The University of Minnesota Crookston Golden Eagle Baseball team gave up a late rally, but got a walk-off home run to beat Bemidji State 7-5 in game one. In game two, UMC scored eight runs in their last three at-bats to break the game open and earn a 11-4 victory and a sweep of the NSIC doubleheader played on a beautiful day at UMC.
GAME ONE –
Despite a couple of baserunners, both teams were held scoreless through two innings to start the day off.
Bemidji State got the scoring started in the top of the third on a two-out, solo homerun to take the 1-0 lead.
Conner Richardson (Jr. Grand Forks, ND), UMC’s starting pitcher, continued to pitch well allowing limited baserunners in the fourth, fifth, and sixth innings. The two runners he did allow were erased on a pickoff at first and a double play.
UMC was held scoreless through four innings. However, they were able to break the seal in the fifth inning with a five spot. Landyn Swenson (Sr. Devils Lake, ND) started the inning by reaching on and error and subsequently stealing second and third. After a Will Zimmerman (Sr. Park River, ND) walk with two outs, Mason Ruhlman (Sr. Algonac, MI) hit his sixth homerun of the season to give the Golden Eagles a 3-1 lead. They continued their impressive two-out hitting with a triple from Brock Reller and another homerun, this time it was Scott Finberg’s (Sr. Stillwater) sixth homer of the year. After five innings, UMC led 5-1.
That remained the score as they headed into the seventh and final inning of game one of the doubleheader. The Beavers needed four runs to extend the game, and they got four. “They are scrappy and they aren’t quitting,” said the Golden Eagles Head Coach Steve Gust. “We gotta do the little things to be successful and we did them at times, but we still got a long ways to go. It wasn’t our best effort.” The first four batters of the inning reached base. The first two singled and that was followed by a three-run homerun to left field to cut the lead to 5-4. The next batter singled and got to third on a throwing error. Richardson continued working on going the distance when he got a groundout and flyout to keep the runner on third with two outs. Needing just the last out, an infield single got the run in from third and tied the game at 5. A pitching change for UMC brought in Tyler Hegg (So. Thompson, ND) and he was able to get out of the inning by inducing a pop out. “Just ran out of gas there. [Conner’s] pitch count got a little high,” said Coach Gust. “We were starting our closer in the second game and usually he would come in and finish the game. We are down some players so we were hoping Conner could get us a complete game, but he just ran out of gas.”
Now needing a run to win it in the bottom of the inning, UMC got a couple of runs off the bat of Ruhlman. A leadoff walk put a runner on for the Golden Eagles and then with one-out, Ruhlman hit his seventh homerun of the season and second of the game for a walk-off, two-run homer to win game one by a score of 7-5. “This time of year you want your Seniors to step up and he certainly did that,” chuckled Coach Gust. “He worked some counts and got some pitches to hit and he didn’t miss them… and when he doesn’t miss balls, they go. Just a kid who stepped up big-time when we needed it most.”
FOR THE GAME ONE BOX SCORE, CLICK HERE.
| Game #1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
| Bemidji State | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 3 |
| UMC | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 5 | 1 |
| Pitching | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K |
| Grant Hartmann-BSU | 4.2 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| Hunter Haggenmiller-BSU | 1.2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| Connor Richardson- UMC | 6.2 | 9 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 5 |
| Tyler Hegg-UMC (WP) | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
For UMC
Mason Ruhlman- 2-3, 2 Home Runs, 5 RBI
Brock Reller- 1-3, Triple
Scott Finberg- 1-3, Home Run, 2 RBI
Landyn Swenson- 1-3, run, 2 stolen bases
For Bemidji State
Isaiah Grancorvitz- 2-2, double, run
Carter Simon- 2-5, Home Run, RBI, run
Noah Boser- 1-3, Home Run, 3 RBI
GAME TWO –
Both starting pitchers settled in nicely early in the game as the first three innings were scoreless. Only one combined hit was allowed and it was on a Zimmerman single to lead off the first inning for UMC.
The Golden Eagles got the first runs up on the scoreboard in the bottom of the fourth inning. Two outs sandwiched a couple of walks for UMC’s first four hitters. Again, the Golden Eagles used their two-out hitting to get on the board. Swenson began his great game at the plate with an RBI single to get a 1-0 lead for UMC. “He finds a way to get it done. He is a scrappy, gritty type of player,” explained Coach Gust. Swenson stole second and a walk loaded the bases. Eli Jung (Jr. Dickinson, ND) followed the walk with a double to bring in two more runs and the Golden Eagles led 3-0 after four innings.
The Beavers got a run back in the top of the fifth inning. Brody Sorenson retired the first two batters of the inning. However, a double, walk, and single brought in a run for Bemidji State. That ended the day on the mound for Sorenson, as the Golden Eagles brought in Alex Koep (Fresh. Parkers Prairie) and he got a flyout to end the inning. “We need our bullpen to step up, there’s no doubt about it… especially when we are down a few guys,” said Coach Gust.
UMC got the scoring going again with three more runs in the sixth inning. Parker Stroh (Fresh. Grand Forks, ND) led off the inning with his fourth home run of the season. Swenson followed that up with a triple. Jack Peppel (Fresh. Olivia) then walked and stole second putting two runners in scoring position for Zimmerman. Zimmerman hit a ground ball to shortstop that resulted in an error bringing in both Swenson and Peppel to give the Golden Eagles the 6-1 lead through six innings.
Bemidji State answered with another run in the top of the seventh inning on a two-out solo home run to cut the lead to 6-2.
UMC continued to hit in the bottom half of the inning getting two more insurance runs. Finberg was hit by a pitch with one out in the inning. Then with two outs, Swenson knocked out his fourth homer of the year to increase the Golden Eagles lead to 8-2 after seven innings.
The Beavers added another run in the eighth inning. Garrett Hohn (Sr. Wausau, WI) came on in relief in the inning and the first batter he faced reached on an error. Then a walk and fielder’s choice put runners on the corners and a single brought in the runner from third. The Beavers were looking to bring another run home on the next hitter’s single, but a good relay from the Golden Eagles cut the runner down at the plate for the second out. Hohn got a flyout to end the inning with the score at 8-3. “The bullpen did enough today to get two W’s so we gotta be pleased with that,” added Coach Gust.
UMC got another three runs in the eighth inning to widen the margin. A double from TJ Hokanson (Jr. Chanhassen), Zimmerman’s hit by pitch and a double steal got two runner in scoring position. The Beavers elected to intentionally walk Ruhlman and after an out, Finberg worked a walk to bring in a run. A wild pitch brought in the second run of the inning. And after a walk to Stroh, Swenson added his fourth RBI of the game on a sacrifice fly to deep left field as UMC took an 11-3 lead into the ninth inning.
In the ninth, Bemidji State was able to scrape across a run. A leadoff single got to second on a passed ball and to third on a stolen base. A sacrifice fly brought in the runner from third to cut the lead to 11-4. Still, Gregory Diaz (Jr. Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) was able to buckle down and get the final out of the game and give the Golden Eagles a 11-4 victory in game two and a sweep of the doubleheader. “We got two big wins. That’s the bottom line this time of year,” said Coach Gust. “We are battling for a conference championship and home field advantage in the playoffs… there’s a lot to play for here down the stretch.”
FOR THE GAME TWO BOX SCORE, CLICK HERE.
UMC is now on a four-game winning streak and improves their record to 21-6 overall and 15-6 in the Northern Sun Conference. They are now 8-2 at home.
Bemidji State drops to 7-26 overall and 6-22 in the NSIC.
These two teams will play in the final game of the three-game weekend series on Sunday at 1:30 as UMC goes for the series sweep in Crookston.
| Game 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| BSU | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 1 |
| UMC | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 3 | X | 11 | 8 | 3 |
| Pitching | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K |
| Brody Sorenson- UMC | 4.2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| Alex Koep- UMC | 2.1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Garrett Hohn- UMC | 1.0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Gregory Diaz- UMC | 1.0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| Alex Fietek- BSU | 4.0 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 |
| Kenny Morris- BSU | 2.0 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Christian Turner- BSU | 2.0 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 1 |
For UMC
Landyn Swenson- 3 for 3, home run, triple, 4 RBI, 3 runs
Eli Jung- 1 for 3, double, 2 RBI
Parker Stroh- 1 for 4, home run, RBI, run
Will Zimmerman, Brock Reller, T.J. Hokanson- One hit apiece
For Bemidji State
Jack Munson- 2 for 4, home run, double, RBI, 2 runs
Simon Carter- 1 for 4, 2 RBI, run
Sam Kalberer, Isaiah Grancorvitz, Noah Boser, Michael O’ Malley- One hit each
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