After getting pushed back a day due to weather, the University of Minnesota Crookston (UMC) Golden Eagles baseball team played a doubleheader against the #17th ranked team in DII, the Augustana Vikings. It took 11 innings in game 1 before Augustana scored four runs to secure a 5-3 win, the Vikings followed that up with a stellar pitching performance in game 2 for a 6-1 win and a sweep on the afternoon.
GAME ONE –
Augustana got the scoring started in the top of the first inning on a solo home run, but the Golden Eagles would counter to tie the game at 1-1 after one inning of play. Brad Morris (Sr. Auckland, New Zealand) would get hit by a pitch, and after a Jake Hjelle (So. East Grand Forks, Minn.) walk, Ben Thoma (Sr. Clearbrook, Minn.) would double home Morris for the Golden Eagles lone run in the bottom of the first. The Golden Eagles would load the bases with just one out, but the Vikings would work out of the jam.
Neither team would score again until the eleventh inning, as it was a pitching duel all afternoon. The Vikings next best chance would come in the top of the fourth inning. With runners on first and second base, UMC would throw a wild pitch, and the runner on second would try to come all the way around to score. Thoma would flip a perfect strike to Golden Eagles starting pitcher Jake Dykhoff (Jr. Wadena, Minn.), and the game would remain tied at 1-1.
Both teams would get base runners on in the fifth inning, but again, the pitching and defense rose to the occasion keeping the game tied at 1-1. After a quiet sixth inning, Augustana would get a runner in scoring position in the top half of the seventh, but Dykhoff would induce a fly ball and once again put up a zero. Mitch Godwin (So. Prior Lake, Minn.) would get hit by a pitch to start the bottom of the seventh inning, but a double play quickly erased the scoring opportunity, and extra innings would ensue.
Dykhoff would pitch a 1-2-3 top of the eighth inning, and that is where his day would end. The Golden Eagles would also go 1-2-3 in the bottom of the frame, with the last out being a towering shot to the warning track off the bat of Hjelle that just didn’t quite have enough to carry the fence.
Isaac Roers (Fr. Stacy, Minn.) would relive Dykhoff on the mound, and pitch two scoreless innings, but the UMC offense was unable to capitalize getting just one baserunner in the two innings on a lone walk from Ben Bryant (Sr. Fargo, N.D.). Jackson Schneider (Jr. Forest Lake, Minn.) would get the ball in the eleventh inning as the third pitcher of the game for UMC. The Vikings would finally produce some offense in the top of the eleventh inning, however, to pull ahead. After a one-out walk, Another long ball would give Augustana a 3-1 advantage. The Vikings would take advantage of a fielding error from UMC, and after playing some team baseball, tack on two more runs to go up 5-1 heading into the bottom of the frame.
The Golden Eagles would make things a little interesting in the bottom of the eleventh inning. Morris would once again reach base, and this time Hjelle would get all of one, sending it over the outfield fence to pull UMC within two runs at 5-3. Unfortunately for UMC, their next three batters would all get out, and their upset bid would end with a 5-3 extra-inning loss.
GAME ONE BOX SCORE, CLICK HERE
For UMC –
Jake Hjelle – 1 for 4, HR, 2 rbi, run
Brad Morris – 1 for 4, 2 runs
Matt Nunn – 1 for 4, BB
| Game 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | R | H | E |
| AUGIE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 0 |
| UMC | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 1 |
| Pitching | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K |
| Jake Dykhoff -UMC | 8 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 8 |
| Isaac Roers -UMC | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Jackson Schneider -UMC (L, 0-1) | 1 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
GAME TWO –
Augustana once again had success with powerful hitting in game two. The Vikings opened the scoring with a solo home run in the top of the first, but game two starting pitcher Alex Koep (So. Parkers Prairie, Minn.) was able to limit the damage for UMC. Morris and Hjelle would both reach base in the top of the first inning, and it appeared the Golden Eagles had a good scoring opportunity. However, the Vikings starting pitcher for the second contest would get back-to-back strikeouts to end the Golden Eagles threat.
The Vikings would go quietly in the second inning, and UMC would tie things up at 1-1 with a home run of their own in the bottom of the inning. Chad Musser (Sr. Plymouth, Minn.), who didn’t start the first game of the day, would go yard in his first at-bat giving the Golden Eagles what would end up being their only run of the game.
The teams would remain scoreless until the top of the fourth inning when a 1-out single would bring in another run for the Vikings, giving them a 2-1 edge. The Vikings would tack on another run in the top of the fifth inning on a sacrifice fly, and after a single from Tyler Jochen (Sr. San Jose, CA.) to begin the bottom of the frame, UMC would go down scoreless yet again, and find themselves down 3-1 after 5 complete innings.
Augustana would tack on three more insurance runs, and UMC would get just one baserunner in the final two innings (Mitch Goodwin BB) before dropping the second game 6-1 for an 0-2 day at the ballpark.
With the two losses, UMC drops to 12-17 on the season and is now 4-6 in NSIC play with three straight defeats. They will have their final game in this series against the Vikings tomorrow with the first pitch scheduled for 12:00 p.m. from the UMC Baseball Field. #17 Augustana continues its tremendous season and is now 21-4-1 and 11-1 in the NSIC with their lone loss coming against St. Cloud State.
GAME TWO BOX SCORE, CLICK HERE
For UMC –
Chad Musser – 1 for 3, HR, rbi, run
Brad Morris – 2 for 3
Tyler Jochen – 2 for 3
| Game 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
| AUGIE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 9 | 1 |
| UMC | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 2 |
| Pitching | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K |
| Alex Koep -UMC (L, 2-3) | 5.1 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 4 |
| Brody Sorenson | 1.2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
