The Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs softball team split an afternoon double header with the Minot State Beavers on Saturday in Duluth, Minn. After dropping game one 9-6, the Bulldogs responded in game two with an impressive 7-2 victory. The split moves the Bulldogs to 18-9 overall on the year.
"It was nice to get out in Duluth and play," said Head Coach
Lynn Anderson. "Instead of being on the road, it was nice to have a few home games. We put some good wins together over the course of the weekend. It was also really great to see our offense string some hits together. I thought our pitchers did a really great job and defensively, I thought we stepped our game up as well. We're just looking to remain consistent going into week two of conference play."
On the day, UMD was led by
Kat Burkhardt, who noted three hits and four RBIs. On of Burkhardt's hits was a three-run homer in game one, her second home run of the season. Along with Burkhardt,
Kelly Swank continued her strong play as she posted three RBIs across both games. Additionally,
Emma Frost,
Elle Potts,
Julia Gronholz,
Nicole Schmitt and
Dea Deleon all tallied an RBI each during Saturday's games.
On the mound,
Lauren Dixon struck out eight betters and gave UMD five strong innings before giving way to
Mady Stariha in the sixth. Stariha would pick up the loss in game one after giving up five runs in 5.1 innings of work. In game two, a compete game from
Sam Pederson would improve her to 6-2 overall on the season. In seven innings of work, Pederson gave up just four hits and two earned runs, while also striking out four batters.
Game one was a dramatic eleven inning affair between two strong NSIC teams. The Bulldogs grabbed an early lead after Burkhardt launched a three-run homer to center field to get the offense going in the bottom of the first. Minot State would slowly chip away at the UMD lead and tied the game in the top of the seventh. Niether side would plate a run through the eighth, ninth and tenth innings of play. In the top of the eleventh, the Beavers noted four runs to take a 9-5 advantage. UMD would only be able to counter with one run in the bottom of the eleventh. Minot completed a come from behind victory in game one.
Game two saw the Bulldogs jump out to another early lead. In the bottom of the second, RBI singles from Gronholz, Schmitt, Deleon and Swank would help UMD to a 6-0 lead. This time, the Bulldogs wouldn't let the Beavers back into the game. UMD added to their lead in the third thanks to an error from the Beavers shortstop. Strong pitching from Pederson would secure a 7-2 victory in game two.
Up Next
The Bulldogs will head to Aberdeen, SD on Wednesday for a double header with Northern State. UMD will return to Malosky Stadium next weekend for double headers against Minnesota State, Mankato and Concordia-St. Paul.
