The final home doubleheader for
Sammi Sadler and
Kalynn Tilton sure was a memorable one.
The seniors, playing in their final collegiate home games, helped set the single-season program mark for Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference wins as the University of Minnesota Duluth knocked off the University of Sioux Falls twice on Sunday at Junction Avenue Field. The Bulldogs (31-18; 22-8 NSIC) bested the 21-win conference season from 2016 with a 8-6 and 10-5 victories over the Cougars (23-28; 13-17 NSIC).
It is only the third time -- and second consecutive -- in school history that UMD notched at least 20 wins during the NSIC slate. The Bulldogs also picked up at least 30 wins for the fifth consecutive season including all four of head coach
Jen Walter's tenure which includes the playing careers of Sadler and Tilton. The seniors have been apart of 145 wins so far with the postseason on the horizon.
Sioux Falls gave UMD everything it could handle as both clubs combined for 29 runs and 39 hits in the two-game set. The Bulldogs, who mustered just nine total hits yesterday against Southwest Minnesota State University, erupted for 15 hits in game one, tying its season high versus St. Michael's College. Sophomore catcher
Jessica Bren had the loudest of those 15 hits of the afternoon.
Trailing 6-4 to start the bottom of the seventh, sophomore second baseman
Taylor Koehnen kept the two-out rally alive with a RBI single to cut the Cougar lead to 6-5. The Bulldogs turned the lineup over to the top for Bren, who didn't disappoint her two seniors. Bren was given the green light on 3-0 and she got all of the next pitch as she deposited a home run to center in walk-off fashion to stun Sioux Falls 8-6.
It was UMD's second straight walk-off win while playing from behind to start the seventh. It was also the second walk-off home run for the Bulldogs as Koehnen had one at James S. Malosky Stadium against Bemidji State University earlier in the year.
The home-run power didn't end there as UMD tacked on four runs in the first inning the following game. Sophomore first baseman
Jordyn Thomas gave the Bulldogs a 3-0 lead after Sadler, who also added her 23rd career outfield assist on a dart home to save a run in the opener, and junior shortstop
Lauren Oberle each singled in front of Thomas. Tilton decided to go back-to-back, four pitches later, as she rang one off the light pole beyond the center-field fence for her fourth bomb of the year. UMD, with Thomas and Tilton going long in consecutive at-bats, have gone back-to-back five times this season.
Bren added another round-tripper, her second of the day and her team-leading 11th overall, in the second inning increasing the lead to 5-0. Koehnen and junior outfielder
Jayme Langbehn added RBIs in the third to push UMD ahead 7-1. The Cougars answered back with their own long ball in the top of the fourth, scoring four times to slice the lead to 7-5. However, the bats were still hot in the bottom of the inning as Tilton, Koehnen and freshman third baseman
Emma Frost slapped together RBI hits to double up the Sioux Falls. Junior pitcher
Breanna Swint was a workhorse in the circle as she improved her record to 16-10 after picking up both wins. Swint tossed 9.2 innings giving up four earned runs. She struck out a pair to push to her season total to 102.
The Bulldogs will head to the NSIC Postseason Tournament for the 11th consecutive season as they grabbed the third seed winning the head-to-head tiebreaker over St. Cloud State University. UMD will take on Concordia University, St. Paul Thursday (May 2) at 12:00 p.m. at the Rochester Youth Fastpitch Softball Complex (RYFSC) in Rochester, Minn.
Postgame:
