The University of Minnesota Duluth softball team showcased their offensive strength in two dominant wins at the Kelly Laas Memorial Tournament as they defeated UMary 13-2 and Bemidji State 16-0. They now move to 6-0 overall on the season.
Head Coach Lynn Anderson noted how well all three facets of the game led to their dominant wins. "I loved how our team was incredibly disciplined at the plate today. Plus we made great adjustments at the plate with every new pitcher that came in against us. That discipline and adjustability led to success at the plate, hard hits, squaring up the ball, and moving runners. Lots of people stepped up today when called upon."
Coach Anderson had many good things to say about the Bulldog offense today, but also many good things on her pitching staff. "Incredible job by our pitching staff. Our pitchers had great focus coming back in after our long innings on offense and I'm really proud of how they grew as a staff today. An errorless defensive day always makes me a happy camper too."
On the day
UMD continued to prove their offensive strength today as they saw home runs, triples and doubles from several different Bulldogs on the day. Senior Sindney Zavoral and Juniors Kiana Bender and Kelly Swank all secured one home run. Senior Elle Potts and Sophomore Nicole Schmitt led the way in RBIs with five a piece. Lauren Dixon ended the day with the win against UMary and finished with six strikeouts.
Game One: 13-2 Victory over University of Mary
The Bulldogs caught fire In the opening plays of game one starting with flawless fielding and hot bats. Lauren Dixon notched two strikeouts and secured a fly ball to right field to bring the Bulldogs up to bat. The Bulldogs were disciplined at the plate, clinching three walks before the first run would be scored. Nicole Schmitt would be the first bulldog to bring in a run with an RBI double and was followed by Elle Potts with a RBI Double of her own giving UMD the 3-0 lead.
Julia Gronholz and Dea Deleon would continue the offensive success with singles to center field and Ava Johnson would kickstart her offensive day with her first RBI double. The Bulldogs remained disciplined at the plate and would walk the next three batters to end the first inning 11-0.
The Marauders went on to score two runs in the top of the second, but Junior Kelly Swank would answer with a run of her own. Her first home run of the season was crushed to left field making the score 12-2. Kiana Bender would then answer with a homerun of her own in the fourth making it the final score of the game 13-2.
Game Two: 16-0 Victory over Bemidji State University
Game two started off just as well as the first. The Bulldog offense was firing on all cylinders. The Bulldogs were on the board early in the first and jumped to a 1-0 lead thanks to a Kat Burkhardt double, scoring Ava Johnson after she got on base with a triple. The Bulldogs caught fire in the second where UMD jumped to a 10 run lead. It started with Senior Sidney Zavoral first home run of the season putting the Bulldogs up 2-0. It followed with a Elle Potts single and a Bender walk which then led to a triple blasted to right field from Burkhardt making it 5-0.
The Bulldogs would not stop there as Corrie Weise sent a triple of her own to center field, scoring one, followed by singles from Schmitt and Zavoral late in the inning. The final run of the second inning was clinched by Senior Julia Gronholz with a double to right field. The Bulldogs secured another two runs in the third and six runs in the fifth for a 16-0 win over the Beavers.
Senior Mady Stariha got the start and win against the Beavers, having pitched three innings and only 46 pitches. Sophomore Allison Luoma would make her Bulldog debut and close out the game for the bulldogs. Luama posted four strikeouts in 34 pitches while facing seven batters.
Up Next
The Bulldogs will be back at the St. Cloud Dome again tomorrow where they will face Bemidji State and St.Cloud State. These games will take place at 3:00 and 5:30 pm
