Golden Bears moved their lead to 5-2 when Pietsch reached on an error, allowing Thimsen to score. Concordia-St. Paul widened the gap to 6-3 with a Bordewick fly out to left field to plate Justin McGuigan. The Golden Bears extended the lead to 7-3 when Pietsch crossed on a wild pitch. In the next at-bat, Bastyr singled to plate Wandersee and Ryan Christopher to make it 9-3. Hohn was able to get UMN Crookston out of any further damage.

Minnesota Crookston got a run back in the bottom of the seventh with a home run from Zimmerman to trim the deficit to 9-4.

The Golden Eagles had an opportunity in the bottom of the eighth, but two runners were stranded keeping the score at 9-4. Minnesota Crookston was retired in the bottom of the ninth as Concordia-St. Paul picked up a 9-4 victory.

Game Two
UMN Crookston was guided in Sunday's 6-1 victory by a stand-out performance on the bump by Jake Oswoski (R-Fr., RHP, East Grand Forks, Minn.). Osowski threw six innings and allowed no earned runs on three hits. Osowski had eight strikeouts, and no walks. Jayden Grover (R-Sr., RHP, Cooperstown, N.D.) came on in the seventh and pitched one inning, with two strikeouts. Grover was able to preserve the 6-1 victory for the Golden Eagles.

Wyatt Rudolf suffered the loss for the Golden Bears. He allowed four unearned runs on two hits.

Minnesota Crookston was propelled by Jake Hjelle (R-Fr., 1B/3B, East Grand Forks, Minn.), who went 2-of-3 with an RBI and a run scored. Zimmerman went 1-of-3 with an RBI. Ben Bryant (R-So., SS/2B, Fargo, N.D.) finished 1-of-3 with two runs scored. Jack Peppel (R-Fr., IF, Olivia, Minn.) finished 1-of-2, while Parker Stroh (R-Fr., C, Grand Forks, N.D>) finished 1-of-1 with two RBIs.

The Golden Eagles took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first when Reller reached on an error, scoring Bryant. Minnesota Crookston extended the advantage to 2-0 when Hjelle singled to drive in Reller. UMN Crookston pushed the advantage to 4-0 when Stroh singled to left field, to score Ruhlman and Hjelle.

Minnesota Crookston was led in the top of the second by the defensive play of Zimmerman who made all three outs in the field, including a great diving catch in deep center.

The Golden Eagles pushed the advantage to 6-0 in the bottom of the second. Zimmerman singled to center to drive in Swenson. In the next at-bat, Bryant scored on a Reller groundout.

Concordia-St. Paul trimmed the lead to 6-1 when Shea Pekarek scored on an error.

The Golden Bears had two reach in the top of the seventh with a walk to Pekarek and a hit by pitch to Brayden Roybal. However, Grover got the Golden Eagles out of trouble to pick up the 6-1 victory.

Minnesota Crookston has continued their outstanding start to the season despite the split. UMN Crookston is hitting .293 on the season, with 177 runs scored, 36 doubles, seven triples, 36 home runs, and 151 RBIs. The Golden Eagles need just one home run to tie, and two to break the school record of 37 home runs set during the 2016 season.

Minnesota Crookston is slated to play Minnesota State University Tuesday, April 13 in Crookston, Minn. The Mavericks are currently ranked 15^th in the nation. Minnesota State is in second in the NSIC standings with an 18-4 (15-3 NSIC) mark.