The University of Minnesota Duluth suffered a pair of setbacks on its penultimate day in the southeast, falling to Wayne State (Mich.) University in a doubleheader sweep at the Lake Myrtle Park in Auburndale, Florida.
UMD (3-3) fell behind early and couldn't rebound in game one, eventually falling by a 15-3 final. The Bulldogs got a strong start from freshman hurler
Alex Ferguson in game one, but the bullpen faltered in the late innings as Wayne State (6-6) rolled to a 10-1 win.
COVERING THE BASES• Junior left-hander
Spencer Diedrich struck out four in 3.2 innings of game one, but couldn't corral the Warriors' high-scoring offense. Freshman righty Ferguson faired a bit better taking the mound in game two, giving up his first hit in the fourth inning, finishing with one run allowed in 3.1 innings, striking out a pair along the way. UMD's relief corps allowed nine walks in seven innings of work.
• Senior center fielder
John Meyer launched a two-run home run moments after sophomore outfielder
Grant Farley lifted a double, his sixth extra-base hit of the season in the second inning of game one. Junior third baseman
Jimmy Heck drew two of UMD's eight walks and scored a pair of runs on the day. Junior left fielder
Kyle Singer dropped in a single to score UMD's lone run of game two.
The Bulldogs fell behind 7-0 in game one as the Warriors jumped all over UMD's pitching throughout the afternoon. The Bulldogs answered with Farley's double and Meyer's longball to pull within four, but they'd get no closer in game one as Wayne State punished UMD's pitching. Ferguson walked the second batter he faced, but forced a groundball double play and faced the minimum through three innings, allowing his first hit on a hard-skipping ball in the infield. He'd gave way to the Bulldog bullpen, which coughed up the inherited runner and a 1-0 UMD lead acquired in the second inning. In the end, the Warriors hit .393 and took 21 free passes via walks and hit batters while the Bulldogs drew nine walks, but struck out 19 times.
UP NEXTUMD closes out action in Florida on Tuesday morning against the Purple Knights of St. Michael's (Vt.) College. Opening pitch is set for 10:00 a.m. ET.
