A walk off sacrifice fly by sophomore shortstop Becky Smith in the bottom of the ninth inning propelled the University of Minnesota Duluth past Missouri Southern State University 8-7 and gave head coach Jen Walter her first victory with the Bulldogs Saturday night. UMD (1-3 overall) opened its second day of 8-State Classic play in Bentonville, Ark., that morning with a 4-0 loss to another Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association school, Fort Hays State University.

In the victory over Missouri Southern (4-5 overall), the Bulldogs pounded out nine hits -- one more than they mustered in their first three 2016 outings combined -- and were collectively a clutch 5-for-11 with runners in scoring position UMD took its first lead of the game (4-3) with a three-run fourth only to see the Lions score twice in the top of the fifth and once in the sixth go up 6-4. Junior left fielder Hailey Lundquist and senior right fielder Ashley Schilling each had an RBI single in the bottom of the sixth to draw even 6-6 and eventually force extra innings. After a scoreless eighth inning, Missouri Western punched in a run in the ninth, but the Bulldogs countered with another run-scoring single by Schilling and then Smith's sacrifice fly which plated Schilling. Senior Cayli Sadler (1-2) picked up the win in relief of junior starter Sam Hartmann, pitching 3 2/3 innings of no-hit, one run ball. Hartmann allowed seven hits and struck out five before being lifted in the top of the fifth inning with two out and two one. Eight different Bulldogs collected hits, including Schilling who had a team-high two.

Fort Hays State (1-2 overall) did all of its offensive damage in the fourth inning and Tiger pitcher Paxton Duran allowed just one hit -- a second inning single to senior first baseman Abbey Nelson. Her counterpart, Cayli Sadler, gave up eight hits (but just one that went for extra bases -- a double by Duran), but walked five.

UMD's back-to-back games against the University of Nebraska-Kearney and Henderson State University, scheduled for Sunday (its final day at the 8-State Classic) have been cancelled due to inclement weather.