The University of Minnesota Duluth opened up their Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference campaign today against St. Could State University. After returning from Clermont, Florida where they scorched the competition by going 9-1 on the week,
the Bulldogs split with St. Cloud (15-12), winning the first game 4-2 before falling in the nightcap 10-7.
UMD (12-7) continued its hot start to the season as the Bulldogs went on to beat St. Cloud 4-2 in the first of a two-game series, adding to their current win streak of eight games. The Bulldogs jumped out right away with a pair of fielder's choices in the first inning to go up 2-0. St. Cloud would get one back in the bottom of the fourth, cutting the lead in half. But the Bulldogs took charge from there, getting a run in both the fifth and sixth inning to go up 4-1. St. Cloud would put together a last-chance effort in the bottom of the seventh, but freshman pitcher
Valerie Hohol would enter for the save and strike out the final two batters to give the Bulldogs their eighth straight win. Senior
Cayli Sadler (6-4) picked up the win after allowing only one earned run and four hits over 6.1 innings.
Hannah Schmoll,
Natalie Wright and
Ashley Schilling each collected a pair of hits, accounting for six of the Bulldogs' seven hits in the game.
Looking to continue their win streak, UMD once again jumped out to a big lead in the first thanks to back-to-back-to-back doubles, and a single to take a 3-0 lead in the first inning. The Bulldogs would tack on one more in the top of the second off a home run from senior
Ashley Schilling. From there, the Huskies would explode in the third to tie the game 4-4. They would go on to add six over the next three innings and make it 10-4. UMD would try to mount a comeback in the seventh inning, getting the bases loaded for Wright who would knock in a run. Schilling would score on an overthrow to home to pull the Bulldogs within four. Sophomore
Becky Smith would nab an RBI to push it to 10-7, but that's as close as UMD would get as the team's winning streak ended after eight straight.
The Bulldogs next challenge comes against Concordia-St. Paul (6-15) this Friday, March 25th before traveling to Minnesota State University-Mankato (18-7) on Saturday.
