The University of Minnesota Crookston Golden Eagle Baseball team used three runs in the seventh inning to beat Saint Leo University (Florida) 5-2 in a game played in St. Leo, Florida on a partly cloudy say with temperatures in the low 70’s in the seventh game of a 10 game Florida trip.
UMC started the scoring in the top of the second inning when Scott Finberg (Sr. Stillwater) hit a solo home run for a 1-0 lead.
Neither team scored until St. Leo tied the game in the bottom of the fifth inning with a single and a rbi double to tie the game at 1-1.
UMC answered in the top of the sixth inning when Ben Thoma (Jr. Clearbrook -Bagley High School) singled, Jake Hjelle (Fresh. East Grand Forks) doubled and Yadiel Ortiz (Jr. Patillas, Puerto Rico – transfer from Riverland Community College) singled to score a run to give the Golden Eagles a 1-2 lead.
St. Leo tied the game in the bottom of the sixth inning when they led off with a double and UMC committed an error to allow the runner to advance to third base. The next batter flew out to center field, deep enough to allow a run to score on the sacrifice fly to tie the game at 2-2.
UMC responded in a big way in the bottom of the seventh inning. They started the inning with three singles from Brad Morris, Brock Reller, and Finberg to load the bases with nobody out. Thoma flew out to centerfield to score Morris for a 3-2 lead. Another run scored on a throwing error to give UMC a 4-2 lead. The Golden Eagles next batter struck out and Coach Steve Gust made a decision to go with a pinch hitter and the move turned out to be a great move as Eli Jung (Jr. Dickinson, N.D.) singled to score another run to give UMC a commanding 5-2 lead. Tyler Hegg (Thompson, N.D.) and Dalton Grose (Waterville) combined to strike out eight of the final nine St. Leo batters to get the win and the save, respectively and the Golden Eagles won 5-2. The UMC offense continues to impress as they had 15 hits in the game and Ben Bryant, Mason Ruhlman, Brad Morris, Brock Reller, Scott Finberg, and Ben Thoma had two hits apiece.
UMC improves to 6-4 on the year and will have Tuesday off and will play West Virginia Wesleyan College on Wednesday in Auburndale, Florida. Saint Leo drops to 3-14 on the year.
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