A pair of big innings -- one in each end of its Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference doubleheader at Wayne State College -- cost the University of Minnesota Duluth dearly Monday afternoon. The visiting Bulldogs watched Wayne State score five times in the bottom of the second inning en route to an 8-4 victory before it used an eight-run fifth to win 8-1 in the nightcap and complete the sweep. UMD, which fell to 27-20 overall and 11-13 in the NSIC, pounded out 17 hits in the setbacks, but also stranded 17 base runners.

The Bulldogs, on RBI singles from freshman Becky Smith, junior catcher Ashley Lewis and junior third baseman Sami Schnyder, mounted a 3-2 lead through one and a half innings in the opener, but the Wildcats went on top for good by rolling up five runs on five hits (including a two-run homer) in the second. Smith went 3-for-3 at the plate and picked up her 19th double of the season -- a Bulldog record (first baseman Gina Zech had established the previous mark of 18  in 2007). Schnyder, Lewis and junior right fielder Ashley Schilling all finished with two hits while junior pitcher Cayli Sadler (15-10) had her five-game winning streak snapped. She and her Wildcat counterpart, Sara Scheffert, both allowed 12 hits.

In game two, UMD opened the scoring with a run in the first for the second straight game and clung to that 1-0 advantage until the bottom of the fifth when Wayne State (29-17 overall; 14-10 NSIC) sent 12 batters to the plate and eight runners across it. Only two of the eight Wildcat runs were earned, thanks in part to three UMD errors. Sophomore Sam Hartmann gave up eight hits, struck out three and walked two in the setback, her 10th in 22 decisions this spring.

UMD will pay a visit to Aberdeen, S.D., tomorrow afternoon to face Northern State University twice in its 2015 regular season road finales.