It certainly was the not the start to the 2016 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Tournament the University of Minnesota Duluth had envisioned

Before the second-seeded Bulldogs even came to bat in their first outing of the eight-team double-elimination event, they found themselves down 3-0 to a Bemidji State University unit that would go on to a 4-2 victory Friday afternoon in Sioux Falls, S.D. UMD, which dropped to 32-14 overall, will now play Northern State University in a knock-out game Friday morning at 10 a.m.

The Beavers, who are 3-0 against UMD this spring, added another run on a solo homer in the fifth inning to take a 4-0 lead and held their long-time intrastate rivals to just one hit heading into the bottom of the sixth. That's when senior first baseman and 2016 All-NSIC first teammer Ashley Lewis got the Bulldogs on the board with a two-out double that scored senior right fielder Ashley Schilling and sophomore center fielder Hannah Schmoll. UMD wound up generatig five hits (from five different players) in the setback but were struck out 15 times by Bemidji State pitcher Jessica Yost. Bulldog junior leftie Sam Hartmann (16-6), who entered the day sporting a 10-game winning streak, took the loss after giving up all four runs and seven hits in five innings of work.