Sweeping a Saturday twinbill against Minot State University and the entire four-game set against its Northern Sun Intercolleigate Conference rival in Minot, North Dakota this weekend, the University of Minnesota Duluth will ride a four-game winning streak into the NSIC/U.S. Bank Postseason Tournament beginning next Wednesday in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
UMD (32-14) finishes the NSIC regular season with a 26-10 record, the best conference campaign ever for head coach
Bob Rients. The Bulldogs' 32-win mark is already the second-highest of Coach Rients' career. UMD defeated Minot State (11-34, 8-26 NSIC) by an 11-7 final in game one and 10-5 final in game two.
COVERING THE BASES• Senior centerfielder
John Meyer led the way with five hits on the day, batting .500 with a home run, three runs driven in, and tying for the team lead with four runs scored. Junior first baseman
Alex Wojciechowski had four hits on the day including a pair of doubles, driving in four and also scoring four. Junior outfielder
Josh Denisen lifted his seventh home run of the season, a two-run shot, and crossed the plate four times.
• Senior right-hander
Wes Mleziva picked up his sixth save of the season in game one, while junior right-hander
Matt Mattiacci picked up the win out of the pen, his first of the season, tossing 1.2 innings of relief of sophomore left-hander
Kevin Stocke, who left with a lead after 3.1 innings of work, not qualifying for the victory. Freshman righty
Nick Dorfman picked up the victory in game two, now tying for the team lead with four on the year. He tossed the first five innings, allowing three runs while striking out five.
After a pair of scoreless innings to start the day, balls quickly started flying out of Corbett Field with Meyer starting the a two-run shot in the third inning. After a solo shot by Minot in the third, the Bulldogs exploded for five runs in the fourth, taking an 8-1 lead. It wouldn't last long as the Beavers scored four runs in the bottom of the inning and two more in the fifth thanks to three moer home runs by MSU. A double by Wojciechowski and a fourth error on the day by Minot led to two UMD runs in the sixth, while Wojciechowski singled home Denisen for one last run in the seventh inning as Mleziva held off the Beavers over the final 1.2 innings.
Denisen continued his home run surge in the first inning, getting the Bulldogs off two a 2-0 lead before Minot even made an out, but the Beavers quickly answered back in the bottom of the inning, stringing together three hits to tie the game at two. Sophomore shortstop
Kyle Hoffman drove home the go-ahead run in the top of the second. Three more Minot State errors in game two helped the Bulldogs pull away to a 7-2 and eventual 10-3 lead. The Beavers tacked on a pair of runs late but were not enough to overcome their own defensive miscues as UMD finished the season on a winning note.
UP NEXTUMD finishes with the fourth seed in the NSIC, mere percentage points behind Augustana (S.D.) College for third place with the same number of victories on the year. The Bulldogs will face fifth-seeded Wayne State (Neb.) College in the first round of tournament play at 11:00 a.m. at Sioux Falls Stadium.
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