5-4 and 9-2 victories helped the Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs softball team to a sweep of Concordia-St. Paul on Sunday afternoon in Duluth, Minn. With the pair of wins, UMD moves up to 23-10 overall on the season. Additionally, the Bulldogs now hold an 8-4 NSIC record, which ranks them fifth best in the conference.
"Great sweep today over a really good opponent in our conference," said Head Coach
Lynn Anderson. "I know it's been a rough week for our players with weather and such, but I really admire our team's perseverance. We held on strong to the lead in game one and came from behind in game two and that's what tough, gritty teams do. We found ways to win today."
Julia Gronholz ignited the Bulldogs offense with four RBI's across Sunday's double header. Catcher Sydney Zavoral continued her strong play as she noted three RBI's on the day for UMD. Additionally,
Dea Deleon finished the day with two hits and two RBI's, including a big hit in game two which would kick-off an eight-run inning for the Bulldogs.
On the mound, pitchers
Lauren Dixon and
Sam Pederson each collected victories. Pederson's complete game victory gives her an 8-2 overall mark on the season. After recording seven strike outs and a win in game one, Dixon improved to 9-5 on the year. Additionally,
Mady Stariha picked up her first save of the season after closing out the seventh inning of game one.
Game one saw the Bulldogs control a 5-1 lead heading into the late innings. Down by four runs in the top of the sixth, one swing of the bat for CSP changed the entire game. While with two runners on, the Golden Bears would smack a three-run homer to center field to cut UMD's lead to one. Stariha relieved Dixon in the top of the seventh and looked to seal the victory for UMD. A strike out and two ground outs forced by Stariha would ensure a 5-4 win in game one for the Bulldogs. The save for Stariha would be her first of the season.
The script flipped for game two. Two quick runs from Concordia in the top of the first would stun the home crowd. However, it was UMD's turn to mount a comeback of their own. In the fourth inning, eight runs for the Bulldogs would blow the game open. The impressive run began with two singles from
Kelly Swank and
Kat Burkhardt. With two runners on, DeLeon punched a single to center to score both Swank and Burkhardt. After batting around the order, a two RBI single from Gronholz would seal the eight-run inning and put UMD up 8-2 after four. An insurance run in the sixth, followed by solid pitching in the seventh would secure the sweep for UMD.
Up Next
The Bulldogs will close out a six-game home stand on Tuesday, April 12 against the Bemidji State Beavers. First pitch from Malosky Stadium is set for 12:00 and 2:00 PM in Duluth, Minn.
