Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 For the third consecutive season, the University of Minnesota Duluth split with Northern Sun Intercolliegate Conference foe Minnesota State University-Mankato Saturday afternoon at James S. Malosky Stadium. The Bulldogs droped the opener 3-0 before rebounding with a 3-2 thumping of the Mavericks.  With the split, UMD bumped its record to 18-8 overall and 2-2 in league play while MSU-Mankato move to 16-12 and 1-1.

Sophomore hurler Sam Hartmann aIlowed two runs on a pair of hits, fanning six to tally her ninth win of the year to help the Bulldogs seal the victory in the rematch. Hartmann, who had her no-hit bid broken up in the fifth, held off a late charge from MSU striking out the final two batters.

In the third inning, the Bulldogs scratched across a pair of runs off MSU starter Libby Bernis to take a 2-1 lead. Senior Jordan Rice reached on an error to plate freshman Hannah Schmoll, then junior Sami Schnyder hit a sacrifice fly scoring Natalie Wright. Junior Laura Nadeau scored an insurance run, which turned out to be the eventual game winner, the following inning when Schmoll pushed her across on a single after Nadeau laced a two-out triple down the left field line. The Mavericks threatened in the seventh with a home run to close the gap but Hartmann slammed the door shut.

"Sam started off the game with a walk which led to scoring an early run but she didn't let that get to her," said head coach Jen Banford. "Instead, she got better and better as the game went on."

In the 3-0 setback, MSU jumped out to an early 2-0 advantage in the third frame and never looked back as Mavs' ace Coley Ries limited UMD to two hits, singles by Rice and freshman Alexia Klass, and piled up 11 punchouts.

"Overall, I felt we played solid defense and had good pitching but our bats didn't wake up until the second game," said Banford. "We had a good comeback win and the team responded well after a poor start again."

UMD returns to action Monday afternoon to close out a six-game homestand with a twinbill against Concordia University, St.Paul.