The first two Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference softball road assignments of 2012 were successful ones for the University of Minnesota Duluth as the surging Bulldogs downed Wayne State College twice (8-4 and 2-0) Saturday afternoon in Wayne, Neb.

In the 8-4 triumph, junior centerfielder Kierra Jeffers and junior second baseman Tyra Kerr both homered once and went 3-for-4. Jeffers' blast, her ninth of the season, came in top of the third inning with the bases loaded and gave the Bulldogs a comfortable 5-0 lead while Kerr delivered a two-run shot three innings later. Bulldog sophomore Megan Mullen (19-10) got the pitching win, allowing eight hits and fanning seven. The Hermantown, Minn., product now has 192 strikeouts on the season, two shy of the school-record she set one year ago.

Junior Julia Nealer tossed a complete game four-hitter in the rematch, striking out three and allowing just one extra base-hit (a seventh-inning double) while improving to 2-1 on the year. UMD (22-14 overall; 6-2 NSIC) scored both of its runs in the top of the first inning, getting a two-out infield single by Jeffers which brought in Kerr and junior centerfielder Michaela Goris. Junior right fielder Ashley Buirge had two of UMD's five hits.

The Bulldogs will invade Sioux Falls, S.D., Sunday afternoon for a pair of NSIC showdowns with No. 23 Augustana College (29-4; 7-1).