The UMC Golden Eagles baseball team made a strong comeback, but were not able to complete it in extra innings as the Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs got a 9-8 walk-off victory in game one of their doubleheader. Game two was a wild game with back-and-forth action, but Duluth had the last word as they won 11-8 and finished off a sweep of the NSIC doubleheader played at Bulldog Park in Duluth.
GAME ONE –
The Golden Eagles got a leadoff walk from Will Zimmerman (Sr. Park River, ND) and he promptly stole second base. However, he was caught stealing third base and the Golden Eagles went down scoreless in the first inning.
The Bulldogs got the scoring started in the bottom of the first inning on a leadoff home run to take a 1-0 lead. Jake Dykhoff (Jr. Wadena), UMC’s starting pitcher, settled in and retired the next three batters.
After both teams went scoreless in the second inning, UMC was able to get a run in to tie the game in the third. Teddy Giefer (Fresh. Courtland) led off with a single and advanced to second on a one-out walk. Giefer then came in to score on Zimmerman’s RBI single to center field to tie the game at 1-1. A wild pitch put two runners in scoring position with one out, but the next two Golden Eagles were retired to end the inning.
The Bulldogs answered back with a big inning as they put up four runs. The first three batters singled to bring in the first run. The next batter also singled to bring in another run and a second run scored all the way from first on an error. A sacrifice fly brought in the fourth run of the inning and gave Duluth a 5-1 lead after three innings.
UMC got a leadoff single from Scott Finberg (Sr. Stillwater) and a walk from Giefer in the fourth inning. Both advanced into scoring position on a passed ball with two outs, but a strikeout left them stranded.
Dykhoff settled back in after the big inning as he struck out the side in order to send it to the fifth inning.
The Golden Eagles brought out their big bats in the fifth inning to bring in three more runs. Zimmerman continued his good day at the plate as he hit a one-out home run to left field to cut the deficit to 5-2. After a hit by pitch, UMC’s leader in homers, Brock Reller (Sr. Grand Forks, ND), added onto his total with a two-run home run just inside the right field foul pole to make it a one run game at 5-4.
Dykhoff allowed a leadoff single to the Bulldogs, but nothing after that to keep the Golden Eagles within a run heading into the sixth inning.
UMC started off strong in the sixth inning and paid it off with three runs to take their first lead of the game. Landyn Swenson (Sr. Devils Lake, ND) and Giefer led off the inning with back-to-back singles to start the inning and a walk loaded the bases with no outs. After a relief pitcher was brought in, Conner Fonger (Fresh. Superior, WI) came up big in another big situation as he knocked a two RBI single to center field to give the Golden Eagles a 6-5 lead. A wild pitch and stolen base put two runners in scoring position. Another run came in on an infield error to increase the UMC lead to 7-5. Duluth elected to intentionally walk Reller and it worked as they got the next two batters to strike out.
The Bulldogs answered back with two runs to tie the game in the bottom of the sixth. The inning started with a leadoff walk, a single, and a bunt single to load the bases with no outs. The Golden Eagles were content with giving up a run for two outs as Dykhoff induced a ground ball double play. Now, a runner on third with two outs and the score at 7-6, the next Bulldog hitter sent a ball into the left-center field gap for an RBI to tie the game at 7-7. That was the final batter Dykhoff would face as the Golden Eagles went to the bullpen to bring in Tyler Hegg (So. Thompson, ND) to finish off the inning. Hegg allowed the runner to get to third on a wild pitch, however, he got the batter to strike out and keep the game tied as they headed into the final inning of regulation.
Neither team scored in the seventh inning, so they went into extra innings. In the eighth inning, Zimmerman connected well with another pitch sending a one-out home run over the center field fence to give the Golden Eagles the lead again at 8-7.
In the bottom of the eighth, Brody Sorenson (Fresh. Grand Forks, ND) came in for the save. But, he was not able to get it as the first Bulldog he faced hit a full count pitch over the wall to tie the game at 8-8.
Finberg reached on an error to start the ninth inning and a hit by pitch put two runners on with no outs. However, the next three batters recorded outs and the game remained tied.
Duluth got a leadoff walk to start their half of the ninth and a single had runners at first and second with one out. A grounder back to Sorenson on the mound allowed one out to be had at second, but the Golden Eagles could not turn a double play and it ended up costing them. The next hitter, with two outs, grounded a ball off the leg of Sorenson and ricocheted far enough away for the batter to reach and the runner from third to come in to score and the Bulldogs got a 9-8 walk-off win in game one of the doubleheader.
FOR THE GAME ONE BOX SCORE, CLICK HERE.
| Game #1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Minnesota Crookston | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 9 | 1 |
| Minnesota-Duluth | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 14 | 2 |
| Pitching | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K |
| Jake Dykhoff- Minnesota Crookston | 5.2 | 10 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 8 |
| Tyler Hegg- Minnesota Crookston | 1.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Brody Sorenson- Minnesota Crookston | 1.2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Mitchell Waletzki- Minnesota Duluth | 4.1 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 |
| Paul Petit- Minnesota Duluth | 0.2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 2 |
| Liam Blaschko- Minnesota Duluth | 4.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 |
For UMC
Will Zimmerman- 3 for 4, 2 home runs, 3 RBI, run
Teddy Giefer- 2 for 2, run
Brock Reller- 1 for 4, home run, 2 RBI, run
Conner Fonger- 1 for 3, 2 RBI
For UMD
George Henry- 3 for 5, home run, double, 2 RBI, 2 runs
Alex Wattermann- 2 for 3, home run, RBI, 2 runs
Tosten Mann, Anders Brown, Brandt Kolpack- 2 hits each
GAME TWO –
Both teams got two runners on base in the first inning but neither brought a runner around to score as they went to the second inning scoreless.
UMC took the early lead in the second inning by manufacturing a run. Finberg singled with one outs, and advanced to second on a wild pitch, third on a groundout, and he scored on a wild pitch to take a 1-0 lead.
The Bulldogs responded with two runs to take their first lead of the game. A lead off walk was erased on a double play, however Duluth got a ground-rule double and two-run homer to take a 2-1 lead into the third inning.
Duluth added onto their lead in the third inning with four more runs. After a single and walk earlier in the inning, the Bulldogs hit a three-run home run to take a 5-1 lead. They added another run on a double and RBI single to lead 6-1 heading to the fourth.
UMC used a huge fourth inning to re-take the lead with a crooked number of six runs. The first two batters of the inning walked and then after two outs, another walk loaded the bases for the top of the order. The Golden Eagles have been incredible with their two-out hitting all season long and they did it again in this inning as Swenson greeted a relief pitcher with a grand slam home run to bring UMC within a run at 6-5. The reigning NSIC player of the week, Mason Ruhlman (Sr. Algonac, MI) continued the rally with a double and Reller followed that up with his team-leading 13th home run of the season to give the Golden Eagles a 7-5 lead.
UMC got an insurance run in the fifth inning to increase their lead to two. Giefer led off by getting hit by a pitch. He got to third on a single and a wild pitch and came in to score on a sacrifice fly from Finberg to make it a 8-6 game.
The Bulldogs were able to tie the game in the fifth inning. With two outs, a walk was followed up by back-to-back RBI doubles to tie the game at 8-8 after five innings.
Duluth was then able to take back the lead in the bottom of the sixth with three more runs. The first three batters singled to load the bases and the next batter cleared the bases with a three RBI double to take a 11-8 lead into the final inning.
With one last chance to score at least three runs to extend the game, UMC could not get a baserunner on as they went down 1-2-3 as the Duluth Bulldogs came away with an 11-8 victory and a sweep of the doubleheader.
FOR THE GAME TWO BOX SCORE, CLICK HERE.
UMC falls to 22-8 overall on the season and they are now 17-8 in the Northern Sun Conference. They will play their final series of the regular season this weekend at Minot State. A doubleheader will be played on Friday starting at 1:30. The final game of the regular season will be on Saturday starting at noon.
Minnesota-Duluth improves to 15-22 overall and 12-19 in the NSIC. They will travel to Bemidji State for their final series of the season.
| Game #2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
| Minnesota Crookston | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 7 | 0 |
| Minnesota-Duluth | 0 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 3 | X | 11 | 14 | 2 |
| Pitching | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K |
| Alex Koep- UMC | 2.2 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 4 |
| Jackson Schneider- UMC | 2.0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| Tyler Hegg- UMC | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Garrett Hohn- UMC | 1.0 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 2 |
| Aaron Wukmir- UMD | 3.2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 2 |
| Eric Hinnenkamp- UMD | 0.1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Mason Thiel- UMD | 0.2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Paul Petit- UMD | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Alex Watterman- UMD | 2.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
For UMC
Landyn Swenson- 2 for 4, home run, double, 4 RBI, run
Brock Reller- 1 for 3, home run, 2 RBI, run
Mason Ruhlman, Scott Finberg, Parker Stroh, Conner Fonger- One hit each
For UMD
Trevor Gustafson- 3 for 3, home run, double, 4 RBI, run
Tosten Mann- 3 for 4, 3 doubles, RBI, 3 runs
Sam Tanner- 1 for 3, home run, 3 RBI, 2 runs
Alex Wattermann- 1 for 3, double, 3 RBI, run
Tim Pokornowski and Anders Brown- 2 hits each
Tags:
