Topeka, Kan.- The University of Minnesota Duluth softball team bounced back with two big wins against Missouri-St. Louis and Quincy on Saturday as part of day two of the Emporia State Classic. The Bulldogs beat the Tritons 3-2 at Washburn before defeating the Hawks 5-1 at Shawnee Lake Field. The wins improve UMD's overall record to 10-2 on the season.
It took some time for the offense to truly get going in game one against UMSL, as both sides were still knotted up at 0 heading into the top of the third. Lauren Dixon had done the honors of keeping the Tritons scoreless to that point. But it was in that third inning that the game's scoring started- and with a bang. Kiana Bender blasted out her third home run of the year to put UMD up a score. Not long after, the Bulldogs' lead would receive a little support, as Julia Gronholz drew a walk with the bases loaded to bring Dea Deleon home and leave UMD up 2-0.
That'd be the end of the Bulldogs' scoring for now- but it wouldn't take them too long to fortify things a little more. Another shutout effort from Dixon in the bottom of the third helped set the stage for a Kat Burkhardt triple in the top of the fourth, one that scored Corrie Weise to make it 3-0.
In the bottom of the sixth, the Tritons would deliver a bit of an offensive scare of their own. Courtney Settles singled to bring Irene Travis home, and shortly thereafter, McKenzie Lamos came in to score off of a wild pitch. All of the sudden, it was 3-2, UMD's lead down to just a single run. But Dixon managed to escape the inning and push the game into the seventh. Not much offense to be spoken for there- a formula that ultimately favored the prevailing Bulldogs. Dixon held the Tritons to just one hit in the bottom of the final frame to propel UMD to a 3-2 victory.
All-told, Dixon allowed just four hits and two runs through a complete game that saw her throw 135 pitches. Offensively, it was Burkhardt that led the way with three hits on four at-bats, one of which bringing in an RBI.
It was Mady Stariha's turn at the mound for UMD in the day's second game against Quincy, and her performance started about as well as it could have- with back-to-back one-two-three innings. A double broke up the senior's hitless streak in the bottom of the third, but that'd be the lone strike of the inning for the Hawks.
And in the fourth, the Bulldogs supplemented Sariha's huge effort with some runs. Sidney Zavoral started the festivities with a single that brought in both Burkhardt and Deleon to make it 2-0 UMD. Gronholz later smacked a double that got Zavoral home to make it 3-0. It's only fitting that Gronholz would eventually score, too, the junior infielder crossing the plate by way of a throwing error. In the fifth, Burkhardt hit a ground out that managed to score Bender, putting the cherry on top of a 5-0 UMD lead.
Quincy was only able to break Stariha once from there, a Casey Brennan homer giving the Hawks their lone run of the evening. The Bulldogs were eventually able to seal up a stout 5-1 win to close Sunday out with a sweep.
Stariha's final statline was a strong one, as the senior let up just three hits and a single run through a complete game of her own. At the plate, Zavoral went a perfect 3-3, generating two RBIs and scoring a run herself.
