The University of Minnesota Duluth extended its winning streak to seven games by downing Northern State University twice Tuesday afternoon in Aberdeen, S.D. The Bulldogs, who have now won 11 of their last 12 outings, rallied for a 5-2 victory in the opener before blanking the Wolves 5-0 to improve to 33-17 overall and 15-5 in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference.

Down 1-0 heading into the top of the fifth inning in the first game, the Bulldogs used a two-run single by junior shortstop Kierra Jeffers to take a 2-1 lead and then scored three more times in the sixth on junior second baseman Tyra Kerr's bases-loaded double. Kerr went 4-for-4 while junior Julie Nealer allowed just four hits in five innings of mound activity before giving way to sophomore Megan Mullen, who struck out three and gave up one hit en route to posting her third save of the year. The win for Nealer (9-2) was her seventh in her last seven decisions.

UMD provided Mullen with all of the runs she would need in first inning of the rematch as senior catcher Whitney Strantz's two-out single to left field brought home both Kerr and junior center fielder Michaela Goris. Strantz added another RBI with a single in the fifth and Goris picked up three hits in three at bats. Mullen (23-12) posted her eighth shut of the year, equalling her own school record which she set last spring, by scattering nine hits and fanning six. 

The Bulldogs, who moved up to the No. 5 spot in this week's NCAA Division II Central Region Rankings,  will close out the 2012 regular season this Saturday and Sunday with two NSIC doubleheaders at Upper Iowa University and Winona State University.