The University of Minnesota Crookston Golden Eagles Baseball team beat the Concordia-St. Paul Golden Bears 4-1 and 5-4 in two extra-inning Northern Sun Conference games played in Sioux City, Iowa.
GAME ONE –
The first game was a pitcher’s duel. UMC scored first with an unearned run in the top of the second inning. The first two Golden Eagle batters were retired before M Goodwin double down the left-field line. Goodwin came into score when Jack Peppel (Sr. Olivia) hit a fly ball to right field and it was dropped to allow the run to score and UMC led 1-0. The Golden Eagle’s pitcher, Jake Dykhoff (Jr. Wadena) only gave up two hits in the first four innings. In the bottom of the fifth inning, Concordia-St. Paul took advantage of a lead-off walk. The second batter had a sacrifice bunt to advance the runner to second base. The next batter reached on an error before a walk loaded the bases with two outs. The next batter singled to right field and a run scored. Another runner tried to score but was thrown out at home and the game remained tied at one.
Both pitchers continued their domination and didn’t give up a hit in the sixth or seventh inning.
UMC took advantage of Concordia-St. Paul pitching control issues in the top of the eighth inning with a lead-off walk to Sunny Resnick (Sr. Twin Valley). Paxton Nelson (Jr. Spicer) reached on a fielder’s choice as the Golden Bears got an out at second base. Jake Hjelle (Soph. East Grand Forks) was intentionally walked, and Ben Thoma (Sr. Clearbrook) walked to load the bases. After a Concordia-St. Paul pitching change, M. Nunn pinch hit for UMC and singled to right field to score the go-ahead run for a 2-1 lead. The next batter, Zeke Hass (Jr. Eaton, CO) reached on a fielder’s choice, but Hjelle was out at home. Bases were still loaded with two outs. UMC broke the game open when Ben Goelz (Soph. Maple Lake) double to left-center field to score two runs and the Golden Eagles took a 4-1 lead. The next batter struck out and UMC took a 4-1 lead into the bottom of the eighth inning.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, Dykoff walked the first batter before retiring the next three and Crookston picked up a win in the first game of the doubleheader.
| Game 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | R | H | E |
| UMC | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 1 |
| CSP | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1 |
| Pitching | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K |
| Jake Dykhoff -UMC | 8 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 10 |
GAME TWO –
UMC had a solid start to the second game as Nunn singled and advanced to second on an error. After a Golden Eagle strikeout, Nunn stole third base. Thom lined out to centerfield, and the ball was deep enough to score Nunn from third to give the Golden Eagles a 1-0 lead. Concordia-St. Paul took the lead in the bottom of the fourth inning. The inning started with a single, the next batter reached on an error before a three-run home run for a 3-1 lead. The next two batters were retired before a double that scored a run for a 4-1 lead.
The Golden Eagles responded in the top of the fifth inning with a B. Goelz lead-off single. After a pop-out, Goelz advanced to second on a balk before moving over to third base on a wild pitch. T. Giefer singled up the middle to score a run. Ben Bryant followed with a single, Nunn reached on a fielder’s choice and advanced to second base on an error, that also allowed a run to score and UMC trailed 4-3.
The Golden Eagles tied the game at four in the top of the seventh inning when Goelz and Goodwin each singled. Teddy Giefer (Soph. Courtland) had a sacrifice bunt to advance the runners to second and third base with one out. The next batter, Bryant, flew out to centerfield and it was deep enough to let the runner score from third base to tie the game.
UMC’s Jake Osowski (Soph. East Grand Forks) got the nod to pitch the seventh inning in relief and struck out all three batters he faced in the seventh, to force extra innings.
In the top of the eighth, Hjelle walked, and after an out, Brad Morris (Sr. Auckland, New Zealand) singled and runners were at first and second with one out. Hjelle stole third base and then scored on a wild pitch for a 5-4 lead.
Osowski pitched the eighth inning and retired all three batters he faced and UMC won the game 5-4 to complete the sweep of the doubleheader.
UMC improves to 3-2 in the NSIC and 11-13 overall. Concordia-St.Paul drops to 4-3 in the NSIC and 10-9 in the NSIC. The teams will meet for one nine-inning game on Monday.
| Game 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | R | H | E |
| UMC | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 9 | 2 |
| CSP | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 3 |
| Pitching | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K |
| Alex Koep | 6 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 8 |
| Jake Osowski (W) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
