Winter Haven, Fla. – Minnesota Crookston was able to come back in a pair of games on Thursday to sweep Clarion University and Concord University. The Golden Eagles knocked off Clarion in a battle of Golden Eagles, 5-3, in eight innings and scored three runs in the fifth inning to knock off Concord University, 7-6.
 
Minnesota Crookston improved to 5-15 on the season and 3-3 at THE Spring Games.
 
Game One
It would be an early morning for the Golden Eagles, who got to the field at 7:30 A.M. It took two innings for the game to see a run scraped across.
 
Reagan Emerick (R-Jr., MIF, Macomb, Ill.) would single to centerfield and would come around to score all the way from first, as Maddie Shwaluk (Sr., OF, Portage la Prairie, Manitoba) would lay the bunt down and be thrown out at first, but the throw to second would go into left field, allowing Emerick to score.
 
Minnesota Crookston would add another in the fourth with an RBI double from Sophie Juntunen (So., 1B, St. Michael, Minn.), scoring Irelyn Spencer (R-Fr., IF, Rapid City, S.D.), who reached with a leadoff single.
 
CU would score a run in the fifth to make it a 2-1 game, which would be the score heading into the bottom of the sixth inning.
 
Clarion would score a pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth, all coming after the second out, taking a 3-2 lead heading into the final inning.
 
Minnesota Crookston would see Maddie Shwaluk reach with one out in the seventh, but she would be out on a fielder's choice hit by Paige Shwaluk (Sr., MIF, Portage la Prairie, Manitoba). Paige Shwaluk would advance to second as Whitnee Curry (Jr., MIF/OF, Lincoln, Neb.) would be hit by a pitch. One pitch later, Shaelyn Grant (Sr., C/OF, Grand Junction, Colo.) would single up the middle, tying the game at three.
 
Alexa Guilford (So., P, Crystal City, Manitoba) would work out of a jam in the bottom of the seventh and we would head to extra innings.
 
Spencer would be placed on second and with one out, she would come around to score on a Ruth Freiberg (So., OF, Hopkins, Minn.) RBI single, giving the Golden Eagles a 4-3 lead. Maddie Shwaluk would later give the Golden Eagles some more insurance with an RBI knock of her own, scoring Freiberg, for a 5-3 lead.
 
Guilford would pitch a 1-2-3 bottom of the eighth inning, giving the Golden Eagles the two-run victory.
 
Minnesota Crookston finished with ten hits in the game, led by two hits each from Grant, Juntunen and Shwaluk. Rayna French (Fr., C/OF, La Salle, Manitoba) also finished with a hit in the game, extending her hitting streak to five games and a hit each day in Florida. Emerick and Spencer each scored a pair of runs.
 
Charlotte Dombrowski (So., P/OF, Valparaiso, Ind.) was outstanding in the circle, going six innings and allowing just three runs on seven hits. Guilford picked up the win, giving up just one hit in two innings pitched.
 
Game Two
The Golden Eagles were looking for a sweep, as they took on the Mountain Lions of Concord University.
 
Concord would strike first with a run in the first for a 1-0 lead.
 
The Golden Eagles would answer right back. Paige Shwaluk would lead off the inning with a walk and she would later come around to score on an RBI single from French.
 
Minnesota Crookston would once again have a crooked number in the second inning. Paige Shwaluk drove in a pair with an RBI single for a 3-1 lead. Curry would then drive in Shwaluk to give the maroon and gold a 4-1 lead.
 
Concord would score four runs in the top of the third inning, all of which came on the back of a two out rally.
 
The Golden Eagles would go scoreless in the third and fourth innings.
 
In the fifth inning, the Golden Eagles would score three runs on the heels of back-to-back errors to open the inning from the Mountain Lions. Spencer and French would each reach on errors and they would come around to score on a Haley Koch (Jr., C, Mondamin, Iowa) RBI double to the left center gap. Maddie Shwaluk would make it 7-5 with a single.
 
In the seventh, CU would score a run, but they would leave two runners on with one out, as Guilford was able to slam the door once again, giving the Golden Eagles the 7-6 win.
 
The offense was alive yet again in game two on the day. Paige Shwaluk set the tables at the top of the order, finishing 2-3 on the day with two runs knocked in. Koch also finished with two hits and two RBI. Minnesota Crookston struck out just twice in the game and four times on the day.
 
Gracelynn Kelly (So., P, Black Hawk, S.D.) earned the start and gave up five earned runs on six hits in 2.2 innings of work. Guilford came in for relief and went a career-high 4.1 innings, giving up just one run on three hits, while striking out three.
 
What's Next
Minnesota Crookston will look to continue their winning ways on Saturday afternoon for another doubleheader against Wayne State University and Salem University.