Sammi Sadler launched her first collegiate home run but that was all the University of Minnesota Duluth could muster as No. 6 Winona State University defeated the Bulldogs 8-1 in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Tournament Friday at the Rochester Youth Fastpitch Softball Association Complex. With the setback, UMD bows out of the conference tournament after staving off a pair of elimination games earlier. 

The Warriors scored eight unanswered runs after the Bulldogs took a 1-0 lead in the top of the fourth. Warrior pitcher Liz Pautz dazzled in the circle as she kept the Bulldogs off balance all game. Pautz allowed just three hits to advance Winona State to the first game tomorrow morning against St. Cloud State University.

Meanwhile, the Bulldogs (33-20) will await their NCAA postseason fate Monday with the NCAA II Softball Selection Show to reveal if they are one of the five at-large bids for the eight-team central region field. UMD entered as the seventh team in last Wednesday's final regional rankings ahead of St. Cloud State, Minnesota State and the University of Central Missouri (MIAA), who are all currently still in their respective postseason league tournaments.  

The Bulldogs and Warriors were deadlocked after the first three innings as each pitcher dominated opposing batters. Freshman pitcher Sam Pederson got the nod to start for UMD and she gave the Warriors fits in the early going. In her first three innings against the NSIC regular season champions, Pederson threw three innings of no-hit ball including a pair of key strikeouts. Sophomore second baseman Taylor Koehnen also displayed her NSIC Gold Glove skills as she ranged back to caught a pop fly behind her and wheeled back to double off the runner at first.

With neither team giving an inch, UMD finally broke the ice off the bat of Sadler.

The senior outfielder patiently took the first strike in her 532nd career at-bat and then pull a gut-shot pitch over the heart of the plate to deep right center. Sadler, a career .300 left-handed hitter from Brooklyn Park, Minn., had the ball explode off her bat as it soared and raced out in a hurry, clearing the fence easily and landing in the parking lot. Sadler's first home run of her career seem to give the UMD a burst of momentum and, more importantly, the lead in the elimination game.

Winona State (47-6) had a different idea, apparently.

The Warriors stayed true to their No. 6 ranking and shook off Sadler's solo blast and responded with two runs immediately in the bottom of the fourth to seize control. UMD went 1-2-3 in the fifth and things spiraled out of control. Winona State put up a six-spot in the fifth to take a commanding 8-1 lead. The Warriors' lineup finally clicked as they pounded out six hits with a pair of back-breaking homers. UMD tried to stop the bleeding and throw off the hot-hitting Warriors with junior pitcher Breanna Swint taking over midway through the inning but to no avail.

Sophomore first baseman Jordyn Thomas and Koehnen each singled in the seventh but the Bulldogs couldn't mount enough back-to-back hits to piece together a rally to dethrone the Warriors.

With the uphill battle from the loser's bracket, UMD went 2-2 in the tournament as it sent home Upper Iowa University last night and Southwest Minneosta State University. The Bulldogs are now 47-33 all-time in the NSIC Tournament. The 47 wins is second most in the conference, trailing only Winona State.