The University of Minnesota Duluth baseball team opened their campaign at the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) tournament this afternoon, falling 9-8 in extra innings to the Wayne State College Wildcats at Ronken Field in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

Final Score: UMD (8) - WSC (9)

The Bulldogs were first on the board to begin their contest of the NSIC tournament, scoring an early run on a RBI double out to the left center field wall from Nathan Rosenberg.

The Wildcats responded in the next half inning, collecting a two run home run from Chase Douglas to take a 2-1 lead after one full inning of play.

A trio of scoreless innings would break up the action before the Bulldogs returned to the plate in the top of the fifth. 

On the third pitch of the at bat, Troy Lynch found the gap in the right side of the infield for an RBI base hit. On the final at bat, Garrett Stauffacher drove in another run to make it a 3-2 Bulldog lead as he lined a base hit into the outfield grass before getting thrown out attempting to advance to second.

However, a two run home run for the Wildcats in the bottom of the sixth brought the 4-3 advantage back into WSC's favor.

The Wildcats continued to expand their lead in the bottom of the seventh, cashing in on a trio of RBI hits to move ahead by four runs.

UMD got their chance to respond in the top of the eighth, adding a run on an RBI double from Kade Peloquin to get back within three. Henry Bushey would come up to bat next, pushing a full count before launching a three run home run over the left field wall to tie the game at 7-7.

Another Peloquin RBI double in the top of the ninth gave the Bulldogs the one run lead heading into the final three outs of the game. On the final batter and pitch of regulation, WSC slid in safely on a steal home to tie up the game and send the contest into extra innings. 

The Wildcats went on to walk off the game with an RBI single in the bottom of the tenth, closing the game at 9-8 and forcing the Bulldogs into a win or go home situation within the double elimination bracket.

Looking Ahead

Bulldog baseball (25-26, 21-19 NSIC) will face the University of Minnesota Crookston tomorrow at Ronken Field. With a victory, the Bulldogs would move on to face the losing team of Minnesota State and the University of Sioux Falls. First pitch against the Golden Eagles is currently set for 12:00 PM.