The University of Minnesota Crookston (UMC) baseball team completed a four-game sweep over Bemidji State while clinching a berth in the NSIC Tournament and breaking the program record for wins in a season following a Saturday sweep of the Beavers in two games played at the BSU Baseball Field.
GAME ONE –
Bemidji State jumped out to a 4-0 lead after one inning.
In the top of the second inning, Minnesota Crookston cut into its deficit. Brock Reller (Soph., Grand Forks, ND) was hit by a pitch to start the inning before beating out a fielder’s choice that allowed Jonathan Lund (Sr., Tolna, ND) to reach base safely as well. Following a pop out and ground out, Scott Finberg (Jr., Stillwater) doubled down the left field line allowing Reller to score. Landyn Swenson (Jr., Devils Lake, ND) followed with a single to right field plating Finberg and Lund bringing the Golden Eagles within 4-3 heading into the bottom of the second inning.
Bemidji State added another run in third inning and tacked on a solo home run for a 6-3 lead through four innings.
UMC added a couple of runs in the eighth inning when Travis Conoryea (Soph., Inver Grove Heights) walked to start the inning before Ben Thoma (Soph., Clearbrook) walked with one out to put runners on first and second base. UMC’s rally ended with a double play keeping Bemidji State ahead 6-3 into the ninth inning.
In the ninth inning, a lead-off walk to Landyn Swenson followed by a single hit by Bryce Jorgenson (Jr., Thunder Bay, Ontario) put runners on first and second base to open the ninth inning. A wild pitch moved both runners into scoring position followed by a Reed Hjelle (Sr., East Grand Forks) single scoring Swenson and putting runners on the corners. Brock Reller tied the game with a single to left field scoring Jorgenson and Hjelle. Knotted up at 6-6, Ben Thoma Singled to right field allowing Reller to score and giving Minnesota Crookston its first lead of the day 7-6 heading into the bottom of the ninth inning.
Dalton Grose (R-Soph., Waterville) took the mound in the ninth inning seeking his twelfth save of the season. After a leadoff bloop single and a sacrifice bunt moved the tying run into scoring position, Grose earned a strikeout for the second out of the inning. A walk put the winning run on first base. With the winning run on, a deep fly ball hit into right-center field was tracked down by Brock Reller who secured the running catch to close out the 7-6 come from behind win.
| G1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| UMC | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 7 | 10 | 1 |
| BSU | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 13 | 1 |
| Pitching | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
| Conner Richardson – UMC | 2.0 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 3 |
| Aaron Hollcraft – UMC | 0.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Matt Nelson – UMC | 5.2 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 |
| Dalton Grose – UMC | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
For UMC
Scott Finberg – 2-5, RBI, run, double
Griffin Fussy – 2-5
GAME TWO
The second game was considered a non-Conference game.
Jonathan Lund (Sr., Tolna, ND) singled to left field to spark UMC’s offense in the top of the second inning. After a Ben Thoma (Soph., Clearbrook) single, Hunter Baldwin (Sr., St. Thomas, ND) also singled putting runners on all three bases. A wild pitch advanced all three runners as Lund scored from third base giving Minnesota Crookston a 1-0 lead.
Bobby Chu (Jr., Redwood City, CA) hit a ground out to score Thoma followed by Bryce Jorgenson reaching on an error at third base allowing Baldwin to score as the Golden Eagles took a 3-0 lead into the third inning.
In the top of the sixth inning, Minnesota Crookston added some insurance runs. Hunter Baldwin was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning before a Bobby Chu single put runners on first and second base. Bryce Jorgenson reached on a bunt with an error by Bemidji State’s third baseman allowing Baldwin to score from third base. Reed Hjelle (Sr., East Grand Forks) connected on a double down the left field line plating Chu and giving the Golden Eagles a 5-0 lead into the bottom of the sixth inning.
Henry Pesch (Jr., Minneota) returned to the mound in the seventh inning and was able to close out a complete game shutout for the Golden Eagles as UMC secured a 5-0 win.
Minnesota Crookston improves to 25-18 overall and 17-11 in conference play. The Golden Eagles return to the diamond on Wednesday when UMC hosts Minnesota Duluth for a doubleheader beginning at Noon. Bemidji State falls to 6-34 overall and 5-21 in NSIC action.
| G2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
| UMC | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 10 | 0 |
| BSU | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 |
| Pitching | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
| Henry Pesch – UMC | 7.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
For UMC
Reed Hjelle – 2-3, RBI, double
Jonathan Lund – 2-4, run
Brock Reller – 2-4
