CROOKSTON, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Crookston baseball team will look to lift the lid on their home slate Saturday, April 10 and Sunday, April 11 at the UMC Baseball Field. The Golden Eagles will play three NSIC games against the Golden Bears. In addition, due the cancellations for both teams they have added a seven-inning non-conference game on Sunday. Saturday's games will be played at 1 and 3 p.m., and Sunday's tilts will be played at 12 and 2 p.m.

The Golden Eagles were slated to begin NSIC play Friday, April 2 and Saturday, April 3 against Wayne State College, but those games were canceled due to COVID-19 protocols.

No. 25/26 UMN Crookston vs. Concordia-St. Paul
Saturday, April 10 – 1/3 p.m.
UMC Baseball Field, Crookston, Minn.
Live Stats - https://goldeneaglesports.com/sidearmstats/baseball/summary
Live Video - https://nsicnetwork.com/goldeneaglesports/

No. 25/26 UMN Crookston vs. Concordia-St. Paul
Sunday, April 11 – 12/2 p.m.
UMC Baseball Field, Crookston, Minn.
Live Stats - https://goldeneaglesports.com/sidearmstats/baseball/summary
Live Video - https://nsicnetwork.com/goldeneaglesports/

The Golden Eagles are currently ranked No. 25/26 nationally. The ranking is the first ever for the UMN Crookston baseball program. Minnesota Crookston is off to their best start in the program's history in NCAA Division II. The Golden Eagles are 13-1 (9-1 NSIC) on the 2021 season.
UMN Crookston swept Concordia-St. Paul in Minnetonka, Minn., March 24-25, 2019. Concordia-St. Paul had won the previous 43 games in the series. Prior to 2019, the Golden Eagles last win against the Golden Bears was April 18, 2003.

The Golden Eagles are ranked fifth in Division II in scoring. They are seventh in slugging percentage, and third in home runs per game. Brock Reller (Sr., OF, Grand Forks, N.D.) is ninth nationally for home runs per game. Will Zimmerman (R-Sr., OF, Park River, N.D.) ranks third for runs per game.

Reller is off to a great start. He is hitting .407 with a 1.554 OPS and a 1.019 slugging percentage. Reller has scored 21 runs, has eight home runs, and 24 RBIs. Jake Hjelle (R-Fr., 1B, East Grand Forks, Minn.) is batting .345 on the season. He is hitting .538 in the last three games with four runs scored, three home runs, and nine RBIs. Zimmerman is batting .340 with a team-high 26 runs scored. He has six doubles, one triple, four home runs, and 19 RBIs. Scott Finberg (R-Sr., 3B, Stillwater, Minn.) is batting .333 with 17 runs scored, six doubles, one triple, four home runs, and 21 RBIs. The Golden Eagles have seven players hitting over .300. They are batting .310 on the season with 157 runs scored, 32 doubles, six triples, 33 home runs, and 136 RBIs. The Golden Eagles need just five home runs to surpass their school record of 38 home runs set during the 2016 season.

The Golden Eagle pitching staff comes in with a 6.31 ERA. UMN Crookston's pitchers have 108 strikeouts and just 64 walks on the year. Jake Dykhoff (Jr., RHP, Wadena, Minn.) has been outstanding with a 2-0 mark and a 0.43 ERA in 21.0 innings pitched. He has 25 strikeouts to just five walks. Alex Koep (Fr., LHP, Parkers Prairie, Minn.) is 2-0 with a 4.15 ERA in 13.0 innings pitched. Out of the bullpen, Brody Sorenson (Fr., RHP, Grand Forks, N.D.) has been the man at the back end, with three saves. Sorenson is 1-0 with a 1.08 ERA in four appearances. Garrett Hohn (R-Sr., RHP, Wausau, Wis.) has an unblemished 0.00 ERA in three appearances.

Concordia-St. Paul
Concordia-St. Paul comes into the week with a 7-10 (3-9 NSIC) mark. The Golden Bears play a mid-week series Wednesday, April 7 at Minot State University. Concordia-St. Paul lost 2-of-3 to Southwest Minnesota State University over the weekend.

Concordia-St. Paul is hitting .237 on the season. They have scored 71 runs, with 27 doubles, eight home runs, and 64 RBIs. The Golden Bears are led by Matt Pietsch, who is batting .305 with nine runs scored, six doubles, and four RBIs. Ryan Bastyr is hitting .304 with six runs scored, and eight RBIs. Patrick Bordewick comes in hitting .283 with nine runs scored, and six RBIs.

Concordia-St. Paul comes in with a 4.35 ERA with 115 strikeouts and just 60 walks. The Golden Bears have looked to Griffin Lapp. He has a 2.59 ERA in four starts with 20 strikeouts, and just five walks. Michael Voss is 0-1 with a 2.95 ERA, while Luke DeGrammont is 1-3 with a 3.92 ERA in four starts. Out of the bullpen, Eric Lundell has a 0.00 ERA in 11.0 innings pitched, with five appearances. Jonah Lewis has a 2.08 ERA in 4.1 innings pitched, while T.J. Johnson has a 2.79 ERA in 9.2 innings pitched.