Aberdeen, S.D. – This weekend's Northern State baseball series at Minnesota Crookston has been officially pushed back a day to Sunday and Monday afternoon at the Minnesota Crookston Baseball Field. The Wolves and Golden Eagles will play a single game on Sunday starting at 4 p.m. and will conclude the series with a doubleheader on Monday starting at 1 and 3 p.m. in the afternoon. Following the UMC series the Wolves will then travel to Bismarck, North Dakota, with the site reversal of next week's mid-week doubleheader against UMary. Those games will now be played on Wednesday at 1:30 and 3:30 p.m. at Bismarck Municipal Ballpark. A full preview of the Northern State and UMary doubleheader will be released on Tuesday.

GAME & FAN INFORMATION

• Links watch the games and follow live stats are attached above

NORTHERN STATE STORYLINES

• Northern State enters the 3-game series with a record of 10-20 (5-14 NSIC)
• Last weekend the Wolves fell victims to a 3-game sweep at Minot State, falling by scores of 5-4, 18-8 (7 inn.), and 8-3
• As a team Northern has hit .281 with 264 hits, 57 doubles, one triple, 38 homeruns, 158 RBI, and 180 runs scored through 30 games played
• NSU's 38 homeruns are the most in a single season since the Wolves hit a school record of 50 in 2016
• Jack Paulson is one of four players with a batting average above .300, batting .356 with a team-best 36 hits on the season; Niko Pezonella (.333), Reece Ragatz (.329), and Jackson Meyer (.311) are each hitting above .300 as well
• Ragatz holds a team-best .744 slugging percentage and Pezonella holds a team-leading .469 on-base percentage; Ragatz has a team-best 1.142 on-base plus slugging percentage, while Pezonella is close behind with a 1.123 percentage
• Austin Portner has tallied a team-leading eight doubles and 31 runs scored this season
• Ragatz has recorded the Wolves lone triple of the year and leads the team with nine homeruns and 30 RBI
• On the base paths Karson Hesser and Pezonella each have a team-high five stolen bases
• The Wolves' pitching staff has recorded an ERA of 7.90, allowing 279 hits and 127 walks, while throwing 245 strikeouts; opponents have held a .294 batting average against NSU pitchers
• Max Otto (0-6) and Michael Chevalier (4-3) have been the two primary starting pitchers this season for Northern, as Otto has recorded an ERA of 5.43 while Chevalier has notched an ERA of 5.44
• Otto leads the team with 60 strikeouts and has limited opponents to a .249 batting average, and Chevalier is second on the team with 57 strikeouts and holds opponents to a .244 batting average
• With each having made eight relief appearances on the mound, Jack Miller and Cooper Tessendorf (1-1) have the lowest ERAs among relief pitchers at 2.45 and 4.63 respectively
• Otto, Blake Ask, Tyler Boyum, and Brenden Baxter have each recorded one save this season

MINNESOTA CROOKSTON STORYLINES

• Minnesota Crookston enters the 3-game series with a record of 26-15 (16-7 NSIC)
• The Golden Eagles split a mid-week doubleheader on the road at UMary on Wednesday, dropping game one 8-0 before bouncing back for a 13-4 victory in game two
• As a team Crookston has hit .311 with 407 hits, 88 doubles, 14 triples, 61 homeruns, 292 RBI, and 331 runs scored through 41 games played
• Mike Hallquist leads UMC at the plate, batting .420 with an on-base percentage of .531, a slugging percentage of .870, and an on-base plus slugging percentage of 1.401; Hallquist has tallied 58 hits, 14 doubles, three triples, 14 homeruns, 47 RBI, and 52 runs scored this season
• With 14 homeruns Hallquist is one of three Golden Eagles with double digit homeruns as Jake Hjelle also has 14 and Josh Dykhoff has ten
• Other UMC players to bat .300 or better include Hjelle (.384), Caden Headlee (.350), Dykhoff (.325), and Ben Goelz (.303)
• Headlee enters the weekend series with a team-best 5-game hit streak, while Hallquist and Sawyer Satrom each have recorded a hit in four consecutive games
• On the base paths Ben Goelz leads UMC with 13 stolen bases and Hjelle has collected 11 stolen bases
• The Golden Eagles' pitching staff has recorded an ERA of 4.46, allowing 316 hits and 117 walks, while throwing 307 strikeouts; opponents have held a .256 batting average against UMC pitchers
• UMC's three primary starting pitchers include Alex Koep (5-1), Jake Osowski (6-1), and Jake Dykhoff (5-4); the trio has recorded ERAs of 2.60, 3.16, and 4.24 respectively
• Dykhoff leads the team with 70 strikeouts thrown on the mound this season, while Koep is second with 56 and Osowski is close behind with 51
• In eight starts and nine total appearances, Koep has pitched 45.0 innings this season and limited opponents to a .153 batting average
• Brody Sorenson (3-1) has been the Golden Eagles top relief pitcher, totaling 35.0 innings pitched in 13 appearances this season; Sorenson has a 1.03 ERA and has totaled 27 strikeouts while holding opponents to a .209 batting average
• Conner Richardson (1-3) has earned a team-best three saves this season, while Dykhoff has earned one save
• Steve Gust is in his ninth season as the head baseball coach at Minnesota Crookston, recording a record of 193-192 during his time with the Golden Eagles; Gust holds a career record of 316-334 in his 15^th season as a collegiate head coach

LAST MATCH-UP

• Minnesota Crookston defeated Northern State in last season's NSIC mid-week doubleheader, falling by scores of 2-1 and 7-4 in Crookston, Minnesota
• The Wolves lead the all-time series 44-19, however the Golden Eagles have won five consecutive games dating back to 2021