saint paul, minn. - in a doubleheader that saw the teams combine for 15 homeruns and 41 runs scored, it was minnesota duluth (26-14, 16-4 nsic) who came out on top in both games over concordia (26-18, 9-11 nsic). The golden bears hit a combined six homeruns in the two games and broke the schools all time single season homerun mark for a team.
sami mattson hit three homeruns over the two games, including two in the first.
calli brennan, katie feuerbach and
erin tjornhom also homered for cu on the afternoon.
game 1 box |
game 2 box
with the wind blowing out to both right and left field at times during the double header both teams took advantage. Mattson tied a career high in rbi's with five in the opening game and added two more runs batted in, in the second game. Brennan went 5-6 over the two games and
brynn larsen and tjornhom each had three hits.
game 1
umd got on the board quickly in the first inning as the leadoff batter singled and stole second to start the inning. After a wild pitch allowed her to move up to third a single brought the runner home. Cu tried to counter in the first as
katie anderson also got a leadoff single. She was called for leaving early on a stolen base attempt for the first out. Larsen and brennan singled to start another rally in the first but a double steal attempt was unsuccessful as larsen was cut down at third and then mattson flew out to end the inning.
minnesota duluth extended their lead in the second with a pair of solo shots. K. Feuerbach gave cu their first run of the game with a sacrifice fly to center scoring
tessa ewert, who drew a leadoff walk. Cu had runners on first and third with only one away but couldn't add any more runs.
the bulldogs tried to break the game open in the third as they scored three runs on three hits.
ashley kluever did leave the bases loaded as the inning could have been worse. Brennan hit her sixth homer of the season in the bottom of the inning as cu cut the umd lead to 6-2. Neither team scored in the fourth inning.
kluever shut umd down for the second consecutive inning in the top of the fifth as pitched around a one out single. Concordia mounted a comeback in the bottom of the fifth as they rallied to take the lead. Larsen and brennan singled to begin the inning and mattson hit her 16th homer of the season to bring cu within 6-5. After a strikeout tjornhom singled and then k. Feuerbach, following a pop up to third for the second out of the inning, smashed her second homer of the year to left field as the golden bears took the 7-6 lead.
the lead was short lived as the bulldogs bats came alive again in the top of the sixth. Umd scored six runs on five hits including a grand slam to right center to cap the scoring and take a 12-7 lead. Concordia tried to claw back the next inning when mattson homered for the second straight inning, this time a two run shot to left.
umd responded once again scoring three runs in the seventh. A leadoff homer and then a two out two run homerun made the lead 15-9 and cu went down in order in the bottom of the inning.
game 2
minnesota duluth again scored in the top of the first in game two as they scored three runs, including the first of three home runs by gardner in the second game. Concordia put a pair of runners on in their half of the inning but failed to score. Both teams went down quietly in the second inning.
the third inning was interesting as cu escaped a bases loaded jam in the top half. Umd had the bases loaded with just one out as a passed ball looked to cause trouble. The runner from balked a run to the plate which caught the umd runner on second off guard.
missie feuerbach threw the ball to pitcher
cassye mcmahon who threw it shortstop mattson at second. The runner on second then went to third as the runner on third was now caught in between home and third. Mattson tagged the runner halfway down the third baseline for the second out of the inning before turning around and firing the ball to larsen at second who tagged out the runner who on first trying to advance to second. The unconventional 2-1-6-4 double play with two runners caught stealing ended the threat. The golden bears caught a shell shocked umd team in their at bats as mattson drove in a run with a single scoring
stephanie schmikla. Tjornhom then drew a bases loaded walk to pick up an rbi as cu trailed just 3-2 after three complete.
umd went down in order in the fourth as they still seemed shocked about how their top of the third ended. K. Feuerbach drew a leadoff walk in the bottom half of the inning but stranded at second base to end the inning. Minnesota duluth's bats woke back up in the next inning as they used a leadoff walk to their advantage. A two out double to right center allowed pitch runner k. Smith to score and double the umd lead. Mattson led off the bottom of the fourth with a solo shot to left center as cu drew within one again.
the bulldogs dug deep and again extended their lead in the top of the sixth. Gardner led off with her second homer of the game and gale followed suit as umd went back to back taking a 6-3 lead. After a scoreless sixth for the golden bears, the game went to the seventh with the 6-3 score.
minnesota duluth was not scoring as they busted the game open in the top half of the seventh. A one out single was followed by a double to right field to score the first run of the inning. Gardner then popped another one over the fence for her third homer in the game scoring two more. A walk and back to back singles loaded the bases up with two down. Another single followed allowing two runs to score as umd took 11-3 lead in to the bottom of the seventh. Cu had the middle of the lineup up in their half of the inning and tried to mount a comeback. Brennan walked to leadoff the inning and tessa ewert drew a one out walk. Tjornhom then launched her fourth homer of the season as cu cut the umd lead to 11-6. M. Feuerbach picked up a single right after but that was the end of the comeback as fly out right and a strikeout ended the game.
concordia will be home again on wednesday as they take smsu at carlander field at 2 and 4 p.m. It will be the last home game of the year for cu and the last home game for seniors; sami mattson, cassye mcmahon and stephanie schmikla.
