NSIC Tournament Website

CROOKSTON, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Crookston baseball team will trek to Minot, N.D. for the opening round of the 2021 NSIC Baseball Tournament Thursday, May 13 and Friday, May 14. The Golden Eagles will play a best-of-three series with the Beavers. The winner will move on in the NSIC Tournament and compete May 19-21 in a four-team double-elimination tournament in Sioux Falls, S.D.

The Golden Eagles have competed in four NSIC Tournaments since 2016. It is the fifth-ever appearance at the NSIC Tournament for Minnesota Crookston. UMN Crookston is looking for their first win at the NSIC Tournament. The Golden Eagles last made the tournament in 2019. They lost to St. Cloud State in the first round and then were eliminated by Northern State University. The last tournament match-up with Minot State came May 11, 2017 with the Beavers narrowly edging the Golden Eagles 3-2.

UMN Crookston is 9-10 against the Beavers since Minot State joined the conference in 2012. The Golden Eagles have won three of the last five games against the Beavers. An interesting connection between the two schools is through famous actor Josh Duhamel, who played football for the Beavers and is in the Hall of Fame as a member of the 1992 football team. Duhamel is the uncle of Golden Eagle outfielder Landyn Swenson (Devils Lake, N.D.).


Minnesota Crookston at Minot State
Thursday, May 13
1 p.m. – Corbett Field/Minot, N.D.
Live Stats - https://msubeavers.com/sidearmstats/baseball/summary
Video - https://nsicnetwork.com/msubeavers/
Radio – 1260 KROX AM/105.7 FM (Aaron Morse – Play by Play)

Friday, May 14
3 p.m./5:30 p.m. (if necessary) – Corbett Field/Minot, N.D.
Live Stats - https://msubeavers.com/sidearmstats/baseball/summary
Video - https://nsicnetwork.com/msubeavers/
Radio – 1260 KROX AM/105.7 FM (Aaron Morse – Play by Play)

Minnesota Crookston has had a historic 2021 season. The Golden Eagles have their best winning-percentage in program history, going 23-10 (18-10 NSIC) during the regular-season. UMN Crookston received their first-ever national ranking, and they were ranked in the top eight of the NCAA Division II Central Region in the first week of regional voting. UMN Crookston's highest ranking in 2021 has been No. 18 in the NCBWA poll.

UMN Crookston will have a second shot at Minot State, as they just returned from Minot, N.D., after concluding the regular-season against the Beavers. Minnesota Crookston lost the first two games of the series, but bounced back with a 4-3 victory on Saturday, May 8.

The Golden Eagles are ranked 12^th in the nation for home runs per game and 24^th in the country for overall home runs with 59. In addition, Jake Dykhoff (Jr., RHP, Wadena, Minn.) is 13^th in the country for complete games. Will Zimmerman (R-Sr., OF, Park River, N.D.) is sixth nationally for hits by pitch per game. Brock Reller (Sr., OF, Grand Forks, N.D.) comes in 17^th in the nation for home runs per game, while Brody Sorenson (Fr., RHP, Grand Forks, N.D.) is 14^th for saves.

UMN Crookston comes into the tournament hitting .268 as a team. They have scored 264 runs, with 59 doubles, 10 triples, 59 home runs, and 228 RBIs. Mason Ruhlman (R-Sr., 2B, Algonac, Mich.) leads the Golden Eagles. He is hitting .330 with a team-high 37 runs scored and nine doubles. Ruhlman has nine home runs with 29 RBIs, and a team-high 31 walks. Reller leads the NSIC with 14 home runs on the season. He is batting .322 with 32 runs scored, six doubles, four triples, and 41 RBIs. Reller is a home run away from breaking Reed Hjelle's school-record for 28 home runs in a career. Reller already has the single-season record with 14 home runs, previously breaking a mark set by Kenny Perez in 2016.

In addition, Zimmerman is hitting .323 with 34 runs scored, eight doubles, seven home runs, and 26 RBIs. Swenson comes in batting .318 with 25 runs scored, five doubles, three triples, five home runs, and 26 RBIs.

On the mound, Dykhoff has been an outstanding addition for the Golden Eagles. He is 5-0 with a 2.87 ERA in 47 innings pitched. Dykhoff has four complete games and two shutouts. Dykhoff has a team-high 69 strikeouts and just 10 walks. Matt Nelson (R-So., RHP, Afton, Minn.) is 3-0 with a 4.61 ERA in 27.1 innings pitched. He has 34 strikeouts and 17 walks. Jake Osowski (R-Fr., RHP, East Grand Forks, Minn.) has been impressive in his first season on the mound. He is 4-1 with a 5.14 ERA in 28.0 innings pitched, while Conner Richardson (R-So., RHP, Grand Forks, N.D.) has a 5.92 ERA in 38.0 innings on the bump.

Out of the bullpen, Sorenson has been the go-to arm for the Golden Eagles. He is 1-2 with a 3.09 ERA in 23.1 innings pitched. Sorenson has five saves during the 2021 campaign.
UMN Crookston comes in with a 6.13 ERA as a team. They have 266 strikeouts and 142 walks.

Minot State
The Beavers are 24-15 (22-12 NSIC) entering Thursday's game. Minot State is the fourth seed in the NSIC Tournament, besting Minnesota Crookston by just .4%.

Minot State has a .277 batting average, with 275 runs, 57 doubles, 10 triples, 44 home runs, and 241 RBIs. The Beavers are guided by Kaiden Cardoso, who is hitting .308 with 38 runs scored, five doubles, one triple, seven home runs, and 28 RBIs. Jordan Williams has also had a strong season, hitting .298 with 32 runs scored, six doubles, three triples, eight home runs, and 35 RBIs. In addition, Nolan Monthei is hitting .283 with 26 runs scored, six doubles, five home runs, and 16 RBIs. Williams is the team's biggest base-stealing threat with 15 on the season.

Minot State has a .452 slugging percentage on the season with 44 home runs. Opponents have hit just 30 home runs off Beaver pitchers.

Minot State's pitching staff enters the week with a 4.96 ERA. They have 358 strikeouts and just 150 walks allowed. The top starter for the Beavers has been R.J. Martinez, who is 4-2 with a 3.72 ERA in 11 appearances and 48.1 innings pitched. He has 52 strikeouts and 13 walks. Martinez went seven innings against the Golden Eagles Friday, May 7. He gave up no runs and one hit. Martinez struck out nine.

In addition, Noah Myhre is 3-1 with a 3.86 ERA in 39.2 innings pitched, while Dominick Parkhurst is 3-0 with a 3.93 ERA in 34.1 innings pitched. Out of the bullpen, Jordan Chappell has been the top arm. He is 4-0 with a 0.92 ERA in 19.2 innings pitched. The closer for the Beavers has been Aaron Kern, who is 1-1 with a 4.84 ERA in 22.1 innings pitched. He has eight saves on the season.

NSIC Tournament
The winner of the best-of-three series will advance to play the winner of one-seed Minnesota State University and eight-seed University of Sioux Falls Wednesday, May 19 at 12 p.m., in Sioux Falls, S.D. The tournament begins with four best-of-three series this week. The four winners will move on to compete in Sioux Falls, S.D. in a double-elimination tournament May 19-21.

On the other side of the bracket, two-seed Augustana University is hosting seven-seed Winona State University, while three-seed St. Cloud State University is playing host to six-seed University of Mary. The championship game for the NSIC Tournament will be played Friday, May 21 at 11 a.m., in Sioux Falls, S.D.