MINNEAPOLIS-- Sophomore Jeff Campbell fired a four-hit shutout to help UND earn a doubleheader split with St. Cloud State at the Mall of America Field at the Metrodome Monday morning in non-conference action. After the seventh-ranked Huskies (D-II) garnered a 4-2 win in the opener, UND responded with a 2-0 blanking in game two, rapping-out nine hits in each contest.
GAME ONE
SCSU (7-2) got on the board first, plating a pair in the bottom of the third inning. A two-out, two-run single up the middle produced both runs and staked the Huskies to the early edge.
UND (4-2) got one back in the top of the next frame with a two-out tally of its own when Patrick Vandoorne's RBI single to right scored Tyler Follis to trim it to 2-1.
SCSU got a single run in the next inning and a leadoff triple in the fifth that would later come around to give SCSU a 4-1 lead. Taylor Petersen deposited a pitch over the left centerfield wall to start the visitors' half of the sixth and the lead was 4-2.
UND could not rally in the final inning as Reese Gregory came on to get the final out to strand the final of seven left on base for North Dakota in the opener.
Andrew Thome (1-1) took the loss, throwing all six innings with four runs, seven hits, three walks and six strikeouts for UND. Scott Lieser-- despite giving up nine UND hits-- earned the win with seven strikeouts over 6.1 innings pitched.
Jacob Threlkeld had three hits including a triple and added a stolen base. Vandoorne notched a pair of singles in the loss.
GAME TWO
UND again left a pair of runners stranded in each of the first two innings after back-to-back hits by Campbell and Zack Trygstad in the first and Sam Alt and Vandoorne in the second. North Dakota finally broke through in the fourth as Petersen led off with a single. He advanced to second on a sacrifice and came around on Alt's single for a 1-0 lead. Alt also scored on a heads-up base-running play, scoring from second on a ball fielded deep in the infield behind the second base bag.
It was Kris Kwak's single that delivered that second run and that would be all that Campbell would need to earn the split. The sophomore right-hander kept hitters off-balance all morning, inducing eight groundouts and 10 flyouts over his complete-game seven-inning performance. He allowed just four hits and struck out a pair with one walk, facing just five above the minimun.
Seven different UND batters registered hits in game two, led by Alt and Vandoorne, who each had a couple.
North Dakota will remain in the Twin Cities to play another doubleheader Wednesday against the University of Mary. First pitch is slated for 7:00 a.m.
