Jordan Rice's three-home run in the top of the seventh inning lifted the University of Minnesota Duluth to a 5-3 come-from-behind rematch victory over Concordia University-St. Paul and a split of its non-conference doubleheader with the Golden Bears Wednesday.

The Bulldogs, now 9-4 overall on the year, fell 8-2 in the opener at the West St. Paul Regional Athletic Center in West St. Paul, Minn.

In the 8-2 setback, the Bulldogs generated their first run until the bottom of the third when sophomore left fielder Heather Woyak started the inning with a single and then stole second base. She advanced to third on junior right fielder Ashley Schilling's base hit before scoring on a Golden Bear throwing error.  Two innings later and with UMD trailing 5-1, Woyak collected the second of her team-high two hits two innings and wound up scoring again. Sophomore pitcher Sam Hartmann was saddled with her first loss in six decisions this season after allowing 12 hits, including a three-run homer in the fifth, and seven earned runs while striking out seven and walking seven. Her Golden Bear counterpart, Stephanie Kappes, also went the distance and gave up seven hits.

UMD took its first lead of the afternoon in the top of the seventh inning in Game 2.  The Golden Bears (2-5) led 2-0 after three and 3-2 through six before Rice clubbed her Bulldog-high fourth homer of 2015. Rice and junior third baseman Sami Schnyder each went 2-for-3, accounting for half of UMD's total hit harvest.  Junior pitcher Cayli Sadler improved to 4-3 with an eigth-hit, three-strikeout effort.  UMD has complied a 28-4 record at the West St. Paul Regional Athletic Center during the past three seasons, including a 6-2 mark this spring.

From here on out, the 2015 schedule has nothing by outdoor softball for the Bulldogs, beginning a week from this Sunday (March 15) when they embark on a five-day, 10-game run at  the College Spring Games in Clermont, Fla. UMD will take on Wayne State University (Mich.) and Saint Michael's College on that opening day.