CROOKSTON, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Crookston is ramping up their annual alumni game by turning it into the first UMN Crookston Baseball Alumni Day Saturday, October 8. The day will start off with a UMC Teambackers Tailgate at the UMN Crookston Baseball Field beginning at 11 a.m. The alumni game will commence with first pitch at 1 p.m. It will be followed by an alumni social at the Crookston Inn (Scobey's Pub and Grub).


The day will culminate with the first annual UMN Crookston Baseball Alumni Banquet at 6 p.m. at the Crookston Inn. The banquet will celebrate Minnesota Crookston alumni and the past and future of the Golden Eagle baseball program. It will be headlined by guest speaker Rob Fornasiere. Fornasiere spent 33 years as an assistant coach, most recently assistant head coach, for the University of Minnesota. He helped the Gophers to 16 NCAA Regional appearances and one NCAA Super Regional appearance in his tenure at Minnesota. Fornasiere aided Minnesota to 24 Big 10 Championships, 10 Big 10 Tournament Championships. He was the 2008 ABCA Assistant Coach of the Year.

In addition, Minnesota Crookston will honor student-athletes who broke records during the 2022 season and will present banners that will be soon hung at the Minnesota Crookston baseball field to nine former baseball student-athletes (Mason Ruhlman, Brock Reller, Trevor Buttermore, Nolan Wahlberg, Will Zimmerman, Ethan Mushitz, Jayden Grover, Dalton Grose, and Ben Thoma).

The Golden Eagles are in their ninth season under Head Coach Steve Gust. The last eight seasons have been the most successful in program history, as they have appeared in four NSIC Tournaments, including finishing one game shy of the NSIC Tournament Championship in 2021. The Golden Eagles have amassed 167 wins in the last eight seasons. Minnesota Crookston earned a national ranking in 2021 and had their best winning percentage (.684) in program history. The Golden Eagles achieved their most wins (28) during the 2019 season.

The event is slated to be an annual stalwart in the calendar moving forward. The 2022 Baseball Alumni Banquet will be part of the University of Minnesota Crookston homecoming festivities during the week of October 3-9.