The University of Minnesota Duluth launched five home runs in a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conferenceference doubleheader sweep of northern Minnesota rival Bemidji State University on Friday afternoon at Bulldog Park in Duluth.
UMD (21-11, 15-7 NSIC) hit a pair of multi-run bombs in game one, knocking off the Beavers 5-1 after Bemidji State (10-27, 7-15 NSIC) broke the scoreless tie with a solo shot in the top of the fourth. The Bulldogs would score a run in every inning of game two, knocking off the Beavers 15-4 in seven innings.
COVERING THE BASES• Junior left-hander
Bo Hellquist went the distance in game one, picking up his second victory of the season in six starts, allowing just one run on the longball and three total hits while striking out seven. Junior righty
Austin Vaske tossed six innings in game two, allowing three earned runs while striking out one, scattering six hits and three walks to pick up his third win of the year. Sophomore righty
Colton Sinning pitched in and out of trouble in the seventh, striking out two to finish out the game without allowing a run.
• Five different Bulldogs launched home runs for UMD: sophomore left fielder
Grant Farley and juniors, right fielder
Spencer Diedrich, third baseman
Kyle Comer, first baseman
Alex Wojciechowski and outfielder
Josh Denisen. Comer and Wojciechowski each had four RBIs, while the pair, along with Hellquist and Farley each crossed the plate three times. Eight players had at least one RBI for UMD while nine had a run scored.
Bemidji State plated the first run of the day in the top of the fourth inning on a solo shot by Jack Hegarty, but Farley put the Bulldogs up with a three-run bomb in the bottom of the inning, which Comer followed with a two-run shot down the right field line in the fifth to put UMD up for good as Hellquist kept the Beavers off the board the rest of the way. The Bulldogs scored four runs in the bottom of the first inning of game two, first on a two-run double by Wojciechowski and then on a single by Diedrich, who finished the game 3-for-4. Wojciechowski followed that up with a two-run homer in the bottom of the second, while UMD scratched across five runs against three different BSU pitchers in the bottom of the third. Diedrich hit his two-run shot in the fourth, the Bulldogs scored on an RBI groundout in the fifth, and Denisen launched his solo shot in the sixth to hold off the Beavers and earn their first mercy ruled victory of the season.
UP NEXTUMD returns to Bulldog Park on Saturday afternoon for another doubleheader against Bemidji State. First pitch is set for 12:00 p.m.
