Eager to get back on the diamond after a disappointing home finale, the University of Minnesota Duluth opened a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference weekend four-game set against Minot State University with a doubleheader sweep in Minot, North Dakota on Friday afternoon.

UMD (30-14, 24-10 NSIC) piled on multiple runs in four of seven innings during game one, eventually knocking off the Beavers by a 10-3 final. A five-run third inning and three Bulldog home runs gave them a 12-2 victory in eight innings over Minot State (11-31, 8-23 NSIC), stretching the Beavers' losing streak to 10 games.

COVERING THE BASES
• UMD's home run leaders continued to punish opposing pitchers, as junior first baseman Alex Wojciechowski hit his 11th homer of the season, sophomore left fielder Grant Farley his ninth, and junior third baseman Kyle Comer his seventh. Without hitting a longball, senior center fielder John Meyer (seven on the year), hit a pair of doubles and drove in three runs. Farley finished the day 4-for-7 with a team-high five RBIs. Sophomore shortstop Brian Pierce lde the way with five hits for UMD, including a double, and scored four runs, a team-high alongside junior second baseman Jimmy Heck.
• Freshman southpaw Marcus Frederickson cruised through five innings, allowing four hits and a single run in game one while striking out four. Junior right-hander Austin Vaske essentially matched Frederickson in game two, picking up a victory on six innings, striking out five while allowing four hits and one run. A pair of lefties, junior Kyle Fritz and freshman Jalen Busker, eah pitched a scoreless inning out of the pen for UMD.

After a lead-off walk, the Bulldogs scratched across a pair of runs with two singles in the top of the first inning, doubling that on back-to-back doubles by  Pierce and Meyer in the second inning. Frederickson had his lone blemish in the bottom of the third as Minot junior first baseman Micah Holmen lifted a home run, but UMD answered back quickly with three runs in the top of the fourth thanks to a two-run double by Wojciechowski, who stole third and eventually came around to score on a throwing error. Two hit batters and three singles got the Bulldogs to double digits scoring, including a two-run single by Farley. While the Beavers struck for a pair of runs in the sixth inning, they'd get no closer as Busker shut the door in the ninth for an easy UMD win.

The bottom half of the order made its mark against Minot State in the second inning of game two, with junior outfielder Spencer Diedrich driving home the game's first run on a single, followed by a sacrifice fly by sophomore catcher Marco Lucarelli that put the Bulldogs up by two. After a failed pick-off of Comer sent the UMD clean-up hitter to third, Heck walked, and Farley drove home the third run of the game. Heck would then come around to score as Diedrich reached again on a fielder's choice throwing error by the pitcher. Lucarelli followed with his second sac fly of the game, and UMD piled on once again, scoring twice more on RBI singles by Pierce and Meyer for five total runs in the third inning.

The Bulldogs took a 9-0 lead in the fourth when Farley slugged his fourth home run in as many games for UMD. After a lead-off double to start the bottom of the fifth inning for the Beavers, Vaske appeared to have pitched out of the inning but senior third baseman Brad Rolff lifted a ball just over a leaping Heck at second base to bring home Minot State's first run of the game. Vaske would strike out the final batter of the inning to limit the damage any further. Back-to-back home runs by Wojciechowski and Comer in the eighth inning put the Bulldogs up by 11. While the Beavers would cross the plate one final time in the bottom of the eighth, freshman righty Jonny Houston would get out of the inning with a strikeout of the game's final batter to lock up another ten-run victory for UMD.

UP NEXT
The Bulldogs and Beavers will close out the NSIC regular season tomorrow afternoon in Minot. First pitch is set for 12:00 p.m.