The Minnesota Duluth softball squad continued it's winning ways on Saturday evening in Florida with 6-2 and 9-6 wins. The pair of victories improves the Bulldogs to 12-1 overall on the season.
After securing a win on Friday,
Sam Pederson got the start in game one and put together two innings of work before she was relived by
Mady Stariha. Stariha would collect the win after pitching five strong innings and giving up just one hit to Northwood. On offense, UMD rolled off six-runs in the top of the seventh to steal game one.
Kiana Bender posted a team-high two hits, while
Emma Frost notched a massive two-run homer in the seventh.
Julia Gronholz also chipped in an RBI during game one's win. With their 9-6 victory over Central Missouri in game two, the Bulldogs are now a perfect 3-0 against the Jennies on the year.
Game One: 6-2 Victory over Northwood University
Solid pitching would keep both sides off the board through the first inning and the top of the second. In the bottom of the second, Northwood grabbed the first points of the afternoon. A pair of doubles for the Timberwolves would drive in the games opening run. A few batters later, a sacrifice fly would drive in another Northwood run, making it a 2-0 game after two innings of play. The score would remain the same through six, with the only three Bulldog hits coming from Bender, Burkhardt, and Burslie.
UMD would finally get their offense firing in the top of the seventh. UMD would get a base runner to start the inning after
Sidney Zavoral was hit by a pitch.
Dea Deleon would pinch run for the Bulldogs and find herself on second base after a fielder's choice.
Julia Gronholz would step into the box and label an RBI single up the middle to score Deleon from second and cut the Northwood lead to 2-1. After a walk to
Elle Potts, the Bulldogs would have the bases loaded with just one out in the inning. A passed ball from the Timberwolves would score both Burkhardt and Gronholz to give UMD a 3-2 lead. Minnesota Duluth wasn't done just yet. An RBI single up the middle from Bender would extend UMD's lead to 4-2. During the next at-bat, a monster two-run home run from Frost would cap off a six-run inning for UMD. The Bulldogs took a 6-2 lead to the bottom of the seventh. Stariha took the mound in the seventh and shut the door on the Timberwolves, securing a 6-2 victory for UMD in game one.
Game Two: 9-6 Victory over Central Missouri
UMD fell behind 2-0 in the top of the second. But as they've done all season, UMD responded quickly. In the bottom of the second, the Bulldogs would roll of five runs to take a 5-2 advantage to the third inning of play. The Jennies would note two more runs in the top of the third to cut UMD's lead to 5-4. However, two runs in the bottom of the third, followed by another two scores in the fourth to blow the game open and take a 9-4 lead. Central Missouri tried to counter with two runs in the seventh but the Bulldogs would hang on for the win. Minnesota Duluth is now 3-0 against Central Missouri on the season.
