While the old saying may suggest that good things come in pairs, nothing could have been further from that particular truth for the University of Minnesota Duluth baseball team on Wednesday (April 11).
The Bulldogs (9-19, 2-12 NSIC) hit into five double plays in the second game of their Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference doubleheader with visiting Winona State (14-13, 9-7 NSIC), keeping them winless in the friendly confines of Bulldog Park in 2012.
GAME ONE: Winona State 9, UMD 4
BOX SCORE
Three errors committed by the Bulldogs in the first two innings coupled with a Winona State batting order that seemingly found all the gaps led to UMD falling into a 7-0 hole after just two innings.
The Warriors scored all seven of those early runs in the top of the second, racking up five hits and benefitting from errors by Marcus Riewer and Lucas Steinbach.
Starting pitcher Ben Jungers lasted just 1.2 innings, giving up six hits and all seven of the runs – only five of which were of the earned variety. Matt Erickson got the early call from the bullpen and finally cooled off the Winona State bats to get out of the troublesome frame.
After leading off the bottom of the third with a single to right, junior Jordan Smith was able to swipe home plate thanks in large part to the speedy Riewer, who swindled second allowing the Raymond, Minn., product to put the first run on the board for the Bulldogs.
Max Ryan plated the second UMD run of the day with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the fourth, scoring Orry Engebretsen who led off the frame with a sharp single to center field.
Meanwhile, Erickson was putting his best pitches on display on the hill, allowing just four hits by the Warriors through the sixth inning. The Hibbing, Minn., native rang up six Warrior batters while walking only two in a solid 4.2 innings of his relief assignment.
After loading the bases with a pair of hits and a walk in the home half of the sixth, Evan Walker stepped into the batters box as a pinch hitter and delivered an RBI single to center to score Cody Aasen. Mike Darley hit the second UMD sacrifice fly of the contest to score John Meyer later in the inning to close out the scoring for the Bulldogs.
Adam Cook surrendered a one-out two-bagger to Winona State second baseman Nate Van Roekel that scored the final two runs of the game.
UMD mustered only seven hits during game one, while Jungers (1-2) was hit with his second loss of the 2012 campaign. Smith finished the game 2-for-2 while also drawing a base on balls.
Engebretsen went 2-for-4 with a run scored while Aasen and Meyer were 1-for-3. The pair each scored a run and drew a walk. The Bulldogs left eight runners on the base paths in the setback.
GAME TWO: Winona State 8, UMD 5
BOX SCORE
Any momentum the Bulldogs had accumulated on their 13 hits in game two seemed to go be the wayside time and time again, thanks in large part to five untimely double play balls off the bats of UMD hitters.
Anders Engberg received his third start of 2012, and staked the Warriors to a 2-0 lead after his first inning of work. Only one of the scores was charged to the Burnsville, Minn., product as Riewer's third error of the afternoon allowed the first run of the game.
The first of the double plays came in the fifth when a Darley walk was rendered useless after Riewer grounded into the 4-6-3 two-for-one play.
After an RBI groundout in the top of the second on the heels of a one-out triple made matters 3-0 in favor of the Warriors, Smith picked up his second RBI of the afternoon, scoring Aasen with a two-out RBI single up the middle to cut into the Winona State lead.
Drawing closer, Ryan plated Anders Engberg with an RBI single to center field before a strikeout and UMD's third double play of the game – this one off the bat of Smith – stopped the fourth-inning rally.
An infield hit from Darley plated Meyer in the fifth, allowing the Bulldogs to stay within three runs of the Warriors who produced a run of their own in before the halfway point of the nine-inning tilt.
A two-run double by the Warriors in the seventh would account for their final runs of the afternoon before the Bulldogs finally turned a double play of their own to send UMD relieve Mark Shaver back to the dugout without letting in a run.
Riewer and Engberg greeted Winona State reliever Kody Simon in a rude fashion with a single each to begin the home half of the eighth inning. After Aasen advanced the pair into scoring position with a groundout, Riewer scampered home on a passed ball before Ryan produced an RBI groundout to plate Engberg, making things 8-5 heading into the ninth.
Andy Yetzer was summoned from the UMD bullpen to toe the rubber in the ninth, and the Lakeville, Minn., native allowed just one hit while inducing a groundout, a line out and a fly out to retire the Warrior side, giving the Bulldogs one more chance to knot things up.
Smith and Meyer began the final frame with back-to-back singles before Engebretsen grounded into the final double play of the game to kill the momentum gathered just minutes before. Darley flew out to end the game.
Engberg (1-2) worked 6.1 innings, giving up eight runs in his second setback of 2012. He did fan nine while allowing just three free passes and was 2-for-4 at the dish with a pair of runs scored
Meyer went 3-for-4 with a run scored while Aasen finished 2-for-3 with a run and a base on balls. Smith, who was mired in a long offensive slump entering the day, had another productive game at the plate, going 2-for-4 with an RBI.
Continuing their 12-game home stand in the month of April, the Bulldogs welcome NSIC foe Upper Iowa to Bulldog Park for a four-game set on Saturday and Sunday (April 14-15). First pitch on Saturday is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. as the Bulldogs will try to pick up their first home victories of the season.
