The University of Minnesota Duluth Baseball team opened home Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference action Sunday dropping a pair of two-run contests (4-2 and 10-8) to Concordia-St. Paul at NBC Spartan Sports Complex in Superior, Wis.

The Bulldogs came up short in game one after sophomore pitcher Sean Flaherty (1-3) surrendered a go-ahead three-run homerun in the top of the seventh inning to give the Golden Bears a 4-2 advantage. In the previous inning, the Bulldogs took the lead on senior third baseman Eric Yachinich's single to right field scoring sophomore pinch runner Dayo Lawal and advancing senior left fielder Cory Krolikowski to third base. UMD, who was outhit 10-9 by Concordia-St. Paul, was unable push Krowlikowski across home after rookie Tosten Mann struck out looking to end the frame. In his fourth start this season, junior pitcher Rece Dietrich gave the Bulldogs a dominant outing, tossing six innings while only giving up one unearned run and striking out five Golden Bears.

In game two, the Bulldogs (4-14 overall and 2-8 in the NSIC) were able to erase an early three-run deficit in the second inning on base hits from sophomore center fielder Henry George and junior right fielder Drew Stewart. Later in the inning, UMD would tie the game when sophomore second basemen Anders Brown advanced home on a wild pitch. George would strike again in the third inning on a single to left field, scoring Eric Yachinich and giving the Bulldogs their first and only lead of the game. Yachinich was on fire in game two, going five-for-five at the plate with a double and two runs batted in. The Golden Bears (13-9 overall; 5-6 NSIC) would answer in the fourth, exploding for five runs to reclaim a four-run lead. But the Bulldogs wouldn't go away. In the seventh inning after cutting the Golden Bear lead to one, Yachinich laced a single right back up the middle scoring senior designated hitter Tyler Wojciechowski. Concordia would have the last laugh by plating the two go-ahead runs off of freshman relief pitcher Zach Matthews (1-2) in the top of the ninth inning. Sophomore Mitchell Waletski, in his fourth start of the 2019 campaign, was torched by the Golden Bear bats, giving up eight runs and eight hits in 3.1 innings of work while walking four and striking out one. Sophomore pitcher Liam Blaschko was able to quiet the Concordia-St. Paul offense, providing the Bulldogs with a scoreless 4.0 innings of relief work, fanning five and surrendering three hits. Senior pitcher Evan Vick recorded the final three outs for the Bulldogs in the ninth inning in relief of Matthews.

Despite the loss, the Bulldogs outhit the Golden Bears 16-11, including multi-hit games from Henry George, Tyler Wojciechowski, rookie left fielder Tosten Mann, Eric Yachinich, and Anders Brown.

UMD and Concordia-St. Paul are scheduled to square off again in another NSIC doubleheader tomorrow (April 1st) beginning at 10 a.m. at NBC Spartan Sports Complex in Superior, Wis.

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