The University of Minnesota Duluth softball team swept a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference doubleheader against St. Cloud State University on the road in St. Cloud, Minn. Tuesday by scores of 12-0 and 4-3. 

The triumphs push the Bulldogs league record to 13-7 and 32-13 overall – UMD is currently in sixth place in the NSIC standings. 

Game 1 (12-0 UMD)

UMD finished off the Huskies in five innings in the opening game, the third such time UMD has made short work of its opponent in its last eight games. The Bulldogs scoring spree kicked off in the top of the second inning with two of its four first batter smacking doubles, including one by Kat Burkhardt that scored Kendal Johnson, who also originally got on base from her own double. Morgan McMillan singled up the middle and earned an RBI when Kate Mohr scored, and the Bulldogs were up 2-0 after two innings.

UMD added a run in the top of the third inning when Johnson flew out to right field, allowing Nicole Schmitt to make it a 3-0 lead. But the Bulldogs doubled their run total in the top of the fourth behind singles from Burkhardt and McMillan that eventually scored Burkhardt when an error by the SCSU shortstop allowed Kiana Bender to reach first and Burkhardt crossed the plate. Schmitt then hit a double – her 16th of the season – which allowed both Bender and Gronholz, who reached first on a fielder's choice, to both score to make it a 6-0 game.

After Johnson singled to start the top of the fifth inning, she eventually scored on a single by Dea Deleon. Burkhardt got on base with a fielder's choice, and made it a 8-0 game when Bender's fielder's choice advanced all UMD's runners, pushing Burkhardt over the plate. 

With four more runs to enter in the fifth, Bender stole second and Deleon home for the 9-0 UMD advantage, and then a Gronholz single to center field scored Bender to make it 10-0. Schmitt singled through the left side and along with Gronholz, scored to make it 12-0 on a Elle Potts hit to center field

Behind a healthy dose of Bulldog defense and the pitching of Lauren Dixon, UMD forced the game into the record books early. .Dixon's 17th win of the season (17-5) featured seven shutouts, and went down as her eighth shutout of the season. Potts led the way with three hits (3-of-4), while four other Bulldogs had multiple hit games – McMillan, Schmitt, Johnson and Burkhardt.

"Really proud of our team today beyond just the wins," said UMD head coach Lynn Anderson. "They committed to one another, were invested in upgrades, and brought consistent energy, and those are the simple things we are focusing on. Those little things lead to wins on the field."

"It was great to see us put together a lot of runs against a good pitching staff. Our offense battled with pesky at bats to put the ball in play and that made good things happen for us. Plus solid defense behind another great outing from Dixie (Lauren Dixon).. She only threw 76 pitches in five innings of work and the ball was jumping off her hand today."

Game 2 (4-3 UMD win)

The Bulldogs fell behind 1-0 in the bottom of the third, but took over the lead in the top of the fourth inning with two runs. Groholz doubled to left field to start it off, and a walk by Schmitt was followed by single to left by Potts that scored Gronholz.  After Schmitt advanced to third on a wild pitch, Johnson's fielder's choice scored Schmitt, and the Bulldogs had a 2-1 after four innings at the plate.

That score would hold until UMD doubled its run count in the top of the sixth on McMillan's double to center that scored both Deleon (fielder's choice)  and Burkhardt (single to second base) to take a 4-1 lead.

A home run by SCSU's Rainna Stangle to lead off the bottom of the seventh pulled the Huskies within two runs, and SCSU added another run to cut it to 4-3, but the Bulldogs defense and the pitching of Allyssa Williams protected the win for the Bulldogs, their 32nd of the season.

Maddy Walsh picked up the win in four innings of work, complete with two strikeouts, while Allison Luoma had started the game and pitched the first two innings with one strikeout. Burkhart and Gronholz both led UMD at the plate with two hits each on four plate appearances, while McMillan had a team-best two RBIs.

"In game two I really liked how we handled the adversity and pressure," said Anderson. "St Cloud took the lead with a run in the bottom of the third, but then we responded immediately in top four with two runs. Morgan came up with a big hit in a big moment to add insurance runs for us, and I was really happy for her and our team with that because those are moments we're trying to duplicate more often." 

"Not that we want to make games close at the end, we needed to shut the door better. However, I am glad we had that pressure on us to finish game two with St Cloud trying to make a comeback. We needed a win like that to prove we can win those one run games. Well done by our defense and Allison (Luoma), Maddy (Walsh), and Allyssa (Williams for finishing that game two win."

UMD wil head to Moorhead, Minn. on Saturday to face Moorhead State University State in a NSIC double header scheduled for 1:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m.