The University of Minnesota Duluth split with Southern New Hampshire University and Wayne State University Sunday afternoon at the Diamondplex in Winter Haven, Fla. The Bulldogs drudged out a 3-2 victory over the nationally recognized Penmen and lost a topsy-turvy extra-inning slugfest to the Warriors to cap off the second day in the Sunshine State.
UMD played tag with the .500 mark for the second consecutive day as it moved to 7-8 overall and 2-2 during its Florida vacation.
The Bulldogs downed Southern New Hampshire, who is currently receiving votes in the latest National Fastpitch Coaches Association poll, with a dazzling pitching performance from freshman
Mady Stariha and sophomore
Sam Pederson. Stariha gathered her fourth win of the season and did so by stymieing the Penmen in just her second collegiate start in the circle. She lasted almost six full innings striking out four. Stariha had a no-no running until she entered the sixth. Holding a 3-0 cushion, the Bulldogs gave up two runs in that sixth inning until Pederson came in to deliver a decisive five-out save. Pederson punched out three in her relief stint including the last one looking to end the game with the game-tying and game-winning runs in scoring position.
A three-run top of the sixth inning was all the Bulldogs needed too muster to fend off Southern New Hampshire (3-3). Senior shortstop
Lauren Oberle and junior utility player
Jessica Bren served up RBI doubles and junior first baseman
Jordyn Thomas tacked on the eventual game-winning tally with her RBI single just barely out of the grasp of the Penmen second baseman up the middle, causing Bren to score standing up from second.
Thomas was the lone player with a pair of hits in the matchup. Seniors
Hannah Bloch and
Lauren Greeder each drew walks. Greeder also stole a base and ended up scoring the game's first run.
Sixteen combined runs were scored in the fifth and sixth innings between UMD and Wayne State (7-2) in the second twinbill. The lead changed hands three times including each team giving up three-plus run leads. The Bulldogs held a 6-2 advantage starting the sixth and found themselves in a 9-6 hole after the top of the inning. Needing a response right away late, UMD pieced together four runs in the bottom of the sixth to regain a 10-9 lead. However, the Warriors notched the tying run in the seventh and scored their runner from second in the eighth-inning international tiebreaker to win 11-10 with 28 total hits between the two clubs.
UMD piled up 16 of the 28 combined hits with six of the Bulldogs' top seven hitters picking up multiple hits. Oberle, Thomas and freshman
Sidney Zavoral each had three hits. Zavoral was masterful at the dish reaching base on all four appearances with a double, two singles and a walk. Oberle, Bren and senior outfielder
Jayme Langbehn each drove in three runs.
Langbehn started the scoring with a two-run double in the first. UMD netted its next seven runs via the long ball. Thomas crushed her fourth homer of the year in the third to make it 3-0. Bren sent her second homer into the orbit, a three-run shot in the fifth, to extend the lead to 6-2. Then, it was Oberle who struck gold in a clutch moment when called upon. The Eden Prairie, Minn., native mashed her fourth home run -- second in as many days -- of the season to instantly tie the chaotic sixth inning at 9-9. Langbehn plated Oberle with a clutch two-out hit of her own to regain the lead.
The 10-run offensive output was short as Warriors found a way to edge the Bulldogs after knotting it up in the seventh and taking the lead back in the eighth. UMD was just 60 feet away from matching Wayne State and forcing a ninth as the Warriors managed to thwart off the Bulldogs one last time to sweep the day after knocking off No. 16 Indianapolis the game before.
UMD will travel to Tampa, Fla., tomorrow to battle the University of Tampa in a road doubleheader. First pitch of the showdown with the Spartans is slated to begin at 2:00 p.m. EST.
