The University of Minnesota Duluth baseball team closed out their four game schedule with the Wayne State University Warriors in the RussMatt Central Florida Invite this afternoon, taking game one to force the doubleheader split in Auburndale, Florida.
Game One: UMD (7) - WSU (2)
The Bulldogs launched out to an early lead in the opening half inning of the afternoon. With two walks seeing Sam Kliber and Nathan Rosenberg reaching base, Garrett Stauffacher poked an RBI single out to the left field grass to score Kliber for the 1-0 advantage.
The Warriors would not let that run go unpunished, collecting an RBI sacrifice fly from Bennett Hitzelberger to tie things up at 1-1 by the end of the first inning.
The scoring momentum continued for the UMD in the second, with Hayden Anthony making contact for a ground out to score Joey Flom after his leadoff single.
The lead strengthened for the Bulldogs in the top of the third with Stauffacher going yard over the left field wall to build the UMD advantage to 3-1.
In the top of the fourth, Kliber would collect a single of his own and advance around to third on a stolen base and subsequent throwing error by WSU. With runners in scoring position, Gabe Richardson launched a sacrifice fly to score Kliber and tally a fourth run for the Bulldogs.
WSU got back on the board in the bottom of the inning, scoring one on a fielder's choice from Mason McGuire and cut their deficit to two runs.
A quiet fifth inning for both teams brought Ethan Pettis up for a leadoff single in the top of the sixth. Kade Peloquin tallied his second home run of the season, launching a two run bomb and increasing the UMD lead up to 6-2.
The dagger for UMD would come in the seventh inning with an RBI double from Flom to score Michael Gabbard, securing the 7-2 win for the Bulldogs and ending their four game losing streak.
Game Two: UMD (1) - WSU (3)
The Warriors took the first chance to get on the board in game two, collecting a pair of RBIs in the top of the first to put the Bulldogs at an early 2-0 deficit.
UMD got their chance to respond in the bottom of the fourth, loading the bases for Gabbard to drive in Richardson on a fielder's choice.
That would be all the offense the Bulldogs could muster in game two though as the Warriors would add one more run on the board with an RBI double before the end of the game.
Looking Ahead
Bulldog baseball (8-7, 6-2 NSIC) plays their final doubleheader of the RussMatt Invite tomorrow afternoon against the Saint Michael's College Purple Knights before returning back to conference play. First pitch against the Purple Knights is currently set for 2:45 PM (CST).
