OMAHA, Neb. – The University of Minnesota Crookston baseball team continued their phenomenal start to the 2023 NSIC season with a Sunday sweep of Concordia University St. Paul at Warrior Field on the campus of Omaha Westside H.S. The Golden Eagles defeated the Golden Bears 5-0 in the first game and picked up a 10-0 run-rule victory in the second tilt.
Minnesota Crookston improved to 17-9 (7-1 NSIC) with Sunday's sweep. The Golden Eagles outscored Concordia-St. Paul 27-0 in the series, not allowing a single run. The Golden Eagles are off to their best NSIC start since opening 2021 with an 8-1 NSIC mark. Concordia-St. Paul dropped to 9-12 (5-3 NSIC) with the losses.
Game One
Alex Koep (Jr., LHP, Parkers Prairie, Minn.) led the Golden Eagles in the 5-0 victory. Koep went into the top of the seventh with a no-hitter, looking for a program first. Concordia-St. Paul's Bryce Nelson broke up the no-hitter. Koep pitched a two-hit shutout. He struck out seven and walked three.
Jonah Lewis picked up the loss after allowing two earned runs on four hits in 4.2 innings. Lewis struck out six and walked five.
The Golden Eagles had four hits in the first game.
Mike Hallquist (Jr., 3B, Fargo, N.D.) went 1-of-3 with two runs scored.
Jake Hjelle (R-Jr., OF/1B, East Grand Forks, Minn.) finished 1-of-3, with an RBI and a run scored.
Teddy Giefer (Jr., 1B, Courtland, Minn.) went 1-of-3, with an RBI and a run scored.
Minnesota Crookston started the scoring with three runs in the bottom of the third. Hallquist reached on a throwing error, allowing
Josh Dykhoff (Fr., 1B/RHP, Wadena, Minn.) to score. UMN Crookston extended the lead to 2-0 with a
Caden Headlee (Jr., OF, Fargo, N.D.) sacrifice fly to score Hallquist. Giefer extended the lead to 3-0 with a solo home run, his third of the season.
The Golden Eagles pushed the lead to 4-0 in the fifth when Hjelle singled in Hallquist. UMN Crookston widened the gap to 5-0 when Hjelle scored on a wild pitch.
Minnesota Crookston and Concordia St. Paul played the final two games after they had to push back start times due to overnight snow in Nebraska.
Game Two
The Golden Eagle bats scored 10 runs on 14 hits in the run-rule victory. They were also aided by a strong pitching performance from
Jake Osowski (R-Jr., RHP, East Grand Forks, Minn.). He moved to 4-0 after pitching a five-hit shutout over five innings. Osowski struck out four and walked five.
Brody Sorenson (Jr., RHP, Grand Forks, N.D.) pitched the final inning, striking out two.
The loss went to Christian Morel, who allowed five earned runs on 11 hits. He struck out two and walked one.
At the plate, Minnesota Crookston looked to
Josh Dykhoff, who went 3-of-3, with four RBIs and two runs scored.
Ben Goelz (Jr., OF, Maple Lake, Minn.) was 3-of-3, with two runs scored.
Caden Headlee (Jr., OF, Fargo, N.D.) went 2-of-3, with three RBIs and a run scored. Hallquist was 2-of-3, with an RBI and a run scored.
Mitch Goodwin (Jr., SS, Prior Lake, Minn.) was 2-of-3, with an RBI and a run scored.
The Golden Eagles jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first with a solo shot from
Josh Dykhoff over the fence in right center. Headlee followed with a two-run shot, plating himself and Hjelle to push the advantage to 3-0.
In the fourth stanza, Goodwin singled in
Sawyer Satrom (R-Fr., IF, Portland, N.D.) to push the lead to 4-0. Later in the fourth,
Josh Dykhoff singled up the middle, plating Goelz and Goodwin. UMN Crookston widened the gap to 7-0 with a Hjelle sacrifice fly to score
Josh Dykhoff. The final run in the frame came in with a Headlee single, scoring Hallquist.
UMN Crookston pushed the lead to 9-0 when
Josh Dykhoff was hit by a pitch, scoring Giefer. A Hallquist sacrifice fly scored Goelz to push the advantage to 10-0, the final tally in the tilt.
Minnesota Crookston is slated to host the University of Sioux Falls Saturday, April 1 and Sunday, April 2 in Crookston, Minn. More information for the series will be determined this week based on weather conditions.
