Sioux Falls, S.D. – The Northern State University baseball team dropped a pair of conference games in Saturday play against Augustana College. With the losses, the Wolves move to 7-8 on the year and 1-3 in Northern Sun play.
Game One Northern went down early in game one, as the Vikings scored 11 in the opening innings of play.
Lucas Lorenz tallied his second homerun of the season in the top of the second with a blast to center. Northern was on the board, however the Wolves were unable to start a rally.
Buddy Traxler scored the Wolves second and final run of the game, after singling through the left side to lead off the NSU sixth.
Robert Fahlin and
Clayton Nutting tallied a hit apiece in the loss to bring the Wolves team total to four in the game.
Cody Johns suffered his second loss of the season, as he was unable to fool the Viking offense. Johns threw two innings for NSU giving up 11 hits and ten earned runs. Chiquel Davis and
Dillon Lee also took to the mound for the Wolves, throwing three and one inning respectively.
Game Two The Wolves scored first in game two with two runs by
Mark Abrahamson and
Lucas Lorenz. Abrahamson scored off the bat of Lorenz who doubled to right center, while Lorenz reached plate by virtue of a wild pitch. The Vikings however answered back in the bottom of the first with two runs of their own to tie up the game.
Down 6-2 heading into the fifth inning,
Tyler Gripentrog stepped to the plate for NSU. The centerfielder singled to the short stop and later came around to score of an Abrahamson double down the left field line. Abrahamson scored his second run of the game off the bat of Lorenz who notched a single of his own. Gripentrog led the Wolves in the game, going 3-for-4 from the plate with a stolen base and a run scored.
The Augie offense continued to pound out hits in game two, nabbing a total of 13 off Northern starter
Colton Boucher. Boucher threw 5.2 innings for the Wolves, tallying six strikeouts and giving up 11 runs, seven of which were earned.
Marcus Manderbach and
Kassidy Gaines entered the game in relief throwing a combined 2.1 innings. Boucher suffered his first loss of the season.
Up next for the Wolves is matchups with Wayne State College, next Saturday and Sunday. Northern will travel to Wayne for two days of doubleheaders, with first pitch set for 1 p.m. on Saturday and 12 p.m. on Sunday.
