Box Score Auburndale, Fla. – Minnesota Crookston baseball finished their Florida trip with a familiar foe on Sunday afternoon, the Northern State Wolves, in non-conference play.
The Golden Eagles used a big fourth inning and solid pitching to get past the Wolves, 8-3. The Golden Eagles have now won two in a row and will begin NSIC play next Saturday as they head to Sioux Falls for a three-game set with the Sioux Falls Cougars.
Both teams would go scoreless in the first inning, but the Golden Eagles would strike for a run in the bottom of the second on a
Mitch Goodwin (So., SS, Prior Lake, Minn.) sacrifice fly, scoring
Brad Morris (R-Sr., OF, Aukland, New Zealand).
In the bottom of the third, it would be a two-out rally that saw the Golden Eagles strike for two.
Jake Hjelle (R-So., OF/1B, East Grand Forks, Minn.) would reach on a single. One batter later, he would come across to score on a
Ben Thoma (R-Sr., C/3B, Clearbrook, Minn.) two-run home run. Thoma continues to add on to his career-high in home runs for a season, as he now has seven round trippers on the season.
The fourth inning would see the Golden Eagles score four runs, with the Golden Eagles collecting three hits in that fourth inning.
The Golden Eagles would add on an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth to help seal the 8-3 victory.
Minnesota Crookston was led by Hjelle, who finished 2-3 and reached base four times. Morris and
Zeke Hass (Jr., OF, Eaton, Colo.) each collected two hits as well. Thoma,
Matt Nunn (Jr., C, Edina, Minn.) and
Tyler Jochen (R-Sr., IF, San Jose, Calif.) also collected a hit in the game.
On the bump, Minnesota Crookston used five pitchers to get the job done on the afternoon.
Alex Koep (So., LHP, Parkers Prairie, Minn.) got the start and went two innings, while striking out four and didn't give up a run.
Jake Dykhoff (R-Jr., RHP, Wadena, Minn.) came in for relief of Koep and struck out five in three innings of work.
Conner Richardson (R-Jr., RHP, Grand Forks, N.D.) and
Jackson Schneider (R-Jr., RHP, Forest Lake, Minn.) came in the late innings as well.
Jakob Wiirre (Jr., RHP, Mims, Fla.) got to slam the door on the Wolves in his native state.
Minnesota Crookston will now kick off NSIC play with a doubleheader on Saturday in Sioux Falls. That will start a stretch of eight-straight road conference games for the Golden Eagles. First pitch with the Cougars is scheduled for 1:30 P.M. on Saturday, with game two to follow shortly after.
