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UMD’s Hannah Schmoll bolted from first base and scored on Natalie Wright’s bases-loaded triple to ignite a 6-run third-inning rally. UMD won 8-5 after a 4-0 opening loss to Minnesota State-Mankato. Photo credit: John Gilbert

There is no better way to realize that the long and brilliant UMD men’s hockey season has ended than for the team to return to Duluth after losing the NCAA final game in Chicago and, the next day, senior defenseman Carson Soucy leaves town to head for, of all places, Iowa.
Soucy, a 6-foot-4 senior defenseman from Irma, Alberta, was one of the stalwarts on the Bulldog defense, and we knew his eligibility was used up, but his departure put an exclamation point on the fact that this wonderful season is over. And the gang is already breaking up.
It is time to turn to spring sports. UMD baseball and softball are already in midseason, even as the last chill of winter is stubbornly trying to prevent their fields from softening up. St. Scholastica and Wisconsin-Superior also are well into their play, and it doesn’t take much to conjur up memories of that fantastic UMAC softball playoff when UWS shocked St. Scholastica in a double elimination final.

And the Minnesota Twins are off to a strong start, cynics like me to the contrary. It is a strong start, and not just winning the first four games. The Twins ran up a 5-1 opening record and showed they might be able to become a contender in their division, if their pitching can keep delivering strong starts, their bullpen can keep dodging line drives, and if Miguel Sano can keep pounding the ball and catcher Jason Castro can legitimately become a Major League hitter.

Of course, we still have hockey. There is always hockey. The Minnesota Wild will entertain us for a couple of weeks against a very solid St. Louis Blues team, coached by ex-Wild coach Mike Yeo in an opening round Stanley Cup Playoff series that got underway Wednesday night and continues Saturday at Xcel Center in St. Paul.

The whole Stanley Cup circus continues until June turns to July, and we can hope the Wild give us as many thrills as the Bulldogs did.
Meanwhile, last Saturday provided a good afternoon to warm up for watching the UMD-Denver NCAA hockey final, so I cruised on up to the UMD campus and caught a bit of the UMD men facing Wayne State of Nebraska in a Northern Sun doubleheader, and some of the softball team’s two games with Minnesota State-Mankato.

Adorned in UMD’s cancer-awareness pink jerseys, Becky Smith lined a sixth-inning hit to right field in the split with MSU-Mankato last Saturday. Photo credit: John Gilbert

UMD pinch-hitter Colin Baumgard took a called third strike to end a 3-2 first-game loss to Wayne State. UMD won the second game 7-2 for a split at Bulldog Park. Photo credit: John Gilbert

The Bulldogs weren’t hitting much in the first game against Wayne, but were clinging to a 2-0 lead that seemed more comfortable as the innings passed and Nick Dorfman was in command. It was misleading. In the top of the sixth, Tanner Simons socked a 3-run home run for Wayne State, which suddenly had jumped to a 3-2 lead.

The Bulldogs came back with an attempt at a rally to the finish, but Colin Baumgard came up to pinch-hit with two outs, and tried hard to coax a walk. Too hard. Baumgard wound up taking a perfect strike three to end it. Ah well, the season is young. UMD is on the road for a pair of doubleheaders at second-place Augustana and returns home on April 19 for a doubleheader against Concordia-St. Paul.

UMD stormed back in the second game, Saturday, as Kevin Stocke of Hermantown threw a 3-hitter through eight innings, striking out seven, and the Bulldogs scored four runs in the fifth to beat Wayne 7-2 for a split. Kyle Hoffman went 4-for-5 to lead UMD and Grant Farley homered.
Across campus, the UMD women softball players were being completely stymied by Mankato’s Coley Ries, who struck out 14 and walked only 3 as the Mavericks posted a 4-0 victory in the first game, UMD’s second defeat in NSIC play.
In the second game, UMD got its bats untracked, jumping ahead with a 6-run third inning. The Bulldogs seemed almost cautious on the basepaths until then, but Natalie Wright’s bases-loaded triple ignited the offense.
Starting pitcher Valerie Hohol was challenged midway through the game, but freshman Breanna Swint stopped Mankato over the last three innings to secure Hohol’s 10th victory in 11 decisions.
The Bulldogs hit the road now for eight games over the next two weeks, before returning home for a six-game stand.
Twins fans can take heart at the stunning pitching of Ervin Santana, who has turned into the superstar ace we hoped he’d be when he joined the Twins last season. His control has been superb, and his slider is the kind of pitch that gets batters out and leaves them with nightmares afterward.
Miguel Sano keeps hammering pitches for tape-measure home runs, and his hitting has been inspirational while Brian Dozier and Joe Mauer get off to slow starts at the plate. When you talk slow starts, however, Byron Buxton is the poster child for slow starts.
When the Twins lost 2-1 at Detroit Tuesday afternoon, Sano struck out three times, but his long blasts at least compensate for that. For Buxton, there is no such compensation. He had been striking out three times a game, so manager Paul Molitor dropped him from the top of the batting order to seventh, and then he only struck out twice. On Tuesday, Buxton struck out three times — all on called third strikes that seemed pretty much down the middle.

Broadcasters keep raving about his brilliant defensive diving catches, but two of those a game don’t allow a center fielder in Major League baseball to strike out almost every time they come to the plate. We have to hope Buxton starts making contact, so we can marvel at him running the bases before his 0-fers force the Twins to bench him or send him to Rochester.