Statesman

Issue date: 5/6/09 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Joe Olivieri UMD attempts to complete a double play against the Upper Iowa Peacocks during last Sunday's loss.

Riding a late season surge-winning 15 of their last 20 games-the Bulldogs needed a split at home Sunday against Upper Iowa to earn a berth in the NSIC playoffs. Unfortunately, the Bulldog pitching staff picked a poor time to break down and UMD choked on Sunday, losing 14-6 and 12-4, killing their playoff hopes.

A bright spot for the Bulldogs was co-captain David Olson's record breaking career. The senior from Lakeville tied UMD's career home-run record, belting his 38th and 39th career home runs on Thursday. Olson also ended his illustrious career as the Bulldog's career RBI leader and is second on the all-time list in hits.


Monday @ Winona State


The Bulldogs lost a 9-8 heartbreaker in Monday's first game. UMD pitcher Josh Foreman had his streak of 10 straight scoreless appearances snapped in the bottom of the seventh on Winona St. junior Kyle Collins' walk-off solo shot.

UMD got the bats going in Monday's nightcap, with every batter registering at least one hit on the way to a convincing 11-4 win. Freshman pitcher Collin Stinogel allowed four runs in 5.2 innings to pick up the win for the Dogs.


Thursday @ Crookston


Olson's record-tying day was one full of the runs for UMD as they routed NSIC doormat Minnesota State-Crookston 26-18 and 15-3. The Bulldogs scored 41 runs on 43 hits in their most productive day at the plate this season.

Bryan Denison, Tyler Erickson and Brian Burman all had five-hit games alongside Olson's 4-4 effort with his two record tying bombs. Senior co-captain Cole Hytjan notched seven strikeouts in his complete game victory in the nightcap.


Saturday/Sunday vs. Upper Iowa


The Bulldogs scored a sweep of Upper Iowa on Saturday to keep their playoff hopes alive before seeing those dreams disappear with two losses on Sunday.

On Saturday, freshman pitcher Anders Engberg scattered three hits over six innings, while racking up nine strikeouts in 7-1 victory for UMD. In the nightcap, Josh Foreman came through with two solid innings of relief pitching, and the Bulldogs hung on for a 5-4 win.

In Sunday's first game, the bullpen let the Bulldogs down. Foreman, Josh Taran and Mark Shaver combined to allow five-earned runs in only 1.1 innings in a 14-6 loss. Ronnie Kurihara had six RBIs for Upper Iowa.

In Sunday's second game, two-sport star Collin Stinogel was shelled for 10 earned runs in four innings, in a 12-4 season-ending loss. Will Dahlgren didn't go down without a fight, going 4-5 with six RBIs at the plate.

The Bulldogs ended the season 24-28 overall, 16-16 in the NSIC, which is their best record in head coach Bob Rient's four-year tenure.

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