CROOKSTON, Minn.  – The University of Minnesota Crookston baseball team fell 4-1 and 19-0 to Minot State University Friday, May 7 at Corbett Field in Minot, N.D.

The Golden Eagles drop to 22-10 (17-10 NSIC) with the pair of losses. Minot State improved to 24-14 (22-11 NSIC) with Friday's sweep. Minnesota Crookston will be the No. 5 seed in the NSIC Tournament, their fourth tournament in the last six seasons. The Golden Eagles will either travel to play St. Cloud State University or Minot State in the first round. If the Beavers win Saturday's game, Minnesota Crookston will travel to play St. Cloud State. If Minnesota Crookston wins, the Golden Eagles will return to Minot, N.D. for a best-of-three series with Minot State Thursday, May 13 and Friday, May 14.

Game One
Tyler Wiltshire and Drew Behling both hit home runs in the fourth inning to propel Minot State to a 4-1 victory over the Golden Eagles.

Minnesota Crookston was held to four hits for the game. The Golden Eagles looked to Scott Finberg (R-Sr., 3B, Stillwater, Minn.), who was 2-of-3 for the game. Will Zimmerman (R-Sr., OF/SS, Park River, N.D.) finished 1-of-2 with one run scored.

Minot State had eight hits for the game, guided by Behling, who was 2-of-3 with three RBIs, while Matt Malone went 2-of-2 with two runs scored.

Noah Myhre got the win after tossing a complete game. He gave up no earned runs, on four hits. Myhre notched three strikeouts.

Conner Richardson (R-So., RHP, Grand Forks, N.D.) pitched a solid game, but suffered the loss. He allowed three earned runs, on eight hits in five innings of work. Richardson struck out seven. Jayden Grover (R-Sr., RHP, Cooperstown, N.D.) came on and pitched a scoreless sixth inning.

Minnesota Crookston broke on to the scoreboard first when Teddy Giefer (Fr., 1B, Courtland, Minn.) reached on an error, allowing Zimmerman to score to make it 1-0.

Minot State knotted up the game 1-1 when Behling doubled in Malone. Richardson worked out of further danger, as the Beavers stranded three on the base paths.

The Beavers took the lead 4-1 in the bottom of the fourth. Wiltshire got everything going with a solo shot to make it 2-1. After Malone was offered a walk, Behling belted a home run to push the advantage to 4-1.

Minnesota Crookston tried to mount a late comeback in the top of the seventh. Zimmerman and Finberg hit back-to-back singles to lead-off the inning. However, Minot State got a crucial double play, and a Giefer groundout to earn the 4-1 win.

Game Two
Minot State utilized 12 runs in the sixth inning to earn a 19-0 win over Minnesota Crookston. R.J. Martinez pitched a one-hit shutout in the win for the Beavers.

Minot State broke through in the bottom of the first when Nolan Monthei hit a sacrifice fly to plate Malone to give the Beavers a 1-0 lead.

A three-run home run from Kaiden Cardoso drove in Behling and Malone to push the advantage to 4-0 in the bottom of the third. Joey Greco came on and pitched out of any more damage to keep the score at 4-0 heading into the fourth frame.

Cardoso singled with the bases loaded in the bottom of the fifth to drive in Malone and extend their advantage to 5-0. Grover made his second appearance of the game and got one out.

Jordan Williams then delivered a double with two outs, to drive in Monthei and Behling to widen the gap to 7-0. Grover then got a key strikeout to keep the game at 7-0.

The Beavers had a big sixth inning as they scored 12 runs. Minot State was guided in the frame by a two-run home run by Martin Rodriguez and a one-run home run by Monthei.

Jake Osowski (R-Fr., RHP, East Grand Forks, Minn.) suffered his first loss of the season, falling to 4-1, after allowing four runs on four hits.

Williams led Minot State, going 4-of-5 with five RBIs and two runs scored.

Minnesota Crookston's lone hit in the game came from Landyn Swenson (R-Sr., OF, Devils Lake, N.D.).

The Golden Eagles will wrap up the 2021 regular-season Saturday, May 8 at 12 p.m. against Minot State. UMN Crookston has had their best season by win-percentage in program history. The Golden Eagles earned their first-ever national ranking, getting as high as No. 18 in the NCBWA poll. UMN Crookston is currently No. 19 in the Collegiate Baseball Poll.