The University of Minnesota Duluth baseball team closed out their annual spring break road trip at the RussMatt Central Florida Invite this afternoon, defeating the Saint Michael's College Purple Knights in both games of their doubleheader tilt in Auburndale, Florida.
Game One: UMD (5) - STM (4)
The Purple Knights got on the board first to start the day, driving one in on a sac fly in the bottom of the first for an early 1-0 lead.
A leadoff walk for Troy Lynch in the top of the second got things going for the Bulldogs, as he advanced around to third on a grounder and subsequent wild pitch. With a runner in scoring position, Michael Gabbard made contact for a groundout to drive in Lynch and get UMD on the board 1-1.
The offense continued for STM in the bottom of the third, adding three runs in the frame with the help of a two run home run courtesy of Max Kolifrath.
UMD would not let that go unanswered though, collecting three runs of their own on a pair of RBI doubles from Garrett Stauffacher and Kade Peloquin.
With the game tied 4-4, the Bulldogs would load the bases in the top of the fifth before finding themselves at two outs. Gabbard would come up clutch, drawing the walk and returning the lead back to UMD 5-4.
That 5-4 scoreline held out until the end of the game, earning the Bulldogs their first victory of the day.
Game Two: UMD (11) - STM (5)
The Bulldogs got going early in game two with a two out solo home run from Lynch in the bottom of the first inning.
The Purple Knights took their chance to respond and overtake the lead in the top of the third, stringing together an RBI double and a trio of RBI singles to push them ahead 4-1.
UMD answered right back in the bottom of the inning by fielding two early base runners to bring up Nathan Rosenberg for the sac fly, scoring Nick Thompson from third base. Lynch took another shot from the plate and poked a single through the right side of the infeild, scoring Sam Kliber and advancing around to third on a throwing error from STM. Stauffacher got in on the action as well, grounding out to the second baseman but not before scoring Lynch and tying the game up at 4-4.
The Bulldogs kept their foot on the gas going into the bottom of the fifth, cashing in on a bases loaded sacrifice fly from Stauffacher and a bases clearing double from Henry Bushey to take back the lead and move ahead 8-4.
STM continued to battle, adding a run in the top of the sixth on an RBI single, but it would prove to be too little to late for the Purple Knights as the Bulldogs added three more runs on the board with a Kliber RBI single and two run moonshot from Lynch to close out the game with a 11-5 victory.
Looking Ahead
Bulldog baseball (10-7, 6-2 NSIC) returns to Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) play next weekend with a four game series against the Minnesota State University Mankato Mavericks. First pitch against the Mavericks is currently set for Friday, Mar. 21, at 1:30 PM.
