The University of Minnesota Crookston (UMC) baseball team dropped its third straight game in a 10-8 loss in ten innings against Upper Iowa in an NSIC game played at the UMC Baseball Field.
Upper Iowa put together a big first inning with a walk followed by an error plating the Peacocks first run of the game. A double to left center field scored the second run of the inning followed by a two-RBI triple into right-center field giving the visitors a 4-0 lead. An RBI single hit to left field concluded Upper Iowa’s productive first inning with the Peacocks claiming a 5-0 lead into the bottom of the opening frame. Landyn Swenson (Jr., Devils Lake, ND) reached on a walk to spark a rally in the bottom of the first inning. Reed Hjelle (Sr., East Grand Forks) walked to put runners on first and second base before a Ben Thoma (Soph., Clearbrook) walk loaded the bases. Brock Reller (Soph., Grand Forks, ND) sent a base hit into right field to plate Swenson and Hjelle and trim Minnesota Crookston’s deficit down to 5-2 after one inning. Upper Iowa added its sixth run of the game on an error by UMC’s catcher in the top of the second inning as UIU took a 6-2 lead into the bottom of the second inning. In the fourth inning, Upper Iowa added to its lead with a wild pitch plating one run and a sacrifice fly hit to left field made it 8-3 heading into the bottom of the fourth inning. In the bottom of the fourth inning, Landyn Swenson drove a fly ball to right field plating Bobby Chu (Jr., Redwood City, CA) from third base trimming UMC’s deficit down to 8-4. With runners on second and third base, Reed Hjelle connected on the second sacrifice fly into center field plating Griffin Fussy (R-Soph., Ham Lake) and cutting the Golden Eagles deficit down to 8-5. In the sixth inning, Travis Conoryea (R-Soph., Inver Grove Heights) reached on a fielder’s choice in the sixth inning with the bases loaded allowing Landyn Swenson to score as UMC pulled within 8-6 heading into the seventh inning. In the bottom of the seventh inning, Griffin Fussy (R-Soph., Ham Lake) singled to get the Golden Eagles their first runner on base before a Bryce Jorgenson (Jr., Thunder Bay, Ontario) doubled to left field putting runners on second and third base. An intentional walk to Reed Hjelle loaded the bases before a slow tapper to the mound off the bat of Ben Thoma (Soph., Clearbrook) that deflected off the glove of the Upper Iowa pitcher allowing Fussy to score from third base as UMC pulled within 8-7 going into the eighth inning. Bryce Jorgenson doubled to left field to start a ninth-inning rally with the Golden Eagles trailing by one run. Following a sacrifice bunt that moved Jorgenson over to third base, Reed Hjelle walked. A pitch that squeezed past the Upper Iowa catcher allowing Jorgenson to score from third base tying the game at 8-8 to force extra innings. In the tenth inning, Upper Iowa’s leadoff hitter reached on a single before a walk put runners on first and second base. A double allowed two Peacocks’ runners to score giving Upper Iowa a 10-8 lead into the bottom of the tenth inning. A Griffin Fussy walk brought UMC’s tying run to the plate, but a pair of strikeouts ended Minnesota Crookston’s rally as Upper Iowa closed out the 10-8 win in ten innings. “We had a little bit more energy, a little bit more focus,” said UMC head coach Steve Gust. “There was excitement in the dugout. We competed hard, but we’ve got to take advantage of the situations they give you. When you leave that many guys on base it’s tough to win baseball games. We’ve got to be clutch. We have to have some clutch hitting. We didn’t have much today as far as that goes. When you’re in the NSIC competition one play here or there makes a difference in the game and we’ve got to just make one more play than we did today.”
Minnesota Crookston drops to 14-11 on the year and 7-4 in NSIC play. The Golden Eagles wrap up their three-game series with Upper Iowa with a doubleheader on Saturday beginning at Noon. Upper Iowa improves to 8-13 overall and 5-11 in conference play.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | R | H | E | |
| UI | 5 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 10 | 3 |
| UMC | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 11 | 3 |
| Pitching | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
| Jayden Grover – UMC | 3.0 | 6 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 3 |
| Aaron Hollcraft – UMC | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Graeme Cherry – UMC | 5.2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| Louis Gerzin – UMC | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
For UMC
Griffin Fussy – 1-2, 2 runs, 3 walks
Bryce Jorgenson – 3-6, 2 runs, 2 doubles, walk
Travis Conoryea – 2-5, RBI, walk
