Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 The University of Minnesota Duluth got solid pitching, good defense and timely hitting on the final day of the Drury Softball Classic Sunday in Springfield, Mo. The Bulldogs (15-5) extended their winning streak to a season-high four games with double dip victories over the University of Wisconsin Parkside and host Drury University. 

The Rangers (9-5) were shutout for the first time all season as UMD took the season series over Parkside by upending the Rangers 3-0. The Bulldogs lost their first contest to the Rangers then took the final two games from UWP, which went 4-2 in the classic with both losses coming at the hands of the maroon-and-gold.

The Panthers (4-10) were able to push the game to extras before falling to UMD 4-3 in eight innings in the final contest of the weekend. The Bulldogs, who lost to Drury earlier in the week, nearly were upset for the first time while leading after four innings this season but managed to win their first and only extra-inning contest of the year. 

In UMD's win over Parkside, the Bulldogs only needed the first inning to build a lead and sustain it. UMD scored three times, an RBI single by junior catcher Kendal Jenkins and a two-run home run by senior Nicole Schmitt. Jenkins compiled her 14th RBI, third on the team, and Schmitt smoked her team-leading sixth homer for her 32nd and 33rd RBIs of the year, which also leads the squad. That was enough to give opposing pitcher Olivia Masnica her first loss of the season as it snapped her four-game winning streak.

Meanwhile, junior pitcher Allyssa Williams locked down her team-leading seventh victory, her fourth in the last five appearances. Williams, who already clinched the most wins in single-season during her collegiate tenure, went the distance in the circle allowing three hits with eight walks and four strikeouts. The defense behind her threw out a runner at home, helped strand eight runners on base including the bases loaded twice. 

The Bulldogs climbed out to another lead against Drury. Junior infielder Ava Johnson, who was tossed into the starting lineup this weekend and rewarded her team with her first career home run on Friday, gave UMD its lone run in the first seven innings. Johnson lined an RBI single down the right field line in the second inning.

UMD held on to the lead until the bottom of the sixth and got another spectacular play from the defense. A single by pitcher Kaley Adzick scored one but junior center fielder Morgan McMillan launched a cannon throw to gun down a runner at the plate. A few plays later, the defense got out of the jam with a double play. 

The 1-2 punch of Jenkins and Schmitt arrived again in the eighth inning. Jenkins drove home McMillian on a single to center field and Schmitt clocked another homer -- her seventh -- to give UMD a 4-1 lead. The three-run top of the eighth was enough for the Bulldogs to secure the win and finish the classic 5-1. 

Senior pitcher Allison Luoma picked up her fifth win and hurled her third complete game of the year. The Iron River, Wis., native netted eight strikeouts while giving up eight hits in the contest. 

UMD finishes its non-conference slate at the Spring Games in Florida. It will play in eight games during its six-day stay in The Sunshine State. Action begins for the Bulldogs on Saturday, March 8 against Edinboro University of Pennsylvania at 11:15 a.m.