GAME ONE BOX
GAME TWO BOX
ABERDEEN, S.D. – The Northern State University baseball team closed out their 2010 season Sunday at home against the Augustana College Vikings, and the visitors left town with an NSIC doubleheader sweep by finals of 22-5 and 17-9 at Fossum Field in Aberdeen, S.D.
The two losses close out the Wolves' 2010 campaign at 5-41 overall and 2-26 in the Northern Sun. The Vikings, trying to grab a spot in the NSIC Tournament, end their season at 34-22 overall and 21-11 in conference play.
The first game had some carryover from the day before with the Vikings seemingly scoring at will and the Wolves unable to get the offense moving in having a hit differential of 25-5 in favor of Augustana College.
The Vikings jumped out to an early 21-0 lead through the first 2-1/2 innings before the Wolves got on the board in the bottom of the third. After catcher Brad Rintoul reached base on a walk, a double to right center by Kai Alexander brought in Rintoul for the Wolves' first run in their last 17 innings.
The Wolves added another two runs in their half of the fourth inning when Michael Cross smoked a two-run homer down the left field line scoring himself and Lucas Jung who had got on base in the at-bat prior with a double, bringing the score to 21-3.
The Wolves added another run in the sixth on a sacrifice fly by Nathan Zacher that scored Cross from third.
Augustana College added one more run in the top of the seventh, but Payton McCleary took that run right back on a solo homer to left field bringing the final in the first game to 22-5, halting the game after seven innings due to the 10-run rule.
Michael Cross went 1-2 with two runs scored and two RBI, both runs batted in coming off his homer in the fourth inning.
Payton McCleary went 1-3 with a run scored and an RBI, both coming off his solo homer in the seventh inning.
The second game looked like the Vikings were going to jump out to another early lead after the Vikings' leadoff batter Nate Baumann smoked the first pitch from Lucas Jung over the centerfield wall, grabbing a 1-0 lead. The junior righty settled in and got the next three batters out in order, cutting the Vikings first inning to just one run scored.
The Wolves then took advantage of three Augustana errors in scoring two unearned runs in their half of the first inning to grab a 2-1 lead.
Northern added four more runs in the bottom of the second inning, three coming off another dinger by McCleary that scored Bryce Anglin and Rob Smith. Two batters later, Cross smoked his second homer of the day to give the Wolves a 6-1 lead.
Augie added four runs in the top of the third inning to cut the Wolves lead to 6-5, but the Wolves answered right back to in the bottom of the inning on a solo homer down the left field line by Travis Owen.
Both teams were held scoreless in the fourth inning but then the Vikings offense returned to form from the previous three games and erupted for seven runs, grabbing a 12-7 lead.
The Vikings added another five runs in the top of the ninth inning to push their lead to 17-7, but Ronnie Sellers had the final word when he blasted a two-run homer to centerfield to bring the score back to 17-9, a score that would stay as the final.
Lucas Jung took the loss on the mound after he allowed 12 runs (six earned) in five innings of work. He struck out four Vikings and issued two walks.
Cross once again led the Wolves offense with a 2-4 effort at the dish, including two runs scored and an RBI.
Payton McCleary, playing in his last game, went 1-3 with three RBI and a run scored, all coming off his three-run homer in the third inning.
Nathan Zacher also went 2-4 with two runs scored and an RBI in his last game for Northern State.
Aside from McCleary and Zacher, Northern State also said goodbye to fellow seniors James Paul, Josh Taylor, and Travis Owen.
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**
