By Ryan DePauw | The Statesman With blue skies and the temperature in the 60's, the Bulldogs took to the field at Junction Avenue Field for the first time in nearly five years.
"It feels really good," head coach Jen Walter said. "Especially with it being such a nice day and having a great crowd."
Coming off a double header where the UMD offense exploded for 18 combined runs in back-to-back shutouts—8-0 and 10-0—the Bulldogs looked to carry that momentum over into today's games against Wayne State (Nebraska).
In the opener, the Bulldogs strung together four straight singles to go up 2-1, but would fail to get any more runs across. After a three-run fifth and a two-run seventh by the Wildcats, Wayne State topped the Bulldogs in the opener 6-2. Six different batters would get a hit for UMD, but only one of those were extra base hits.
"The first game we just couldn't get it going," Walter said. "We needed some clutch hits and we couldn't get those."
In the rematch, the Bulldogs pounced on the Wildcats, going up 5-1 after a four-run second inning.
After giving up one in the first, junior pitcher Sam Hartmann would go on to throw six scoreless innings while striking out seven batters, giving Hartmann her twelfth victory of the season.
“In the second game we came out a little looser and played our game," Walter said. "In the inning (where) we got four runs, we ran the bases pretty well, stole some bases and put a little pressure on the defense—and got a couple big hits. That's the difference right there."