The University of Minnesota Duluth completed a doubleheader sweep of Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference rival the University of Minnesota, Crookston on Wednesday afternoon on the road in Crookston.
UMD (19-11, 13-7 NSIC) had three hurlers combine for a 6-0 shutout victory in game one, before coming back with plenty of offense to oust Minnesota Crookston (9-29, 3-19 NSIC) by a 10-2 final in game two.
COVERING THE BASES• Freshman left-hander
Marcus Frederickson took the bump for game one -- just his second start of the season -- and went five complete, allowing just two hits and striking out three before giving way to UMD's relief staff. After Frederickson left with the game in control, junior right-hander
Matt Mattiacci came in for the bottom of the sixth, striking out the side on just nine pitches, commonly known as the "immaculate inning." The Bulldogs turned to another southpaw, junior
Spencer Diedrich in game two. The lefty went six complete, allowing just three hits and one unearned run on his afternoon while striking out three.
• Senior centerfielder
John Meyer and junior first baseman
Alex Wojciechowski each launched a home run in game two as the Bulldogs exploded on offense. Meyer scored four runs on the day, finishing the day 2-for-7 with two walks and four RBI on his grand slam. Wojciechowski drove in four runs while going 4-for-8. Junior second baseman
Jimmy Heck had his hitting streak cut down at nine games, but went 2-for-4 in game one.
After going hitless through three, the Bulldogs finally broke through with one out in the top of the four when Hellquist dropped in a single, scoring on Wojciechowski's double after a seven-pitch at-bat. UMD loaded the bases in their next three appearances after Comer singled home Wojciechowski, but couldn't bring home another run as the next two batters went down in order. Breaking into the Golden Eagle relief corps in the sixth inning, UMD would score four more runs, the first on a rip up the middle by
Josh Denisen, scoring Heck, and three more as the Bulldogs once again loaded the bases later in the inning. From there, the UMD pitching staff did the rest with Frederickson and Mattiacci followed by freshman righty
Jonny Houston, who got three straight groundballs to end the game.
The Bulldogs struck early in game two, when sophomore right fielder
Matt Vogt doubled home Comer in the top of the second inning. Wojciechowski added two more runs the next inning, launching his third home run of the season to score Meyer, who had singled and stolen second earlier in the inning. The teams traded runs in the fifth and sixth innings, with the Golden Eagles crossing the plate for the first time in the 13th inning of action, an unearned run after an error on the UMD infield. The Bulldogs got their run back in the top of the seventh on back-to-back, two-out singles by Wojciechowski and Comer, bringing Meyer home for his third run of the game. Heck lost his chance to extend his hitting streak another game, drawing a walk to load the bases, being lifted for a pinch hitter the next time through the order. Freshman right-hander
Alex Ferguson relieved Diedrich in the bottom of the seventh, pitching out of trouble by picking off a runner and forcing a ground ball and weak pop-up to the infield. The trouble would not have mattered, as Meyer did his own damage in the top of the eighth, launching a grand slam before the Eagles even made an out. Minnesota-Crookston would score a run on a bases loaded walk in the bottom of the ninth, but a groundball doubleplay ended it for the Bulldogs.
UP NEXTUMD returns to Bulldog Park for what should be another warm weather weekend in Duluth when they play host to Bemidji State University in NSIC competition. The Bulldogs and Beavers will get the four-game set started Saturday with first pitch set for 1:30 p.m.
