WALKS AND ERRORS COSTLY AS UMC BASEBALL IS SWEPT BY MINNESOTA STATE MANKATO

The University of Minnesota Crookston Golden Eagles Baseball team traveled down to Mankato on Wednesday afternoon for a doubleheader against the Minnesota State Mankato Mavericks. The games were played as home games for UMC but were moved to Mankato due to the weather conditions in Crookston. The Mavericks used big innings each game to earn a sweep over the Golden Eagles with scores of 7-2, and 11-1. 

GAME ONE –
Jake Osowski (So. East Grand Forks, Minn.) got the start on the mound for UMC and worked around a leadoff walk to put up a scoreless top of the first inning. The Golden Eagles would go scoreless in the home half of the inning with the lone hit being a 1-out single from Ben Goelz (So. Maple Lake, Minn.).

After a scoreless top of the second for the Mavericks, UMC would strike first in the bottom of the frame. Jack Peppel (Sr. Olivia, Minn.) would hit a 2-out base knock bringing Chad Musser (Sr. Plymouth, Minn.) in to score after he reached earlier in the inning via a Mavericks error. UMC would strand Peppel on base and take a 1-0 lead after two innings of play.

The lead wouldn’t last long, however, as the Mavericks would get their bats rolling. After an error from the Golden Eagles with two outs, back-to-back hits from Minnesota State Mankato would plate their first run of the game. Osowski would get the final out of the inning, but UMC would go scoreless in the bottom of the third leaving the game tied 1-1.

In the top of the fourth inning, the Mavericks would take their first lead of the game, on a leadoff home run over the left-field fence. That would be the only run of the inning for either team, as UMC would get out of the inning, but go down quietly in the bottom of the fourth giving Minnesota State Mankato a 2-1 lead with just three innings left in the ball game.

After the Mavericks went 1-2-3 in the top of the fifth inning, UMC would tie the game back up in the bottom of the fifth. A Jack Peppel 1-out double and a Tyler Jochen (Sr. San Jose, CA.) walk, would set up the Golden Eagles top of the order. With 2 outs, Ben Goelz would get his third hit of the contest, and bring Peppel in to score and tie the game at 2-2.

Minnesota State Mankato would take the lead for good in the top of the sixth inning, scoring three runs thanks to four walks and a couple of sacrifices. In total UMC ran through three different pitchers in the inning. The Golden Eagles would be unable to cut into the deficit the rest of the game and the Mavericks would add two insurance runs in the top of the seventh inning, taking game one 7-2. Goelz and Peppel provided the only hits in the game for UMC.

GAME ONE BOX SCORE, CLICK HERE

For UMC –
Ben Goelz 3 for 3, rbi
Jack Peppel 2 for 3, rbi, run
Chad Musser, run

GAME TWO –
Connor Richardson (Jr. Grand Forks, N.D.) Got the ball in game two and pitched a scoreless top of the first inning for UMC. In the bottom of the frame, the Golden Eagles would again jump in front and take an early lead. Ben Goelz would work a full count walk, and Ben Thoma (Sr. Clearbrook, Minn.) would get a base hit putting two men on. Brad Morris (Sr. Auckland, New Zealand.) would then rope a single down the line scoring Goelz giving the Golden Eagles the early 1-0 lead. Thoma would be thrown out on the base path during the play to end the inning.

In the top of the second, the Mavericks would get the run back with a leadoff single, and a 2-out hit tying the game at 1-1. Jack Peppel would continue his hot day and draw a walk in the bottom of the second inning, but UMC would leave him stranded on base and the score would remain 1-1 after two innings of play.

After both teams were held scoreless in the third inning, the Mavericks would break the game open offensively in the fourth inning. Minnesota State Mankato would get four straight singles to begin the inning, and after a couple of UMC errors with the bases loaded, and one more base hit, the Mavericks had racked up five runs to take a 6-1 lead into the bottom of the fourth. Brad Morris would try and start a rally for UMC in the home half of the frame with a leadoff single, but three straight outs which included two strikeouts ended the inning.

Minnesota State Mankato would tack on two more runs to extend the lead in the top of the sixth inning, and after the Golden Eagles would go down quietly, the Mavericks would take an 8-1 lead into the final three innings of play.

The Mavericks would add two more in the eighth inning, and a solo home run in the ninth inning while keeping UMC off the board for an 11-1 win earning the sweep.

UMC falls to 4-10 in NSIC play and 12-21 overall. As of now, the Golden Eagles are scheduled to be back in action with a weekend series against Bemidji State beginning this Friday at 1:30 p.m. at the UMC Baseball Field. Minnesota State Mankato improves to 15-3 in the NSIC and 22-5 overall.

GAME TWO BOX SCORE, CLICK HERE

For UMC –
Brad Morris 2 for 3, rbi
Ben Thoma 2 for 4
Ben Goelz 1 for 3, run