MINNEAPOLIS – On February 25, 2020 the Yellowjacket baseball team opened its season at US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis taking on Carroll University. A mere 12 days and six games later, a cap was called on the season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
 
Tuesday, coach Frank Pufall's team returned to the place where it all began a year ago, on the turf of US Bank Stadium in downtown Minneapolis, this time taking on UMAC foe Crown College in a pair of seven-inning contests to open what is hoped to be a long baseball season.
 
The opening note turned out to be sour, however, as Crown broke a tie game open with a five-run seventh inning to take game one 9-4. In the nightcap, the Storm rode a big first inning to a 17-4 win and a doubleheader sweep over the Yellowjackets.
 
Crown opened the scoring with a single run in the top of the second inning, but the Yellowjackets got that run back in the bottom of the third inning when Bryce Flanagan sent a 2-2 pitch into right field, scoring Brandon Rolf (Stillwater, Minn./Stillwater Area) to make it 1-1.
 
The Yellowjackets moved ahead in the bottom of the fourth when Isaac Fugere brought Nick Fredrikson home on a sacrifice fly. It became a two-run game later in the inning when Rolf was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.
 
Crown would regain in the lead in the top of the fifth thanks to the long ball. Liam Jones homered on the first pitch of the inning, and three hitters later Mason Brock added a two-run shot to put the Storm ahead 4-3. But the Yellowjackets had an answer in the bottom of the inning. Fredrikson pounded a one-out double to right-center, then stole third and came home on a throwing error to draw the 'Jackets even.
 
It stayed 4-4 until the seventh when the Storm blew it open. The big blow came in the form of a three-run home run off the bat of Kyle Schoedle to make it a 9-4 final in the opener.
 
The Yellowjackets had nine hits in the game, led by Rolf and Isaac Grothe who had two apiece.
 
Ryan Rodriguez got the start on the mound and pitched the first five innings, allowing four earned runs on four hits. He struck out five while walking three. Elliot Danhoff came on in relief and allowed five earned runs in 1.1 innings before giving way to Dante Bender, who pitched the final two-thirds of an inning. Danhoff was tagged with the loss in the opener.
 
In the second game Crown picked up right where it left off, starting out with nine hits and scoring 12 runs in the first inning. Crown added a single run in the second.
 
The Yellowjackets got on the board in the third. The first three hitters reached and a run scored when James Besaw was hit by a pitch. Two more runs came across when Grothe and Iduan Nater (Arecibo, Puerto Rico/Vocacional Antonio Lucchetti) posted back-to-back singles later in the inning.
 
Crown plated single runs in the bottom of the third and fifth innings, then scored two runs in the sixth to increase its lead.
 
The Yellowjackets put their first three hitters on in the top of the seventh and scored a run on a wild pitch, making the final score 18-4.
 
Nater went 3-for-4 in the second game, while Grothe and Nick Shea had two hits apiece. The Yellowjackets had nine hits in the second game.
 
Flanagan got the start for the Yellowjackets and took the loss, going a third of an inning before the bullpen took over.
 
The Yellowjackets (0-2) will return to US Bank Stadium Thursday, March 11 when they play a doubleheader against Concordia College. The first pitch is scheduled for 7:00 a.m.