The University of Minnesota Duluth baseball team closed out their 2024 road schedule with a final game against the University of Minnesota Crookston Golden Eagles, an offensive shootout of a game that ended in a 13-9 loss for the Bulldogs.

Final Score: UMD (9) - UMC (13)

The final game of this three game series kicked off with a pitching battle, setting up five combined strikeouts for a scoreless opening three innings. Michael Gabbard would reach on a throwing error to kick off the fourth inning, and would eventually come around to score the first run of the game on a failed throwdown by the UMC catcher to second. The Bulldogs' 1-0 lead would not last long however, as the Golden Eagles would kick off the bottom of the inning with a two run homer and add three more on a collection of RBI base hits to swing the score in their favor at 5-1.

UMC would continue to add one to their lead in the fifth with a two out grand slam, increasing their lead to eight runs heading into the sixth. Three straight base hits from Sam Kliber, Gabbard, and Oran Hinkle would set two of them up to score on a Gabe Richardson double out to left field. Jack Puder would go back to back with Richardson with another two run double out to left field, and he would come around to score on an RBI double from Ethan Cole to quickly cut down the UMC lead to 9-6. Cole would eventually come around to score after a Troy Lynch base hit, bringing Trevor Gustafson up to the plate to tie the game at 9-9 with a two run moonshot home run over the right field wall before the end of the inning. That would be the end of the Bulldogs offensive production though as the Golden Eagles would close out the game adding four more runs on a pair of RBI hits and a two run homer throughout the final three innings.

Looking Ahead

Bulldog baseball will finish out their 2024 regular season with five straight games at home against Concordia St. Paul and the University of Mary. The first pitch against CSP is currently set for Tuesday, Apr. 30, at 1:30 PM.