CROOKSTON, Minn. – The Minnesota Crookston baseball team, ranked No. 24 in the nation by the NCBWA, is slated to return to play Thursday, April 22 against Southwest Minnesota State University at 1:30 and 3:30 p.m. at the UMC Baseball Field. The Golden Eagles last competed Sunday, April 11 after five games were canceled due to COVID protocols.

Minnesota Crookston vs. Southwest Minnesota State
Thursday, April 22 – 1:30/3:30 p.m.
Live Stats - https://goldeneaglesports.com/sidearmstats/baseball/summary
Video - https://nsicnetwork.com/goldeneaglesports/

Minnesota Crookston
The Golden Eagles have continued their best start in program history. UMN Crookston comes in with a 16-2 (11-2 NSIC) mark. They are currently ranked second in the NSIC, just slightly behind Minnesota State University, Mankato in first. The Golden Eagles have reached their first national rankings this season, currently sitting at No. 24 in the NCBWA poll. The Golden Eagles have reached as high as No. 18 in the national polls.

Minnesota Crookston is currently ranked fourth nationally for home runs per game and 10^th for scoring. The Golden Eagles are 14^th for slugging percentage nationally. Mason Ruhlman (R-Sr., 2B, Algonac, Mich.) is 10^th in the nation for walks per game. Jake Dykhoff (Jr., RHP, Wadena, Minn.) enters Thursday seventh in the nation for earned run average. Will Zimmerman (R-Sr., OF, Park River, N.D.) is ninth nationally for hits by pitch per game, and eighth for runs per game. Brock Reller (Sr., OF, Grand Forks, N.D.) comes in 12^th nationally for RBIs per game and home runs per game.

UMN Crookston comes into the weekend hitting .293 as a team, with a .986 OPS, and a .552 slugging percentage. Minnesota Crookston has 36 home runs for the season. They need just one to tie and two to surpass the school record set in 2016. Reller leads the way for the Golden Eagles hitting .380 with a  1.334 OPS on the season. He has scored 22 runs, hit five doubles, two triples, eight home runs, and has a team-high 27 RBIs. Jake Hjelle (R-Fr., 1B, East Grand Forks, Minn.) comes in hitting .353 with a 1.149 OPS. He has scored 22 runs, has five doubles, six home runs, and 20 RBIs. Ruhlman is batting .316 with 23 runs scored, four home runs, and 17 RBIs. Landyn Swenson (R-Sr., OF, Devils Lake, N.D.) is hitting .310 with 15 runs scored, and 15 RBIs.

Minnesota Crookston has a 5.50 ERA as a team, with a 1.51 WHIP. The Golden Eagles have 145 strikeouts to just 77 walks. Dykhoff has been outstanding with a 3-0 mark and a 0.96 ERA in 28 innings pitched. He had 39 strikeouts to just five walks on the season. Alex Koep (Fr., LHP, Parkers Prairie, Minn.) is 2-0 with a 3.52 ERA in 15.1 innings pitched, while Jake Osowski (R-Fr., RHP, East Grand Forks, Minn.) is 3-0 with a 3.97 ERA in 11.1 innings of work. Out of the bullpen, Brody Sorenson (Fr., RHP, Grand Forks, N.D.) has been the go-to guy at the back end. Sorenson is 1-0 with a 0.90 ERA in 10 innings pitched with four saves. Garrett Hohn (R-Sr., RHP, Wausau, Wis.) comes in with a 0.00 ERA in five innings pitched.

Southwest Minnesota State
Southwest Minnesota State comes in with a 9-15 (7-14 NSIC) mark. The Mustangs took 2-of-3 from Bemidji State University last weekend. Minnesota Crookston has lost three of the last four match-ups between the two schools.

The Mustangs are hitting .279 as a team coming into Thursday. Nathan Kuhn leads the way with a .447 batting average, 21 runs scored, seven doubles, and 14 RBIs. Matt Bezdicek comes in hitting .321 with 13 runs scored, three home runs, and 22 RBIs. Derek Smith is hitting .292 with 13 runs scored, one home run, and six RBIs. Kip Gronholz enters Thursday hitting .291 with eight runs scored, and 11 RBIs. Southwest Minnesota State has scored 137 runs on the season, with 38 doubles, two triples, 13 home runs, and 117 RBIs.

The Southwest Minnesota State pitching staff comes into Thursday with a 5.58 ERA in 187.0 innings pitched. The Mustangs have struck out 178 with 93 walks on the season. The staff has been guided by the arm of John Bezdicek, who is 3-1 with a 2.34 ERA with 51 strikeouts and just 12 walks. Kolby Kiser has a 2.57 ERA on the season in 14.0 innings pitched with nine strikeouts and seven walks. Jared Tschetter is 1-2 with a 3.24 ERA and two saves in 8.1 innings of work.