The University of Minnesota Duluth tightened its grip on first place in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference, and senior third baseman Kyle Comer continued to pace the Bulldogs offensively with three home runs Sunday as UMD (31-9, 24-4 NSIC) completed a four-game series sweep over Minot State University with 9-3 and 12-5 victories at Bulldog Park in Duluth.

Three big flies by Comer on the day (11) concluded a series against Minot State (7-30, 4-19 NSIC) that saw him hit .563 (9-for-16) with five home runs, two doubles, 13 RBIs, and 11 runs scored. A pair of outfielders - junior Grant Farley and freshman Cory Krolikowski, added two home runs each (11, 5) in game two of Sunday's doubleheader.

Junior left-handed pitcher Kevin Stocke (3-1) tossed 6.0 innings in the opener, picking up the win without allowing an earned run. He settled down after a pair of errors put the Bulldogs down 3-0 in the first inning. He struck out six while allowing just four hits on the afternoon. Comer's first home run of the afternoon pulled the Bulldogs within one in the bottom of the evening. Stocke and Beavers started Connor Oliver (0-3) traded blank frame through the second and third innings before Oliver walked the bases loaded ahead of Comer in the fourth. Comer made him pay for it, launching a grand slam home run to give UMD the lead.

The Bulldogs added three unearned runs in the sixth inning, beginning with an RBI groundout off the bat of senior first baseman Alex Wojciechowski, followed by a run-scoring wild pitch, and finally an RBI single by senior second baseman Jimmy Heck. Sophomore Alex Ferguson pitched the ninth inning, erasing a lead-off single with a groundball double play to secure the 9-3 victory.

UMD 12, Minot State 5
Sophomore left-hander Tommy Hanson (4-0) took the hill to start game two, completing 5.0 innings to pick up the victory while striking out nine. His two walks each came in the first inning and would come around to score on a single off the bat of freshman outfielder Michael Borst, who haunted Bulldog pitching on the afternoon.

UMD bounced back quickly as Krolikowski and Farley launched back-to-back home runs leading off the bottom of the inning. Comer's third home run of the day came with both Krolikowski and Farley on in the third inning, once again giving UMD a lead at 5-2. Borst would hit his first of two home runs in the top of the fourth, scraping Minot State back within two, but "Krolo" had an answer as he hit a solo homer in the bottom of the inning.

The Bulldogs added three runs in each of the seventh and eighth innings, including Farley's 11th home run of the season and Comer's RBI double. The top five of the UMD order totalled all of the Bulldogs' hits, with each of Krolikowski, Farley, Wojciechowski, Comer, and Heck having two hits each with the home run hitting trio of Krolikowski, Farley, and Grant adding three each.

UMD's four-game sweep came on a weekend that Augustana (S.D.) University dropped a game against Upper Iowa University, and St. Cloud State University split a four-game set with Northern State University. The Bulldogs now are alone in first place in the NSIC with three more wins and one fewer defeat than Augustana and seven more wins and two fewer defeats than SCSU.

ON DECK
UMD and St. Cloud State will duel on Wednesday evening in St. Cloud as both teams enter the final week of the NSIC regular season with a doubleheader. All NSIC doubleheaders feature one seven-inning game followed by a nine-inning game. If the first game goes to extra innings, then the second reverts to a seven-inning game as well. First pitch Wednesday is set for 4:00 p.m. at Joe Faber Field.