The University of Minnesota Crookston baseball team opened up Northern Sun Conference play in a big way with 4-0 and 6-4 victories over the Wayne State Wildcats in games played at Omaha Westside High School in Omaha, Nebraska.
GAME ONE –
UMC used a one-hit, complete game pitching performance from Zach Rustad (Sr., Blaine) to beat Wayne State 4-0 in the first game of the doubleheader. Brock Reller (Soph., Grand Forks, ND) provided Minnesota Crookston with the game-winning run in the second inning blasting a home run over the right-field fence giving the Golden Eagles a 1-0 lead. Zach Rustad was dominant on the mound allowing just one hit in seven innings while walking three and striking out seven. Brock Reller continued his strong game at the plate knocking a triple down the right-field line in the sixth inning plating Ben Thoma (Soph., Clearbrook) and Reed Hjelle (Sr., East Grand Forks) giving UMC a 3-0 lead. Scott Finberg (Jr., Stillwater) flew out to right field allowing Reller to tag up from third base and cross home plate giving UMC a 4-0 lead to close out the seven-inning game’s scoring as the Golden Eagles closed out a 4-0 win.
| G1 Box Score | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
| UMC | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 1 |
| WSC | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Pitching | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
| Zach Rustad – UMC | 7.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 |
| Aidan Breedlove – WSC | 5.0 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 7 |
| Charles Hasty – WSC | 1.0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Ryan Obrecht – WSC | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
For UMC
Brock Reller – 2-3, HR, 3 RBIs, 2 runs
GAME TWO –
The UMC Golden Eagles had another solid pitching performance behind Jayden Grover and two solo home runs on their way to a 6-4 victory over Wayne State.
Wayne State started the scoring in the bottom of the second inning with a couple of singles and a UMC error on a sacrifice bunt for a 1-0 lead through two innings. UMC answered with a leadoff home run from their #8 batter, Mason Ruhlman (Jr. Algonac, MI), to tie the game at 1-1.
In the top of the fourth inning, UMC led off with another leadoff home run, this time from Reed Hjelle (Sr. East Grand Forks) for a 2-1 lead.
UMC added more runs in the top of the seventh inning with a two-out rally that started with a walk. Bryce Jorgenson (Jr. Thunder Bay, Ontario) singled to score a run and Landyn Swenson (Jr. Devils Lake, ND) followed with a bunt single and a run scored on a Wayne State error for a 4-1 lead. Wayne State made a pitching change and Hjelle singled to center field to score another run for a 5-1 lead.
Wayne State answered with two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning with a single and a hit batter for runners on first and second. UMC made a pitching change and brought in Aaron Hollcraft (Sr. Crookston) to replace Jayden Grover (Jr. Cooperstown, ND), who had the second straight solid start for the Golden Eagles. Hollcraft got the first batter to ground out, but gave up a two-run double to cut the UMC lead to 5-3. Hollcraft retired the next batter he faced on a ground out and walked the next batter and UMC made another pitching change. Dalton Grose (Soph. Waterville) came in and struck out the Wayne State batter on three pitches to get out of the inning with a 5-3 lead.
In the ninth inning, UMC scored a big insurance run with two outs. Jorgenson singled, stole second, advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored a run on another wild pitch for a 6-3 lead.
Wayne State didn’t go down without a fight as they started the bottom of the ninth inning with a single and double. Wayne State scored a run on a sacrifice fly to centerfield. The next batter hit into a fielders choice and UMC picked up the win when Wayne State grounded out to second to start conference play with two wins.
UMC improves to 2-0 in the NSIC and 9-7 overall and will take on Wayne State in one game in Omaha on Monday. Wayne State drops to 9-6 overall and 0-2 in the NSIC.
| G2 Box Score | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| UMC | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 8 | 1 |
| WSC | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 8 | 1 |
| Pitching | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
| Jayden Grover-UMC WP | 6.0 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
| Aaron Hollcraft – UMC | 0.2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Dalton Grose – UMC (S) | 2.1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
For UMC
Bryce Jorgenson – 2-4, 2 runs, walk
Reed Hjelle – 2-4, 2 rbi, run, home run
Mason Ruhlman – 1-3, home run, rbi, run
