UMC BASEBALL SPLITS DOUBLEHEADER AGAINST MINNESOTA STATE-MANKATO

The University of Minnesota Crookston (UMC) Golden Eagles baseball team fell 8-7 in 12 innings in game one before bouncing back to win the second game 4-3 over Minnesota State-Mankato in a pair of NSIC games played at Franklin Rogers Park in Mankato, Minnesota.

GAME ONE – Minnesota Crookston’s offense got off to a fast start thanks to the long ball. The Golden Eagles managed to load the bases in the top of the first inning before a pitch hit Travis Conoryea (Soph., Inver Grove Heights) allowing Landyn Swenson (Jr., Devils Lake, ND) to score from third base giving the Golden Eagles a 1-0 lead. As the two-out rally continued, Scott Finberg (Jr., Stillwater) launched a grand slam over the left field fence giving Minnesota Crookston a 5-0 lead heading into the bottom of the first inning. Minnesota State managed to take three runs back in the bottom of the first inning on a trio of RBI hits cutting their deficit down to 5-3 after one inning. With two runners on in the top of the second inning, Landyn Swenson reached on a fielder’s choice allowing Griffin Fussy (R-Soph., Ham Lake) to score from third base boosting UMC’s lead to 6-3 after the top of the second inning. Minnesota State-Mankato continued to battle back in the bottom of the second inning. An RBI double brought the Mavericks within 6-4, before an RBI single to centerfield trimmed the host’s deficit down to 1 run. With the bases loaded and no outs, pitcher Conner Richardson (Fr., Grand Forks, ND) induced a double-play allowing one more Minnesota State runner to touch home tying the game at 6-6 after two innings of play. Both pitchers settled in after the second inning with neither team able to bring another run across the plate before heading into extra innings. Connor Richardson remained on the mound through seven innings allowing just one earned run before exiting with the game still tied at 6-6 heading into the ninth inning. In the top of the eleventh inning, Bryce Jorgenson (Jr., Thunder Bay, Ontario) reached on a fielder’s choice before Landyn Swenson singled up the middle putting runners on first and second base. Reed Hjelle (Sr., East Grand Forks) singled to right field loading the bases before a strikeout provided MSU-Mankato with their second out of the inning. With the bases still loaded and two outs in the inning Brock Reller (Soph., Grand Forks, ND) singled to left field scoring Jorgenson from third base and giving Minnesota Crookston a 7-6 lead heading into the bottom of the eleventh inning. Dalton Grose returned to the mound for his third inning of work looking to close out the extra-innings victory for UMC. Grose earned a strike-out looking to start the inning before a single and hit batter put the winning run on first base with just one out in the inning. A walk loaded the bases and moved the winning run to second base before another free-pass allowed the tying run to touch home plate tying the game at 7-7 while the bases remained loaded with one out in the inning. Against the next batter, Grose forced a ground ball to his third baseman who made the force out at home before the catcher fired to first base in time for the 5-2-3 double play sending the game to the twelfth inning tied at 7-7. Henry Pesch (Jr., Minneota) opened the twelfth inning on the bump for UMC picking up a swinging strikeout the open the inning with the game tied at 7-7. A triple to right-center field put the winning run on third base with one out in the inning for the Mavericks. A sacrifice fly into centerfield ended the game for Minnesota State plating the winning run from third base and giving the Mavericks an 8-7 win in twelve innings. Because game one went to extra innings, the second game will be a scheduled 7-inning game. 

G1	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	R	H	E
UMC	5	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	7	14	1
MSU	3	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	8	11	0

 

Pitching	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
Garrett Hohn – UMC	1.0	6	5	5	1	1
Conner Richardson – UMC	7.0	3	1	1	2	1
Dalton Grose – UMC	3.0	1	1	1	4	4
Henry Pesch – UMC	0.2	1	1	1	0	1

For UMC
Landyn Swenson – 3-6, run, RBI, 2 SB
Griffin Fussy – 2-4, run, BB, SB
Reed Hjelle – 2-5, run, BB
Brock Reller – 2-6, run, RBI

GAME TWO – Minnesota State put their first two batters of the game on second and third base to open the bottom of the first inning. Graeme Cherry (Jr., Millarille, Alberta) picked up a swinging strikeout for the first out of the inning. Cherry followed up his strikeout by inducing a foul out for the second out of the inning while holding the runners at second and third base. Cherry escaped the early trouble with a groundout to third base stranding two runners in scoring position while keeping the game scoreless after one inning. In the top of the fifth inning, Scott Finberg (Jr., Stillwater) reached on an error before Bobby Chu (Jr., Redwood City, CA) reached on an error, advancing to second base while Finberg moved to third base. Bryce Jorgenson (Jr., Thunder Bay, Ontario) walked to load the bases bringing Landyn Swenson (Jr., Devils Lake, ND) to the plate with one out in the inning. Following a strikeout, Reed Hjelle (Sr., East Grand Forks) singled through the left side of the infield plating Bobby Chu and Scott Finberg giving Minnesota Crookston a 2-0 lead. Brock Reller (Soph., Grand Forks, ND) continued the two-out rally doubling into center field plating Hjelle and Jorgenson boosting the Golden Eagles lead to 4-0 heading into the bottom of the fifth inning. In the bottom of the sixth inning, Minnesota State-Mankato opened the frame with back to back singles putting runners on first and second base before a walk loaded the bases with no outs in the inning. A sacrifice fly hit to left field provided the Mavericks with their first run of the game pulling within 4-1. A single to left field plated the second run of the inning trimming MSU-Mankato’s deficit down to 4-2 with runners still on first and second base with one out in the inning. A pop up to first base gave Minnesota Crookston the second out of the inning. A fly out to right field ended the inning with UMC leading 4-2 heading into the seventh inning. With the Golden Eagles leading 4-2 heading into the seventh and final inning, Louis Gerzin (Sr., Ely) took the mound looking to close out the Minnesota Crookston win. Gerzin earned a strikeout to open the inning before allowing a single into right field allowing the tying run to come to the plate with one out in the inning. Gerzin induced a ground ball for the second out of the inning before giving up an RBI single allowing the tying run to reach first base with two outs in the inning. With the tying run on first base, Gerzin closed out the game with a strikeout to secure the 4-3 win for the Golden Eagles.

Minnesota Crookston improves to 14-8 overall and 7-1 in NSIC play. The Golden Eagles return to the diamond on Saturday when UMC is scheduled to host Winona State for a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m. Minnesota State-Mankato drops to 14-7 overall and 6-4 in conference play.

G2	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
UMC	0	0	0	0	4	0	0	4	5	0
MSU	0	0	0	0	0	2	1	3	8	3

 

Pitching	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
Graeme Cherry – UMC	6.0	6	2	2	2	6
Louis Gerzin – UMC	1.0	2	1	1	0	2

For UMC
Brock Reller – 2-3, 2 RBIs, 2 doubles