The UMC Golden Eagles baseball team was able to hang on to the lead after a late Wolves push to win game one of the doubleheader 9-6. In game two, UMC brought out the big bats hitting three homers, including a grand slam, scoring 14 runs on their way to a run-rule victory of 14-3 to sweep the NSIC doubleheader played in Crookston.
GAME ONE –
Northern State got off to a good start with a run in the first inning. A one-out single came around to score on a two-out single. The single got to second base on a throwing error but a flyout ended the inning.
UMC went down 1-2-3 in the first inning to leave the score at 1-0 after an inning of play.
The Wolves got a couple of runners on with a walk and error with one out. However, Jake Dykhoff (Jr. Wadena), the UMC starting pitcher, settled in with a couple of strikeouts for the second and third outs. “He is our rock,” said Golden Eagles Head Coach Steve Gust. “He is our go-to guy.”
UMC grabbed the lead in the bottom of the second inning with a couple of runs. Scott Finberg (Sr. Stillwater) tied the game by himself with a lead off homerun to left field. Jake Hjelle (Fresh. East Grand Forks) followed the homerun up with a double. He advanced to third on a fly ball before scoring on a flyball from Landyn Swenson (Sr. Devils Lake, ND). The flyball was dropped by the right fielder allowing Swenson to reach second. A baserunning mistake on a flyball ended the inning on a double play, but not before UMC grabbed a 2-1 lead.
Dykhoff continued to pitch well in the third adding two more strikeouts during a 1-2-3 inning.
UMC tacked on two more runs in the bottom of the third. Conner Fonger (Fresh. Superior, WI) led off with a walk. A single to right field and a walk loaded the bases with no outs. After a strikeout, Finberg got his second RBI on single dribbled down the first base line. The Northern State pitcher tried to get the out at home but his flip went wide allowing a second run to score.
The Wolves answered with a run in the top of the fourth inning. They got a leadoff double that got to third base on a throwing error on the play. The next batter brought in the run with a sacrifice fly to center field to make it 4-2.
The Golden Eagles got two more runs in the bottom of the fourth to add back on to their lead. Swenson doubled down the line to get things started for UMC. After two quick outs, it looked like Swenson would get stranded in scoring position. But, UMC’s strong two-out scoring came up big once again. The next two hitters were hit by a pitch and Brock Reller (Jr. Grand Forks, ND) and Finberg worked back-to-back walks to bring in two more runs.
Dykhoff put up another zero in the fifth as he struck out the side.
UMC put up two runs for the fourth consecutive inning in the bottom of the fifth. Swenson walked to start the fifth inning and one batter later, Eli Jung (Jr. Dickinson, ND) hit a double to score Swenson from first. Two batters later, Ben Bryant (So. Fargo, ND) came through with another two-out hit to bring in Jung from second. A double put runners on second and third, however a groundout left them stranded.
Dykhoff allowed a leadoff single and the next batter reached on a throwing error and put runners on the corners. Northern State looked poised to score but Dykhoff dug in and struck out the next two batters before a foul out got him out of the jam.
UMC scored for the fifth straight inning get a big insurance run. No surprise, the Golden Eagles scored with two outs again in the sixth on Parker Stroh’s (Fresh. Grand Forks, ND) solo homerun to left-center field to give them a 9-2 lead headed into the final inning.
Dykhoff was looking for his fifth complete game win of the season and he needed just three outs. He allowed a leadoff single and subsequently got his eleventh strikeout of the game. That was the last out he would get, though. He gave up a double and a two RBI single to consecutive hitters after the strikeout, and that spelled the end of his day. “I think he just got a little tired there at the end,” said Gust. UMC brought in Jayden Grover (Sr. Cooperstown, ND) to get the final two outs. He struggled as well in the inning, giving up a couple of walks sandwiching a two RBI single to cut the lead to 9-6. The Golden Eagles went back to the bullpen and brought in Brody Sorenson (Fresh. Grand Forks, ND). “The fact is we gotta have guys pick us up on the back end and I know we have guys that can do that,” said Coach Gust. And Sorenson did just that as he needed only one pitch and a little bit of help from his defense to get the final two outs. The first pitch he threw was lined into the left-center field gap. Fonger got a good jump and made a diving catch just as the ball was landing. The Wolves did not tag up and Fonger threw to second to complete the double play. “He hasn’t started a whole lot for us this year, but he has stepped up lately and he made the big play,” explained Coach Gust. “We always tell out guys to be ready because you never know when the next play is gonna be the difference in the game.” The double play ended the game and gave UMC the 9-6 victory in game one.
FOR THE GAME ONE BOX SCORE, CLICK HERE.
| Game #1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
| Northern St. | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 4 |
| UMC | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | x | 9 | 10 | 4 |
| Pitching | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K |
| Jake Dykhoff – UMC (WP) | 6.1 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 11 |
| Jayden Grover- UMC | 0.0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Brody Sorenson- UMC (Save) | 0.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Brian Baker- NSU (LP) | 4.0 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Andrew Pugliano- NSU | 2.0 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 2 |
For UMC
Scott Finberg- 2-3, Home Run, 3 RBI
Landyn Swenson- 2-3, double, 2 runs, 1 RBI
Ben Bryant- 2-3, 2 runs, 1 RBI
Parker Stroh- 1-4, Home Run
For Northern State
Ramon Vega- 2-4, 3 RBI
Justin Hutter- 2-4, 2 runs, 2 RBI
GAME TWO –
Alex Koep (Fresh. Parkers Prairie) got UMC off to a good start by putting up a zero on the mound in the first inning, including two strikeouts.
The Golden Eagles continued the good start with three runs in the bottom of the inning to grab the early lead. Bryant singled and Mason Ruhlman (Sr. Algonac, MI) doubled to start the inning. With two runners in scoring position, Reller got his first hit of the day and it was a big one as he slugged a three-run homer to left-center field.
The Wolves got a run back in the second inning. Back-to-back singles to start the inning put runners on the corners. The next hitter grounded out to second to bring in the runner from third and cut the lead to 3-1.
UMC was retired in order keeping the game at 3-1 after two innings.
Koep responded well after giving up the run in the previous inning as he put up his own 1-2-3 inning in the top of the third.
The Golden Eagles got the run back in the bottom of the third. Singles from Ruhlman and Reller got things started and a one-out walk from Hjelle loaded the bases. Stroh brought in the Golden Eagles fourth run of the game on a sacrifice fly to center. “I think our guys are starting to understand what they need to do to be successful and getting those scoring opportunities,” said Coach Gust. Another walk loaded the bases with two outs before a groundout left them loaded and the score at 4-1.
Koep allowed two more walks in the fourth inning, still, he worked out of it getting a couple of flyouts to keep Northern State scoreless in the inning.
UMC put up a crooked number in the inning with five more runs. A walk and a double from Fonger and Bryant started the inning with two runners in scoring position. An error scored Fonger from third for the first run of the inning. Reller added another RBI to his total with a single to center. After the first out came on a fielder’s choice, Hjelle hit his eighth homerun of the season to bring in three more runs and give UMC a 9-1 lead after four innings. “I liked our approaches at the plate,” explained Gust. “I thought it was the best we looked at the plate just from a pitch-by-pitch standpoint that we’ve had in awhile.”
Koep got the first two out in the fifth with a couple of strikeouts. Then, the Wolves got a few baserunners. A walk followed by an RBI triple and RBI single two cut the lead to 9-3. The Golden Eagles brought in a reliever after that with Jake Osowski (Fresh. East Grand Forks). He came in and got the final out of the inning.
The Golden Eagles loaded the bases in the fifth inning with one out, but two infield flyouts ended the inning. “Getting these opportunities every inning is huge because you put pressure on them every single inning and that plays a big part in the outcome of the game,” noted Coach Gust.
Osowski got two strikeouts and a pop out to retire the Wolves in order in the sixth inning.
UMC put up their second five-run inning of the game in the sixth to really break things open. Go figure, most of the work was done with two outs in the inning. Hjelle walked to start the inning which was then followed by two outs. Hjelle stole second and scored on a double from Jung. Fonger was hit by a pitch and Bryant walked to load the bases once again for the Golden Eagles. The big knock of the inning came on the third home run of the game for UMC as Ruhlman sent a ball over the center field fence for a grand slam. “We stayed pretty disciplined in the zone which allowed us to get some walks and some pitches to hit too, said Gust. After six innings UMC led 14-3.
Now, with an eleven run lead, Osowski and the Golden Eagles needed just three outs to complete the game. Osowski did hit a batter and allowed a single with two outs, still he used a couple of strikeouts and a fielder’s choice to put up another zero to give UMC the 14-3 win in seven innings and completed the doubleheader sweep. “In the NSIC there is no such thing as an easy win,” added Gust.
FOR THE GAME TWO BOX SCORE, CLICK HERE.
UMC erases their four game losing streak and improves their record to 19-6 overall and 14-6 in NSIC play. They will host Bemidji State this weekend in a three game series. A doubleheader will be played on Saturday starting at 1:30. The third game will be played on Sunday at 1:30.
Northern State falls to 15-16 overall and they are now 14-13 in the Northern Sun Conference. They will host St. Cloud State this weekend for a three game series.
| Game #2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
| Northern | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 2 |
| UMC | 3 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 5 | X | 14 | 13 | 0 |
| Pitching | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K |
| Alex Koep- UMC | 4.2 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| Jake Osowski- UMC | 2.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Seth Brewer- NSU | 1.0 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| Zach Hartford- NSU | 2.0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Mike Stubbs- NSU | 1.0 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 1 |
| Brandon Ford- NSU | 2.0 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 1 |
For UMC
Mason Ruhlman- 3 for 4, homerun, 4 RBI, 3 runs
Brock Reller- 3 for 5, homerun, 4 RBI, 3 runs
Jake Hjelle- 1 for 2, homerun, 3 RBI, 2 runs
Ben Bryant- 3 for 4, 3 runs
Parker Stroh and Eli Jung- 1 hit and 1 RBI apiece
Conner Fonger- 1 hit, 2 runs
For Northern State
Reece Ragatz- 3 for 4, RBI, run
Ramon Vega Jr., Spencer Sarringer, Karson Hesser- 1 hit each
