Due to wet field conditions in Winona, the University of Minnesota Duluth's Thursday doubleheader at Winona State University has been cancelled. The games will not be made up. Now, the Bulldogs eye their final Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference series against the University of Minnesota, Crookston this weekend.
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UMD (14-26, 10-17 NSIC) went 2-4 last week, extending a seven-game winning streak with a doubleheader sweep of Upper Iowa before dropping a series with Northern State over the weekend. The Bulldogs currently sit in tenth place in the league standings and four games back in the loss column from the eighth and final playoff spot, and a sweep of the week may be needed if the team hopes to crash the postseason party.
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Sophomore third baseman
Jimmy Heck continued his recent tear, hitting .471/.526/.701 with a pair of doubles, a triple, three runs scored and four RBIs. Heck has raised his season average to .288. Junior utility man
John Meyer found himself in the starting lineup for four games and hit .389/.421/.500 with two doubles and three RBI. Another utility man, sophomore
Ryan Lakin was the hero in game two against Upper Iowa with an 11th inning walk-off hit. Lakin is 2-for-5 with three RBIs and three runs scored when coming off the bench.
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Sophomore lefty
Bo Hellquist tossed five shutout innings in a win over Upper Iowa to move to 3-4 on the season and lower his ERA to 3.27. Bulldog pitching was slugged around by Northern State to the tune of a 9.30 ERA. Senior right-hander
Chris Couillard had the most success, tossing 5.0 innings and surrendering a pair of earned runs, but took the tough-luck loss Sunday as UMD scored just a single run, after plating four in each of the previous games in the series.
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| Projected Lineup |
| 2B | Josh Brehmer (Sr.) | .244 |
| LF | Patrick Higgins (Fr.) | .250 |
| 1B | Ryan Haggstrom (So.) | .359 |
| DH | Travis Magdzas (Jr.) | .227 |
| C | Colton Haight (So.) | .220 |
| 3B | Matt Korte (Sr.) | .216 |
| SS | Tony Madsen (Sr.) | .149 |
| RF | Marcus Campbell (So.) | .194 |
| CF | Jesse Jennings (Jr.) | .205 |
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Live StatsMinnesota-Crookston (1-41, 0-30 NSIC) enters the weekend mired in a 34-game losing streak, with its only victory of the season coming March 14, 7-6 over Hillsdale College in Clearwater, Fla. The Golden Eagles have been no-hit twice this season and shut out 11 times.
Sophomore first baseman Ryan Haggstrom has been Crookston's most productive hitter, with a .359/.389/.434 batting line in 2013. He also leads the team with 22 runs scored and 18 RBIs. The Eagles do have 47 doubles on the season, but just a pair of home runs. sophomoreoutfielder Marcus Campbell and senior shortstop Tony Madsen rank first and second in the NSIC in strikeouts, combining for 95 through this point of the season. Together, Crookston has posted a .221/.277/.275 batting line, and opposing pitchers own a 2.02 ERA against UMC batters
The Golden Eagles have combined to post a 10.18 ERA in 314 innings this season. Sophomore Trevor Buttermore owns the team's lone victory, along with a 10.27 ERA. The team's most effective starter has been Senior Richive Navratil, though he has an 8.07 ERA and 1.83 WHIP. Opposing hitters are hitting .375/.445/.528 against Crookston pitching with 20 home runs on the season and nearly three doubles allowed per game.
Opening pitch of the series is set for 1:30 p.m. on Saturday in Crookston, with the two teams meeting again on Sunday at Noon.
