Another day. Another Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference split.
For the fourth time in as many tries this spring, the University of Minnesota Duluth exchanged doubleheader wins with a league foe, the latest being Minnesota State University-Moorhead. The Bulldogs rebounded from a walk-off 4-3 loss in the opener to slay the Dragons 8-3 Wednesday afternoon in UMD's 2015 NSIC road debuts.
UMD (20-11 overall; 4-4 NSIC) opened the day in promising fashion, scoring twice in its first at bats and getting an RBI single from senior first baseman
Jordan Rice (that plated freshman center fielder
Hannah Schmoll, who led off the inning with a hit through the left side) and a run-scoring sacrifice fly from rookie catcher
Alexia Klaas. The Dragons (11-9; 1-5) generated a pair of runs in the bottom of the third to draw even, then took its first lead of the afternoon by scoring on a wild pitch two innings later. Schmoll started the seventh inning with her third hit of the game, stole second and eventually came home on a Minnesota State-Moorhead throwing error, but the Dragons answered in the bottom half of that inning, stringing together three straight hits (after a leadoff strikeout) for the game-winning run.
Junior
Cayli Sadler (10-7) went the distance in the circle for UMD and allowed eight hits (seven singles and one double) while striking out two.
The Bulldogs put up a two spot again in the top of the first in the rematch, but this time they never looked back. Schmoll racked up three hits (including a double and triple) for the second straight game while junior third baseman
Sami Schnyder also went 3-for-4 at the plate with two RBI. First-year second baseman
Natalie Wright drove in three runs and Rice launched a first-inning two-run bomb, giving her a team-leading eight homers on the season and 38 as a Bulldog (three shy of the club record). Starter
Sam Hartmann (10-4) threw four innings of no-run, three-hit ball before being lifted for rookie
Sadie Knudson, who gave up three runs and two hits in 1 1/3 innings of work. Sadler came in with one out and two on in the bottom of the sixth and was touched up for three hits the rest of the way.
The Bulldogs will continue on their diet of NSIC road competition with twinbills at Winona State University Friday and Upper Iowa University the following day.
