sports

UMC BASEBALL SWEEPS UPPER IOWA IN CRUCIAL DOUBLEHEADER

April 6, 2019

The University of Minnesota Crookston (UMC) baseball team used a strong pitching performance in game one, and some late heroics in game two to secure a sweep over Upper Iowa in a Saturday doubleheader of NSIC games played at the UMC Baseball Field.

GAME ONE – Bryce Jorgenson (Jr., Thunder Bay, Ontario) singled to center field to open the bottom of the first inning for Minnesota Crookston. Reed Hjelle (Sr., East Grand Forks) was intentionally walked putting runners on first and second base, following a ground out, before Brock Reller (Soph., Grand Forks, ND) reached on a fielder’s choice allowing Jorgenson to score while Hjelle slid in safely to second base. Following a groundout that moved runners to second and third base, Reed Hjelle scored on a wild pitch. Ben Thoma (Soph., Clearbrook) singled to right field allowing Reller to score from second base giving the Golden Eagles a 3-0 lead after one inning. Minnesota Crookston added to its lead in the bottom of the sixth inning. Jonathan Lund (Sr., Tolna, ND) singled through the right side of the infield to start the inning before Ben Thoma was hit by a pitch putting runners on first and second base. A ground out from Mason Ruhlman (Jr., Algonac, MI) allowed pinch-runner Alex Mushitz (Fr., East Grand Forks) to score from second base before a Scott Finberg single to right field plated Ben Thoma giving UMC a 5-0 lead after six innings. On the mound, Zach Rustad was brilliant tossing seven scoreless innings while allowing just one hit, three walks and striking out nine batters to help the Golden Eagles clinch their first win at home this season 5-0 over the Peacocks. “It starts with Zach Rustad, that’s for sure,” said UMC head coach Steve Gust. “You expect when things aren’t going well a senior to step up, and that’s exactly what he did. He didn’t do anything special, but he attacked the zone with all four of his pitches, and he had that bulldog mentality and to do that coming off of a subpar performance on Wednesday that says a lot about the kid right there.”

G1	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
UIU	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	2
UMC	3	0	0	0	0	2	0	5	6	0

Pitching	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
Zach Rustad – UMC	7.0	1	0	0	3	9

For UMC
Ben Thoma – 1-1, RBI, run
Scott Finberg – 1-3, RBI

GAME TWO – Both pitchers cruised through the first three innings before Minnesota Crookston threatened to put a crooked number on the scoreboard in the bottom of the fourth inning. Reed Hjelle (Sr., East Grand Forks) walked to open the inning before Bobby Chu (Jr., Redwood City, CA) singled through the right side of the infield to put runners on first and second base. Ben Thoma (Soph., Clearbrook) singled to center field but, Hjelle was tagged out by Upper Iowa’s catcher before a strikeout ended UMC’s threat with the game still scoreless into the fifth inning. In the top of the fifth inning, Minnesota Crookston’s lackluster defense allowed the Peacocks to take the lead. Following a leadoff single and stolen base, an error by the Golden Eagles’ shortstop gave Upper Iowa its first run of the inning. Following another error that put two runners on base, a double into right field plated two runners pushing Upper Iowa’s advantage to 3-0. A base hit gave the Peacock’s their final run of the inning as the visitors took a 4-0 lead into the bottom of the fifth inning. Scott Finberg (Jr., Stillwater) led off the bottom of the fifth inning with a double to left field before Landyn Swenson (Jr., Devils Lake, ND) wore a pitch putting runners on first and second base. Griffin Fussy (R-Soph., Ham Lake) doubled to left centerfield plating Finberg before a pair of flyouts ended the inning as UMC trimmed its deficit to 4-1 after five innings. Reed Hjelle led off the bottom of the seventh inning with a single up the middle before a wild pitch allowed Hjelle to advance to second base. A ground out moved Hjelle to third base before a subsequent groundout from Bobby Chu allowed Hjelle to score trimming UMC’s deficit down to 4-2 after seven innings. In the top of the ninth inning, Upper Iowa used a sacrifice fly adding one insurance run to take a 5-2 lead into the bottom of the ninth inning. Looking to rally in the bottom of the ninth inning trailing by three runs, Bryce Jorgenson (Jr., Thunder Bay, Ontario) walked to spark a rally. A wild-pitch allowed Jorgenson to advance to second base before Griffin Fussy grounded out moving Jorgenson over to third base. Reed Hjelle fought through an eight-pitch at-bat to earn a walk followed by a five-pitch walk thrown to Brock Reller loading the bases with one out in the inning. Travis Conoryea (R-Soph., Inver Grove Heights) entered the game as a pinch-hitter connecting on a bloop-single to centerfield scoring Jorgenson while cutting Minnesota Crookston’s deficit down to 5-3. Ben Thoma (Soph., Clearbrook) drove a fly ball into left field for a sacrifice fly scoring Hjelle as UMC pulled within 5-4 with one out left. Mason Ruhlman (Jr., Algonac, MI) walked to reload the bases before Hunter Baldwin was inserted into the line-up as a pinch hitter in search of a game-winning hit. After an Upper Iowa pitching change, Baldwin fell behind 0-2 in the count before sending a base hit to the outfield scoring the game-winning run from second base and securing a 6-5 come from behind victory for Minnesota Crookston. “We stayed with it,” noted Gust. “I think it came, first, with the confidence that we could come back. I think we all felt that if we did the things necessary to be successful at the plate that we would be successful. We were patient, we were disciplined at the plate, and we did a lot of little things to get on base and then got some big hits obviously.”

Minnesota Crookston improves to 16-11 on the year and 9-4 in conference play. The Golden Eagles return to the diamond on Wednesday when the Golden Eagles host defending national champion Augustana for a doubleheader beginning at 12:00 p.m. Upper Iowa falls to 9-14 overall and 6-12 in NSIC play.