UMD Pick up Two Wins

NSO – NEWS RELEASE

The University of Minnesota Duluth softball team revered outcomes against two teams it had faced last month, upsetting No. 5 Grand Valley State University 7-9 in nine innings and shutting down Wayne State University 8-0 in a five-inning effort Saturday in Winter Haven, Fla. in the Spring Games.

Unbeaten in eight games down south, the Bulldogs picked up their biggest triumph of the season against the Lakers, dialing up 10 hits in extra innings to do it. UMD got on the board early in the first inning when Kat Burkhardt took a walk with bases loaded and scored Kiana Bender. Julia Gronholz then singled to left field to score Kendal Jenkins, and after GVS grabbed a run in the bottom of the inning, the Bulldogs held a 2-1 lead after one inning played.

UMD held that lead until the top of the fifth inning when Gronholz singled for an RBI, scoring Jenkins again for the 3-1 Bulldog advantage. But the Lakers added a run in both the bottom of the sixth and seventh innings to extend the game.

Khendal Johnson singled to right center in top of the eighth to get Burkhardt over the plate, but again GVS equalized in the bottom of the inning. UMD finally put the game out of reach in the top of the ninth on a single down the line by Nicole Schmitt that scored Kate Mohr, followed by a single from Kat Burkhardt to right center that scored Jenkins. Gronholz gave the Bulldogs a three run lead when she singled into left field to score Schmitt, and the 7-4 lead proved insurmountable for the Lakers.

It was the first UMD win over GSV since the 2018 season, and improved the Bulldogs all-time over the Lakers to 4-3. Three Bulldogs pitched in the marathon game, with Lauren Dixon logging four innings, allowing one run and throwing three shutouts, while Allison Luoma threw for two innings, one shutout and allowed two runs. Maddy Walsh earned her fifth win of the season in three innings pitched, with just one run against and one strikeout. For the season, Walsh improves to 4-0.

Three Bulldogs went 2-of-4 from the plate, including Jenkins, Gronholz and Johnson – Gronholze also added a team-high three RBIs, while Burkhardt had two.

In five-inning game two, UMD Gronholz opened up the scoring in the bottom of the first, hitting a single up the middle that sent Bender home. In the fifth, Mohr scored off a Jenkins sacrifice fly, and the Bulldogs took a 3-0 lead when Schmitt singled home Morgan McMillan. But the Bulldogs blew the game open in the fifth inning when Bender picked yet another walk to score Johnson, followed by Noelle Krumie crossing the plate for UMD’s sixth run and a single by Jenkins that scored McMillan.

The Bulldogs big hitting shortened the game, but not before Walsh earned her fifth win of the season on the mound. Walsh pitched four innings for UMD, while Alyssa Williams pitched the final inning for the Bulldogs.

For a third time this season, UMD posted 12 hits, tying a season-high. Mohr was a perfect 3-of-3 at the plate, while both Gronholz and Tori Wietgrefe went 2-of-3.

With the win, UMD improved to 18-5 overall and 8-0 in the Spring Games. The Bulldogs will wrap up their Florida schedule Sunday with games against McKendree University at 9:00 a.m. CT and Purdue Northwest at 1:45 p.m.