It has been a rough stretch of games as of late for the University of Minnesota Duluth as it dropped both games today. In their opener, the Bulldogs (4-8) lost 12-8 to the William Jewell College Cardinals (7-9) which was followed by an 11-1 (eight innings) loss to the Emporia State University Hornets (13-9).
UMD has now gone 1-8 since starting the season with a pair of wins over Bemidji State University and one over Lewis University.
Game 1
The Cardinals put on a hitting clinic against the Bulldogs in the first game of the day. WJC slashed a season-high 19 hits against five UMD pitchers. No pitcher went more than 2.0 innings, and they combined for eight walks to just six strikeouts. The team went 1-10 against left-hander Jace Burdette (W, 1-1), and moved to 14-61 (.230) against southpaws on the season compared to hitting .278 against righties (before the ESU game).
After notching a home run and a single, senior catcher Tyler Midas collected his sixth multi-hit game of the season and moved his batting average up to .405 (before the ESU game).
Junior third baseman Ben Danielson launched his third home run of the season - all three-run home runs.
Game 2
After a dismal performance against the Cardinals, the Bulldogs were roughed up even more after an eight-inning 11-1 loss to the Hornets. ESU has gone 13-5 after starting the season 0-4. The Hornets held the Bulldogs to just four hits today and 14 hits in their three matchups on the weekend.
Junior second baseman Eric Yachinich launched his first home run of the year, and first since his freshman year (April 22 vs. Bemidji State), in the third on an 0-1 count. ESU had five batters connect for multiple hits in the game.
Freshman relievers Liam Blaschko, Sean Flaherty, Wyatt O'Bey, and Mitchell Waletzki combined for 3.2 innings and allowed just one run. Waletzki has five strikeouts in 2.1 innings on the mound this season (21.4K/9).
UMD will open up its Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference play on Saturday (March 24) against Wayne State College at 12 p.m.
