A three-run moonshot by first baseman Kalynn Tilton provided the back-breaking blow to Concordia University, St. Paul as the University of Minnesota Duluth erupted for five runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to take down the Golden Bears 5-2 to stay afloat in the winner's bracket of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Tournament. The Bulldogs will play Winona State University for the opportunity to play in tomorrow's NSIC championship game. The semiround final will start at 5:00 p.m., at Bowden Field on the campus of Augustana University.
 
UMD is 45-31 lifetime in the conference tournament and started the double elimination tournament 2-0 for the first time since 2013.
 
Tilton wasn't about to spoil another golden oppourtunity with runners in scoring position. The Bulldogs left eight runners on base including the bases loaded in the third. The junior from Forest Lake, Minn., worked a full count and fouled off three-straight two-strike pitches before lifting her 10^th pitch of the at-bat over the right field fence.
 
Sophomore third baseman Lauren Oberle knotted the game on a hopper over the second baseman to score senior outfielder Hannah Schmoll and senior shortstop Becky Smith.
 
Schmoll was unstoppable at the plate once again, grabbing a hit in all four plate appearances. The Grand Rapids, Minn., native is 7-for-8 at the plate in the first two games of the tournament. Schmoll also swiped her 41^st and 42^nd bases on the season, breaking her own single-season record of 40 that she established back in 2016.
 
Sophomore Breanna Swint got the start in the circle. Swint retired the first two batters early but fell into trouble giving up a single and then a first-pitch home run to Haley Schanks. Swint slowed up the Concordia-St. Paul bats the rest of the way. The Marysville, Calif., native pitched all seven innings for her 19th win.