The University of Minnesota Duluth baseball team made their 2025 home debut against the St Cloud State University Huskies this morning, falling in game one but benefitting from a career high seven strikeouts for Ryan Wattermann in a 11-1 game two victory at the NBC Spartan Sports Complex.

Game One: UMD (3) - SCSU (4)

The early morning action got off to a quick start, with the Huskies getting on the scoreboard first in the contest. 

SCSU loaded the bases on their first three batters to score back to back on a RBI base hit and a double play grounder. A hit by pitch put a second runner on the base paths to set up back to back RBI base hits, giving St. Cloud the 4-0 lead by the end of the top of the first.

Garrett Stauffacher got the Bulldog offense going in the bottom of the second with a leadoff solo home run. Caden Klebba came up to match it with his first home run of the season, putting two runs on the board for UMD.

Nick Thompson poked a base hit up the middle on the very next at bat to set up Sam Kliber for an RBI base hit, getting the Bulldogs within one run of the Huskies by the end of the inning.

The game remained scoreless throughout the final five innings, handing UMD the 4-3 loss in the opening contest of the doubleheader.

Game Two: UMD (11) - SCSU (1)

A sacrifice fly ball tallied an early run in the top of the first for the Huskies in game two of the day. The one run deficit for the Bulldogs would not last long however as they were quick to load the bases to open the bottom of the first. 

Back to back RBI base hits from Nathan Rosenberg and Stauffacher turned the lead in favor of UMD, and a two RBI double from Hayden Anthony added two more to make the lead three runs. A sacrifice fly from Peloquin added one more before the end of the inning, launching the Bulldogs ahead 5-1.

The lead continued to grow in the bottom of the third as the Bulldogs added another two runs on a two RBI double from Henry Bushey, moving UMD ahead 7-1.

An RBI base hit from Rosenberg in the fourth and a sacrifice fly from Kliber in the fifth gave the Bulldogs a 9-1 lead heading into the final three innings.

An RBI sacrifice grounder from Stauffacher and an RBI base hit from Anthony in the bottom of the eighth built the UMD lead to double digits, ending the final game of the contest early at 11-1 in favor of the Bulldogs.

Looking Ahead

Bulldog baseball (16-20, 12-15 NSIC) makes their return to Wade Stadium on Friday, Apr. 18, for the first time this season in a NSIC series against the Minot State University Beavers. First pitch against the Beavers is currently set for 1:30 PM.