The University of Minnesota Crookston Golden Eagles Baseball team has an important doubleheader this afternoon down in St. Cloud against the St. Cloud State (SCSU) Huskies. The Golden Eagles chances of making the NSIC Tournament could depend on the outcome of the games this afternoon. Game 1 is set to get underway at 1:30 p.m. from Joe Faber Field.
GAME ONE –
Game 1 began as a pitchers duel with neither team able to get much going offensively. Jake Dykhoff (Jr. Wadena, Minn.) threw three solid innings for UMC allowing just 2 hits and recording 3 strikeouts. SCSU starting pitcher Luke Tupy was just as dominant, allowing just 1 base runner in the first three innings on a Ben Thoma (Sr. Clearbrook, Minn.) walk in the top of the second. Tupy also struck out 5 Golden Eagles hitters in the first three innings.
The bottom of the fourth inning is when St. Cloud State erupted for 8 runs to leave UMC in the dust. The first four batters all hit singles to score two runs before UMC could record the first out of the inning. After getting the first out, The Huskies next four hitters would all reach base including back-to-back doubles to plate five runs and bring the score to 7-0. The Huskies would add one more run on a stolen base and throwing error by UMC to take an 8-0 lead after four innings of play. In total, SCSU recorded 7 hits in the inning.
UMC continued to struggle at the plate the next two innings, and by the time SCSU made the last out of the top of the sixth inning, Luke Tupy had recorded 13 strikeouts, and 6 in a row. The Huskies would add two more runs in the bottom of the sixth on a two-run home run, to go up 10-0.
Tupy would face the Golden Eagles top of the order in the top of the seventh inning, Brad Morris (Sr. Auckland, New Zealand) Matt Nunn (Jr. Edina, Minn.), and Jake Hjelle (So. East Grand Forks, Minn.). All three would fail to reach base and Luke Tupy officially had his no hitter a part of the Huskies 10-0 Game 1 win.
Thoma’s walk in the top of the second inning was the only base runner for the Golden Eagles in the game.
GAME ONE BOX SCORE, CLICK HERE
For UMC-
Ben Thoma reached base once on a BB
| Game 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
| UMC | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| SCSU | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 2 | – | 10 | 11 | 0 |
| Pitching | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K |
| Jake Dykhoff- UMC (L, 6-5) | 4 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 1 | 4 |
| Jackson Schneider- UMC | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Joey Greco- UMC | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Luke Tupy- SCSU (W, 5-0) | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 13 |
GAME TWO –
Game 2 was much more competitive throughout. Morris led off the top of the first inning with a single for the Golden Eagles but that was the only base runner UMC would have in the first. SCSU would put runners on second and third base in the bottom of the first, but Alex Koep (So. Parkers Prairie, Minn.) would get UMC out of the jam keeping the score 0-0 after one inning of play.
Both teams would go 1-2-3 in the second inning, and UMC would get Paxton Nelson (Jr. Spicer, Minn.) on base in the top of the third but strand him second base. In the bottom of the third inning, the Huskies would get a 2-out single, and then draw first blood on a two-run home run over the left-center field fence. The Golden Eagles would get out of the inning without any more damage and SCSU would take a 2-0 lead into the fourth inning.
UMC would get one run back in the top of the fourth. Hjelle would smack a leadoff double and Thoma would drive him in with a single making it 2-1 Huskies. Zeke Hass (Jr. Eaton, Colo.) would then be hit by a pitch putting runners on first and second base with 0 outs. Unfortunately for UMC, they would go down in order from there and SCSU would take a 2-1 lead into the bottom of the fourth inning.
Both pitchers did their job the next several innings and kept the opponent off the board until the seventh inning. In the bottom of the seventh, SCSU added to their lead with a solo home run making it 3-1 with two innings remaining.
In the top of the eighth inning, Nelson drew a leadoff walk, and Morris was hit by a pitch to put runners on first and second base with nobody out. SCSU would get a flyout but the runners would move up to second and third base. After a wild pitch, Nelson would come in to score and Morris would move up to third base as the tying run in a 3-2 game. Hjelle would then draw a walk and steal second base to put runners on second and third base with still just 1 out. UMC would be unable to capitalize on the great opportunity from there, and the Huskies would get out of the inning with a 3-2 lead after a strikeout and groundout.
The Huskies put two runners on in the bottom of the eighth inning, but would not score, and UMC would have one last chance to tie or take the lead in the top of the ninth inning. The Golden Eagles would go down 1-2-3 without putting up a threat, and the Huskies would take Game 2 3-2 and earn the sweep over the Golden Eagles.
UMC falls to 15-25 on the season and 7-14 in the NSIC. They will wrap up their three-game series against the Huskies tomorrow from Joe Faber Field with the first pitch set for 12:00 p.m. While it is uncertain how well the Golden Eagles will need to finish the season to make the NSIC Conference Tournament, they cannot afford many more losses. SCSU improves to 32-10 and an impressive 24-4 in the NSIC, which keeps them in third place behind Augustana and Minnesota State Mankato.
GAME TWO BOX SCORE, CLICK HERE
For UMC-
Ben Thoma 1 for 4, rbi
Jake Hjelle 1 for 3, run, BB
Brad Morris 1 for 3
Paxton Nelson, BB, run
| Game 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| UMC | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
| SCSU | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | 3 | 6 | 1 |
| Pitching | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K |
| Alex Koep- UMC (L, 3-5) | 7 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 5 |
| Jake Osowski- UMC | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Riley Ahern- SCSU (W, 5-2) | 6 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 10 |
| Ethan Lanthier- SCSU | 1.2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Nick Brauns- SCSU | 0.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Ryan Duffy- SCSU | 0.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
