2 days Ago By Staff reports
Minnesota Duluth notched a pair of significant wins in the early stages of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference softball season, taking down No. 10 Augustana 9-1 and 4-3 on Saturday on their home field in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. UMD’s first doubleheader sweep of the Vikings in nine years began with a run-rule victory as the Bulldogs scored the last eight runs unanswered.
ADVERTISEMENT Second baseman Ava Johnson did the most damage, finishing the scoring off by hitting a two-run homer in the fourth inning for a 7-1 lead and a two-run single in the fifth to make it 9-1. Johnson finished 3-for-3 with four RBIs. Sierra Thomas and Khendal Johnson also homered.
Khendal Johnson and Morgan McMillan finished 2-for-3, with Khendal Johnson scoring three times. Allyssa Williams handled the pitching, allowing just one unearned run on four hits in five innings. In game two, the Bulldogs had achieved just two singles through five innings and trailed 3-0 before a four-run two-out rally in the top of the sixth.
A pinch-hit RBI single from Taylor Tschida got UMD on the board and turned the lineup over for McMillan, whose three-run homer put UMD in the lead. McMillan had two of UMD’s four hits. Allison Luoma (Northwestern) finished off the win under challenging circumstances, getting out of a bases-loaded one-out jam.
She allowed three runs on seven hits in a complete game, striking out five and walking four. Earlier in the weekend, UMD split a doubleheader Friday at Wayne State, dropping the opener 2-0 before winning game two 5-2. In game one, UMD got shut out on two hits, while in the second contest the Bulldogs scored right away, with Thomas coming in after the Wildcats defense botched a double steal, and Khendal Johnson doubling in another run.
ADVERTISEMENT Wayne tied it up later, but UMD pulled ahead with single runs in the third, sixth and seventh. Khendal Johnson added an RBI single, UMD took advantage of another throwing error and Kendal Jenkins added an RBI single. Khendal Johnson had two of UMD’s five hits, while Williams allowed two runs on four hits in a complete game, striking out eight.
The Bulldogs (25-11, 5-3 NSIC) were scheduled to travel to Minnesota Crookston on Tuesday before home doubleheaders on Saturday (Concordia-St. Paul) and Sunday (Southwest Minnesota State). BASEBALL UMD takes one from series at Augustana A walk-off three-run homer from catcher Nathan Rosenberg was the highlight for Minnesota Duluth baseball last week after it took the first game of a four-game NSIC series played at Augustana Thursday and Friday before losing the next three.
UMD, playing as the home team since the series was moved out of Duluth to avoid bad weather, was down 6-3 going to the seventh inning of game one on Thursday but opened its last at-bat with four straight singles to put a run on the board. After a pitching change, Gabe Richardson made it five hits in a row, setting up Rosenberg for the game-winner. Rosenberg and Richardson had three hits apiece for the Bulldogs, while Henry Wilkinson worked a complete game on the mound, allowing six runs on 10 hits in seven innings.
Game two turned out to be a 21-3 Vikings rout. UMD was held to three hits, one of them a Rosenberg solo homer. ADVERTISEMENT On Friday, UMD was on the short side of a 3-2 decision in game one despite a 3-for-3 game from Joey Flom.
Michael Gabbard added two hits. The series finale was over early, with Augustana claiming a 13-2 win. UMD had six hits, all singles.
The Bulldogs (12-13, 8-8 NSIC) remain on the road and will play at Wayne State for four games Friday through Sunday..
