Baseball - News

UMD RALLIES TO BEAT MARY IN BASEBALL OPENER SATURDAY

Sunday, February 8, 2009

Sophomore Josh Threlkeld had three RBI for the Bulldogs in their 7-6 win Saturday afternoon

The indoor settings of the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis, Minn., have been friendly to the University of Minnesota Duluth recently.

The Bulldogs opened the 2009 season with a 7-6 come-from-behind win over Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference rival University of Mary in eight innings on Saturday afternoon, continuing a recent trend of victorious season openers for UMD in the climate-controlled confines, and besting the team it had previously never met.

Originally scheduled as a non-conference doubleheader, the extra-inning affair in game one meant that the second game lasted only four innings, and thus, will not go in the record books as an official game.

The Bulldogs started off the scoring in the second frame, with sophomore catcher Brian Burman crossing the plate after fellow sophomore Justin Baker was hit by a pitch with the bases juiced.

The Marauders answered with a four-run third-inning, thanks to a grand slam from Nate Watson off of Bulldog starter, senior co-captain Cole Hytjan. Mary tacked on two runs in the top half of the fourth, knocking out the Eden Prairie, Minn., native and making the score 6-1.

UMD added a run in the bottom half of the fourth - sophomore designated hitter Scott Sorensen drove in sophomore infielder Tyler Erickson on a double - and two more in the fifth. Sophomore first baseman Josh Threlkeld's two-run bomb brought the deficit to two runs, at 6-4 after five full stanzas.

Small ball came into play for the Bulldogs in the seventh inning. Newcomer Will Dahlgren scored on an error and senior co-captain David Olson touched home on a Burman sacrifice fly, knotting the score at 6-6, and sending the game into extra innings.

UMD's bullpen duo of sophomore lefty Josh Taran and senior righty Andrew Vlasak held the Marauders in check in the top portion of the eighth, setting the stage for the Bulldog bats in the home half.

Sorensen ended up scoring the winning run thanks to a fielder's choice from freshman Anders Engberg, who was called in to pinch hit with the game on the line, completing the comeback for UMD.

Vlasak earned the victory for the Bulldogs, who have now won back-to-back season-opening games played at the Metrodome. Olson and Sorensen each had two hits, and Threlkeld tallied three RBI.

Next up, UMD will make a return trip to Minneapolis this coming Tuesday (Feb. 10) morning to take on fellow NSIC member Concordia University-St. Paul, in a non-conference doubleheader. Start time for game one is scheduled for 9 a.m.

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