Game 1 Box
Game 2 Box

CROOKSTON, Minn. – Southwest Minnesota State's Kip Gronholz smacked the go-ahead RBI single in the top of the 10^th inning to pace the Mustangs to a thrilling 8-7 victory over No. 24 Minnesota Crookston in game two of a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference doubleheader and earn a split on Thursday afternoon at the UMC Baseball Field.
 
UMC was limited to three hits in the opener, but it was enough to hold off SMSU by a score 5-3.
 
SMSU started a pair of true freshmen on the mound and finished the twinbill out-hitting UMC in both games. UMC entered the day ranked fourth in Division II in home runs per game and 10^th in scoring.
 
In game two, SMSU scored single runs in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings to rally for a 7-5 lead. The Mustangs were one out away from the win, but the Golden Eagles, one of the top power-hitting teams in the country, used a two-out walk and two-run game-tying home run by Brock Reller to send the game into extra innings.
 
In the 10^th, Chase McDaniel started the rally reaching second base on an error by the UMC left fielder. After a pop out, Gronholz singled to right-center to give SMSU the one-run advantage.
 
Jared Tschetter (2-2), who recorded the final out in the ninth, retired UMC in order in the tenth to secure the victory. He struck out three of the four batters he faced.
 
Ansen Dulas started on the mound for the Mustangs and tossed a solid 5 1/3 innings, allowing five runs (four earned) on five hits with a career-high seven strikeouts and two walks. Shawn Williams fired 1 2/3 shutout innings, while Kobe Lovell struck out four of the first five batters he faced before allowing a walk and the game-tying home run.
 
The Mustangs out-hit the Golden Eagles 10-7 and blasted four home runs. Brodie Smith finished the game 3 for 5 with two runs scored, while Derek Smith was 2 for 4 with a pair of solo home runs. Matt Bezdicek had two hits, including a home run, and three RBIs, while Jake Hendricks added a solo home run.
 
Bezdicek started the scoring in the first with an RBI single, while Derek Smith made it 2-0 in the second with a solo home run.
 
UMC scored an unearned run in the second to make the score 2-1, before Bezdicek drilled a two-run home run in the third to push the SMSU lead to 4-1.
 
UMC came right back in the bottom of the third with a solo homer and a three-run home run to take the lead 5-4.
 
Both teams went scoreless in the middle innings before SMSU tied the game in the seventh on a two-out solo homer from Hendricks.
 
SMSU went back in front in the eighth as Derek Smith hit a one-out solo homer to left field to give the Mustangs a 6-5 lead. The Mustangs picked up a big insurance run in the ninth as Brodie Smith singled and later came home to score on a huge two-out run-scoring single by Max Kalenberg.
 
The two-run lead was needed as UMC would answer with the big two-out home run in the bottom of the ninth.
 
In the opener, SMSU pitcher Hayden Molva (0-2) suffered the loss, but was outstanding as he struck out a career-high 10 batters in 5 2/3 innings.
 
UMC opened the scoring in the home half of the first inning with a two-out rally. Following two strikeouts, a walk, an error and another walk loaded the bases. Eli Jung then stepped to the plate and hit a high fly ball to left field but the ball was lost in the sky and dropped for a three-run double.
 
UMC's Tyler Jochen hit a two-run home run in the fourth to push the lead to 5-0.
 
UMC ace starting pitcher Jake Dyhkoff was brilliant early, retiring the first 13 batters he faced, before Kalenberg worked a one-out walk in the fifth. He moved to third on a double by Chase McDaniel (breaking up the no-hit bid) and eventually scored on a wild pitch.
 
In the sixth, SMSU scored again as Brodie Smith smacked a solo home run, while later in the frame Jake hit an RBI double to score Nathan Kuhn.
 
SMSU would strand two runners on base in the sixth and have the tying run at the plate in the seventh to end the game.
 
The Mustangs finished game one with four hits.
 
Southwest Minnesota State continues road action this weekend with a three-game series versus Minot State with a doubleheader on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. and single-game on Sunday starting at 12 p.m.