Marion, IA – The Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs faced off against the Upper Iowa Peacocks on Sunday afternoon in a doubleheader. The Bulldogs won game one 17-6 and followed it up with a 3-1 win in game two.


Game 1: 

The Bulldogs started the top of the first inning strong with Brandt Kolpack singling through the left side followed by a single to left-center by Trevor Gustafson. A home run down the left-field line by Tim Pokornowski would bring in 3 runs. After a scoreless first inning by the Peacocks, the Bulldogs are up 3-0 going into the second inning. Ethan Cole is walked at the start of the top of the second and moves into scoring position. A single through the right side by Tosten Mann would bring in Ethan Cole to make the Bulldog lead 4-0. Tosten Mann is brought in by Tim Pokornowski on a single to center field. A strong Bulldog defense makes for another scoreless inning by the Peacocks. The Bulldogs lead 5-0 going into the third inning. The Bulldogs started the third inning with a single to center field by Alex Wattermann followed by a single to left field by Austin Gordon. A single to right-center by Brandt Kolpack would bring in a run for the Bulldogs making the score 6-0. Tosten Mann kept the Bulldog energy high with a home run to right field driving in 3 runs putting the Bulldogs at a 9-0 lead. The Peacocks answered back in the bottom of the third inning with 3 singles which drove in 2 runs making the score 9-2 going into the fourth inning. Brodie Paulson started an electric fourth inning with a home run to left field. The Bulldogs loaded the bases with a single to third by Jack Puder and walks by Ethan Cole and Austin Gordon. An RBI by Brandt Kolpack brought in Jack Puder followed by a single to left field by Tosten Mann bringing in Ethan Cole. A double down the right-field line by Trevor Gustafson would bring in 2 runs followed by a single to right-center by Tim Pokornowski which brought in 2 additional runs. After a scoreless inning for the Peacocks, the Bulldogs leave the fourth inning up 16-2. The Peacocks hold the Bulldogs to 16 in the top of the fifth inning. The Peacocks begin to rally in the fifth inning scoring 3 runs on RBIs and 1 additional run on a throwing error. The score is 16-6 in favor of the Bulldogs going into the sixth inning. After a scoreless sixth inning by both teams, Austin Gordon starts the seventh inning with a double to left-center. Trevor Gustason would earn the last hit of the game with a single to right field bringing in Austin Gordon. A strong Bulldog defense in the bottom of the seventh would hold the Peacocks to their score of 6 giving the Bulldogs a 17-6 win in game one. 

We saw a very strong offense by the Bulldogs in game one with Austin Gordon going 2-2, Trevor Gustafson going 4-5, Alex Wattermann going 2-3, Tosten Mann going 3-5, Brandt Kolpack going 2-4, and Tim Pokornowski going 3-6. A strong defense was led by Russ Tanner pitching for 5 innings and Zach Kuseske for 2. 

Game 2: 

A scoreless first and second innings by both the Bulldogs and Peacocks put us at the top of the third inning. Sam Tanner and Brandt Kolpack are both walked, putting two Bulldogs on base at the start of the third inning. A clean-up home run by Tosten Mann drove in 3 runs putting the Bulldogs at a 3-0 lead. The Peacocks are not able to answer back this inning and we leave the third at a 3-0 Bulldog lead. Strong defense by both the Bulldogs and the Peacocks made for scoreless fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth innings by both teams. The Bulldogs are held to their 3-0 lead going into the top ninth inning. The Peacocks manage to rally with 1 run on a home run in the top of the ninth but their efforts fall short as the Bulldogs pull off their second win of the day with a score of 3-1. 

A strong game two defense is led by pitching from Ben Shepard for 7 innings letting in 0 runs and Chase Eiden for 2 innings letting in only 1 run. On offense, Alex Wattermann goes 2-3 for the game.