Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 Photo Gallery
Aberdeen, S.D. – The Northern State University baseball team dropped a pair of games to Augustana University in the Saturday series opener. The Wolves fell to the Vikings 11-3 and 12-3 to fall to 11-11 overall and 4-6 in the NSIC.
 
Game 1
 
The Vikings opened the game with one run and proceeded to score in five of the seven innings of play. Northern struggled to get things going offensively with just six team hits and three runs. Chilly temperatures and windy conditions resulted in some difficult defensive situations for the Wolves who recorded five errors in the game as well.
 
Preston Brown and Ben Allen each went 2-for-3 in the game, hitting in the sixth and seventh spots in the order. Brown added a stolen base and came around to score for one of the team's three runs. Jack Schmidt and Easton Lopez combined for the Wolves final two hits in the game, as well as an RBI each.
 
NSU starter Cody Vandever held the Vikings off balance throughout the game, despite giving up seven earned runs and 14 hits. Vandever suffered his first loss of the season, and was relieved by Colton Landreth who threw 1.2 innings of scoreless baseball.
 
Game 2
 
The Wolves fell behind early in game two, giving up four runs in the first two innings of play. The Northern defense settled in as the game progressed, after giving up three unearned runs and three errors in the first two innings.
 
Offensively NSU began to chip away in the middle innings, scoring one run in the fifth, sixth, and seventh however it was not enough as the Vikings tallied seven runs in the final two innings of play.
 
Kolin Kubitz and Matt Stubbs each tallied two hits in the game, including a run scored by Kubitz. Combining for the other five team hits were Preston Brown, Jack Schmidt, Lucas Lorenz, Ben Allen, and Zach Beatty. Stubbs and Brown notched the team's two extra base hits, a double down the left field line by Stubbs and a solo homerun by Brown in the same fashion.
 
Dillon Lee started for the Wolves throwing five innings of action. Lee gave up just one earned run on six hits and struck out one in his first loss of the season. Andrew Nichols, Isaiah Greene, Patrick Leary, Erick Cervenka, and Jason Rudolph entered in relief for NSU throwing the final four innings of action.
 
The Wolves return to the diamond tomorrow for a pair of games against Augustana University. First pitch is slated for 12 p.m. from Fossum Field.