The University of Minnesota Duluth baseball team dropped both games of its doubleheader against Augustana on Thursday, with final scores of 11-2 and 12-1. The losses leave the Bulldogs with an overall record of 10-12 and an NSIC mark of 3-6.
In the bottom of the second in game one, the Vikings would kick off the scoring- and they'd do it through rather unconventional means. With two outs on the board, a balk from the Bulldogs would bring in Ragan Pinnow to make it 1-0. This ultimately proved to set the tone for the day.
In the bottom of the third, a wild pitch would score Jack Hines. The fourth saw a straight-up single from Joshua Koskie bring Tate Meiners home to make it 3-0.
UMD was in desperate need of a spark- and it'd find one through Gabe Richardson. The freshman third-baseman would connect on a huge double down the line that would bring Alex Wattermann home to serve as the Bulldogs' first run of the day, the score now 3-1 Augie. The Vikings would get one back on a throwing error in the fifth, but UMD was able to answer right away the following inning. An Ethan Cole single scored Tim Pokornowski to cut the deficit back down to just two runs at 4-2.
But the rest of the sixth inning was all Augustana. It started with a two-run Jason Axelberg homer to make it 6-2 Vikings only for Drey Dirksen to connect on a double that'd bring home three more runs to push it to 9-2. It was a fate that was sealed with yet another moonshot, this one from Pinnow, that settled the eventual final score at 11-2 Vikings.
Richardson was the Bulldogs' leading hitter in game one, going 2-3 from the plate and adding an RBI. Both Nick Banowetz and Pinnow went 2-4 with two runs for Augie, Pinnow pairing that line with two RBIs. Dirksen led the game with three RBIs. On the mound, Pokornowski registered the loss for UMD. Caleb Kranz scored the win on the other side, giving up four hits, two runs and a walk through six innings.
The Bulldogs just weren't able to escape the rut in game two.
The Vikings scored in bunches right from the jump. A triple from Hines brought in two runs and set the stage for Dirksen to bring Hines himself home with a single to make it 3-0 Augie. By the end of the second, it was 4-0 Vikings.
That advantage would nearly be doubled in the third inning with four more Augie runs to make it 8-1. Another quartet of scores across innings four through six left us with a final of 12-1 Vikings.
Hines was the major name to note from this latter game of the doubleheader, as he went a perfect 3-3 from the plate while scoring three runs and driving in two RBIs. Ryan Jares got the win for Augie at the mound, letting up two hits and one run through six innings of work. Isaac Benesh recorded the loss for the Bulldogs.
A positive story arc to come from Thursday: the continued hitting flash of Austin Gordon.
Prior to last Saturday's double-header against Upper Iowa, Gordon had exactly one home run to his name across his tenure as a Bulldog. In the second tilt of the day against the Peacocks, he doubled that total. In the top of the third against the VIkings, he netted his second dinger in as many games.
Only time will tell whether Gordon's newfound power-hitting prowess will survive another road trip, but if it's going to, it'll do so in Wayne, Nebraska. That'll be the site of two more NSIC series for the dogs this weekend and beyond. UMD will first face Northern State in a neutral site fashion, with a doubleheader at Hank Overin Field on Sunday, April 2 (1:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. start times). That'll be followed by a single-game affair between the Bulldogs and Wolves at Pete Chapman Baseball Complex on Monday, April 3 (first pitch at 12:00 p.m.) UMD will close out its stay in Nebraska with a doubleheader against Wayne State itself on Tuesday, April 4, with those games slated to start at 1:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m.
