Head Coach
Lynn Anderson earned her first two career Bulldog wins as UMD defeated Missouri Western 4-1 and Washburn 6-3 on Friday afternoon in Mankato, Minn. The pair of wins moves the Bulldogs to 2-0 overall on the season.
On the day, 5th-year
Jordyn Thomas led the Bulldogs with 5 hits and three RBIs, while
Kiana Bender tallied a hit and three RBIs as well. In game one,
Lauren Dixon collected the win for UMD, while
Sam Pederson was given the win in game two.
Game One: 4-1 Victory over Missouri Western
The Bulldogs first hit of the season would come off an
Elle Potts single to third base in the top of the second inning. However, UMD would be unable to put points on the board. The Bulldogs would go down one-two-three in the top of the third, and Missouri Western would take control. In the bottom of the third, a leadoff double would put a Griffon on second base. A single would score the runner from second and give Missouri Western a 1-0 midway through the contest. UMD wasted no time responded in the top of the fourth. A leadoff triple from
Jordyn Thomas gave the Bulldogs a prime opportunity to tie the game. During the very next at-bat,
Sidney Zavoral slapped a ball into right field to easily score Thomas from third and to tie the game at 1-1. UMD would notch three hits in the inning and the teams would head to the fifth all knotted up.
Each side would fail to score through the fifth and sixth innings. In the top of the seventh,
Kat Burkhardt's leadoff double gave the Bulldogs an opportunity for a late lead. After a wild pitch. Burkhardt advanced to third base. However, a groundout and a couple of fly outs would end the threat for UMD. The Griffons would also push for the winning run in the seventh. After Missouri Western found themselves with the winning win on third, UMD pitcher
Lauren Dixon secured a flyout and a strikeout to deny the Griffons the win in the top of the seventh. The two sides would play into overtime tied at 1-1.
In the ninth, walks to
Julia Gronholz and Burkhardt set the Bulldogs up with runners on first and second. An RBI single to center from
Makenna Burslie would score Gronholz from second and give UMD their first lead of the day. A walk to
Emma Frost gave the Bulldogs a bases loaded opportunity. UMD would break the game open after Thomas singled to center, scoring both Burslie and Burkhardt to give Minnesota Duluth a 4-1 advantage in the top of the ninth. Dixon held the Griffons in the ninth and UMD walked away with a 4-1 victory in game one.
Game Two: 6-3 Victory over Washburn
The Bulldogs took control early in game two. Following walks to
Kiana Bender and Frost, a single from Zavoral gave the Bulldogs a 1-0 advantage. In the second inning, Bender would notch an RBI groundout to make it 2-0. During the next at-bat, Frost delivered a single into right field to score another Bulldog and make it 3-0 for UMD. Washburn would answer with three runs in the top of the fifth and sixth innings. However, UMD exploded in the bottom of the sixth to take control of the game for good. A pair of singles gave the Bulldogs runners on the corners. A Double from Bender to right center would score
Dea Deleon and
Cora Meier, giving UMD a 5-3 advantage. A few batters later, Thomas would deliver another clutch hit, this time a single to score Bender. UMD took a 6-3 lead to the seventh inning. In the seventh,
Sam Pederson took the mound and secured the win for Minnesota Duluth.
Up Next
The Bulldogs will play another set of games tomorrow morning/afternoon in Mankato. UMD will face Lewis University at 9 AM and Northwest Missouri State at 11:30 AM.
