GAME ONE BOX
GAME TWO BOX
ST. PAUL, Minn.– The Northern State University baseball team played the Concordia University Golden Bears tight for the second time in a week Wednesday, but fell twice to the hosts by scores of 10-9 and 9-3 at Barnes Field in St. Paul, Minn.
The losses drop the Wolves to 4-29 overall and 1-15 in the Northern Sun.
The first game started with some firework when senior captain Payton McCleary hit two consecutive home runs in the second and third innings, and Brad Rintoul added his second of the year right before McCleary's first of the day, helping the Wolves jump out to a 6-0 lead.
Northern State would be forced to cool off after their hot start when the clouds opened up and soaked Barnes Field, causing a 23-minute rain delay in the Wolves' half of the third inning.
After the rains stopped, the Golden Bears would add two of their own in the bottom of the third to trim the Wolves lead to 6-2.
The Wolves would be held scoreless until the seventh inning while the Golden Bears scored four to tie the game up until the Wolves half of the seventh. James Paul started the inning off with a single to left field and Lucas Jung brought him home with his second jack of the year to put the Wolves ahead 8-6.
Once again Concordia would answer, this time with two runs of their own in the bottom half of the inning to knot the game up at 8-8. They would score another run in the bottom of the eighth to leave the Wolves down 9-8 heading into the top of the ninth.
Nathan Zacher, the second batter of the inning, ripped a double to right center to get the Wolves ninth-inning rally started. A single by Ronnie Sellers would move Zacher to third, and a sacrifice fly to center field by Rintoul brought Zacher home, and the score back to even at 10-10.
The Golden Bears would have the last word with a single by J.T. Schneider that knocked in Bryan Lippincott for the winning run.
Charlie Dunnick was charged with the loss after he allowed two runs (none earned) on two hits in 1-2/3 innings of work. Ben Buckingham, the Wolves starter, allowed five runs (all earned) on nine hits in 5-2/3 innings of work. He also walked three and struck out one.
Payton McCleary led the Wolves offensive attack with a 3-5 effort at the dish featuring two homers, two runs scored and three RBI.
Lucas Jung went 2-4 with three RBI and a run scored that came on a two-run homer.
Brad Rintoul went 2-4 with two RBI and a run scored, his run coming in the second inning off his home run to centerfield.
The second game didn't feature as much Northern State offense as the first after the Wolves finished the second game of the twinbill with just eight hits compared to 14 by the Golden Bears.
Concordia got going early, recording five runs in the second inning and nine over the first four in cruising to the 9-3 victory.
Michael Cross led the Wolves with a 3-3 day at the plate and a perfect 1.000 on-base percentage. He jacked his second home run of the season in the Wolves two-run fifth inning and added two singles in the first and third innings to account for his three hits.
Lucas Jung took the loss on the bump after he surrendered seven runs (all earned) in three innings of work. He allowed eight hits and struck out two Golden Bear batters.
The Wolves will be back in action this weekend when they travel to Wayne, Neb. for a four-game series with the Wildcats on Saturday and Sunday.
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**
