The University of Minnesota Duluth softball team did something Sunday they haven't done in a decade -- stand atop of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference standings at the end of the regular season.
The Bulldogs accomplished that feat after a doubleheader sweep (4-1 and 3-2) of Concordia University, St. Paul earning UMD a share of the 2013 NSIC crown with Minnesota State University-Mankato. For the Bulldogs (39-11 overall; 19-5 NSIC), it was their 14th conference title -- and first since 2003 -- in 25 years of NSIC membership. This was also the first conference championship for UMD under eighth-year head coach Jen Banford and the 19 league wins are the most in school history.
Clutch pitching was essential to have a shot at the title, and Julia Nealer delivered once again. One day after keeping No. 19 MSU-Mankato at bay, the ace anchored the Bulldogs on the mound for both games of the twinbill against Concordia.
The Bulldog senior pitched a complete ballgame, allowing one run in five hits game one, then turned around and pitched seven innings holding the Golden Bears to five scoreless innings after giving up back-to-back runs in the opening two frames. Combined, the ace struck out 10 and limited the Bears to three runs on nine hits in 14 innings of work for her 22nd and 23rd wins of the season.
UMD needed one big inning of offensive production in each game versus CSP. A four-run first inning, which included a run scored on a wild pitch, an RBI single by junior left fielder Megan Mullen and a two-run home run by freshman third baseman Sami Schnyder, helped the Bulldogs shoot out to a 4-0 lead. UMD would eventually win game one 4-1.
Sophomore first baseman Jordan Rice gave UMD the lead in one swing after trailing 2-0 in the fourth frame of game two. Rice, the product of Ham Lake, Minn., launched her 13th home run of the season to dead center as her three-run shot catapulted the Bulldogs ahead in the 3-2 comeback victory.
In the two-game set, Mullen and junior right fielder Maddie Bilse paced the Bulldogs, which totaled 16 hits off the Bears, with three hits and senior All-American Tyra Kerr, Rice, Schnyder and freshman catcher Ashley Lewis each pieced together two hits.
The Bulldogs will battle the best of the conference in the NSIC Tournament, which is set to begin Thursday, May 2 in Rochester, Minn.
