GAME ONE BOX

GAME TWO BOX

ABERDEEN, S.D. –  After battling even with the visiting University of Minnesota Duluth in both games Sunday, the Northern State baseball squad could not hold off the visitors late-game offensive rallies in falling to the Bulldogs 12-6 and 10-5 in an NSIC doubleheader.

 

The losses drop the Wolves to 4-27 overall on the year and 1-13 in the Northern Sun.

 

In the first game, the Wolves opened up the scoring in their half of the first inning with three runs put up on the scoreboard.  Adam Brion earned a leadoff walk (one of three for the sophomore in the game) and was moved around to third on James Paul's single to right center.  He scored on the next at bat after Lucas Jung ripped a single up the middle to score Brion.  Michael Cross then walked to load the bases and Paul scored on Nathan Zacher's sacrifice fly to left field to put NSU up 2-0.  A wild pitch by the Bulldogs' starter to Brad Rintoul allowed Jung to come in for the third run of the inning.

 

The lead would be short lived, however, when the visitors scored three of their own in the top half of the fourth inning to tie the game up at 3-3. 

 

Northern would answer right back with another run when Payton McCleary used a leadoff walk to get aboard, and after a single by Brion and a deep fly ball by James Paul, found himself at third base.  Another wild pitch by UMD's Gary Wilfahrt, Jr. allowed McCleary to come in and score to give the Wolves a 4-3 lead. 

 

That score would hold until the top of the fifth inning, when the Bulldogs were able to get one across to notch the game up again at 4-4.

 

Two innings later Northern State would get another run across in the form of Brion, who drew another leadoff walk and advanced to third on a failed pickoff attempt that got away from the Bulldog's first baseman.  A groundout to the shortstop by Cross brought Brion in and gave the Wolves a 5-4 advantage through seven complete innings.

 

That score held until the floodgates opened in the top of the ninth when the Bulldogs scored eight runs, largely due to six Northern State walks.  Two timely hits mixed in with the free passes gave the Bulldogs all the insurance they would need in closing out the game 12-6.

 

Freshman Blaze Hanson stymied the potent Bulldogs attack to the tune of four runs (all earned) in 7-2/3 innings of work.  His quality start featured six strikeouts to go along with ten hits and four walks.  After allowing three runs in the second inning, he allowed just one run in his other 6-2/3 innings of work.  Charlie Dunnick took the loss after allowing six runs (five earned) in 2/3 inning of work.

 

Lucas Jung went 3-5 with two RBI and scored a run to lead the Northern State offensive attack.

 

Adam Brion finished just 1-2 at the plate, but the speedy second-bagger scored three runs after getting on base 4-5 times (one hit, three walks).

 

The second game saw the visitors jump out to a 5-0 lead after the first three innings, and the lead held until the Northern State offense woke up in the fifth.  ­Rob Smith got aboard first after he was hit by a pitch, and consecutive walks by Sean DeVries and Brion moved him over to third and loaded the bases.  James Paul's single off the UMD pitcher scored Smith and cut the lead to 5-1.  Jung's single to centerfield in the next at bat scored DeVries and moved the score to 5-2.  Ronnie Sellers then ripped a single to right field, scoring both Brion and Paul, but was thrown out trying to advance to second.  Kelly Coates' single to left brought around Jung to tie the game up at 5-5. 

 

That would, however, be the last bit of offense the Wolves could manage the rest of the way, as the UMD pitching staff held Northern State hitless the remainder of the game while the Bulldog offense scored three in the sixth and two in the seventh to earn the 10-5 victory.

 

Lucas Jung went 2-3 with an RBI and a run scored to lead the Wolves offensive attack.  He hit .625 on the day (5-8) with a 1.292 OPS (on-base + slugging). 

 

Ronnie Sellers finished 1-3 with two RBI in the loss.

 

Trent Bestland took the loss on the mound after surrendering eight runs (all earned) on seven hits in 5-2/3 innings of work.  The junior also walked five and struck out three UMD batters.

 

The Wolves will look to regroup before Wednesday when they travel to St. Paul, Minn. to battle with the Concordia University Golden Bears in another NSIC twinbill.

Northern State University is an NCAA Division II affiliated school participating in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference and is located in Aberdeen, South Dakota.

 

**GO WOLVES**