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Aberdeen, S.D. – The Northern State University baseball team split in their final midweek contest of the season with the University of Mary. The Wolves dropped game one 9-5, however bounced back for a seven inning 23-0 victory in the second game. Northern moves to 18-21 overall and 11-15 in NSIC action, and is still in contention for an NSIC Tournament berth.
 
Game 1
 
Northern jumped out to a four run lead in the bottom of the second inning, however the Marauders tied things up in the top of the fourth. U-Mary continued to chip away and took the lead in the sixth and seventh. The Wolves answered back with a run in the bottom of the seventh, however were unable to regain the lead.
 
Kolin Kubitz led the Wolves offensively in the game with a homerun, scoring three of the team's four runs. Kubitz also added two runs scored. Tyler Gripentrog, Matt Stubbs, and Mikey Barreneche each legged out doubles, while Zach Beatty and Jack Schmidt connected for a single each.
 
Senior ace Colton Boucher suffered his fifth loss of the season, giving up five runs, three earned, on eight hits in 6.1 innings of work. Marcus Manderbach and Luke Chevalier gave up two runs each, as the pair closed out the top of the seventh inning.
 
Game 2
 
With their season hanging in the balance, the Wolves quickly jumped out to a 9-0 lead in the first inning of game two. Northern added three runs in the second, three runs in the third, seven runs in the fourth, and one run in the fifth to close out the 23-0 shutout victory. The NSU offense combined for 20 hits, while starter Nick Hoffard held the Marauders to just three.
 
Hoffard threw five scoreless innings for the Wolves, giving up two hits and only one walk. The junior improved to 6-3 on the year and added two strikeouts. Nate Zeise and Brock Ragatz entered to throw one inning of relief each.
 
Preston Brown led the team going 3-for-4 at the plate with four RBI and two runs scored. Brown tallied two extra base hits with both a double and a triple. Tyler Gripentrog also connected for two extra base hits in the form of the long ball. Gripentrog went 2-for-3 at the plate with three RBI and four runs scored. He also drew three walks and more than doubled his homerun total for the year.
 
The hits continued for NSU as Kolin Kubitz, Patrick Leary, Jack Schmidt, Lucas Lorenz, Ben Allen, and Mikey Barreneche each recorded two in the game. Both of Schmidt and Leary's hits in the game were doubles, while Kubitz and Lorenz each notched one. Matt Stubbs, Jeff Rideout, and Jake Samuelson added the team's final three hits in the game.
 
The win marks just the second game this season where Northern tallied 20 hits or more, and the first of the year where the Wolves scored 20-plus runs.
 
The Wolves will finish the NSIC regular season this Friday and Saturday at Minnesota Crookston. Game times are set for 2 p.m. each day against the Golden Eagles.