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Sioux Falls, S.D. – A Saturday sweep led the Northern State University baseball team to their first NSIC series win of 2024. Northern tallied victories over Winona State with scores of 9-5 and 12-5 from the Sanford Diamonds.
 
THE QUICK DETAILS
Final Score Game 1: NSU 9, WSU 5
Final Score Game 2: NSU 12, WSU 5
Records: NSU 9-9 (4-4 NSIC), WSU 5-12 (2-5 NSIC)
 
HOW IT HAPPENED | GAME 1

• The Wolves scored their nine runs on eight hits in the game one win, playing perfect defense
• Winona State took a 2-0 lead through the first two innings, however the game took a turn in Northern's favor in the fourth and fifth
• Jonah Schmidt cut the WSU lead in half in the fourth, scoring Nick Friedges on a single to centerfield
• Friedges followed suit in the fifth, plating both Jackson Meyer and Michael Benevides on a double down the right field line for the lead
• The Warriors tallied three runs in the sixth and held a 5-3 lead, heading into the Wolves final plate appearances of the 7-inning contest
• Northern scored six runs on two hits in the top of the seventh, grabbing a 9-5 lead
• Scoring for NSU in the seventh was Dylan Soulek, Brennan Phillips, Jordan DeMarce, Schmidt, and Andrew Wedwick
• It was then 3-up, 3-down for the Warriors in the seventh and the Wolves opened the day with a win
• Michael Chevalier earned his first win of the season, tossing six complete with five hits, five runs, one walk, and four strikeouts
• Drew Burkholder threw the seventh for the Wolves, grabbing his third save of the season; he faced three batters and tallied two groundouts and a strikeout

 
NORTHERN STATE STATISTICAL STANDOUTS

• Nick Friedges: 2-for-3, 2 runs, 2 RBI, 1 double
• Jack Weidner: 2-for-3, 1 double
• Michael Benevides: 2-for-4, 1 run, 1 RBI
• Michael Chevalier: 6.0 innings pitched, 5 hits, 5 earned runs, 4 strikeouts, win
• Drew Burkholder: 1.0 innings pitched, 1 strikeout, save

 
HOW IT HAPPENED | GAME 2

• It was all Northern State in game two as the Wolves scored 12 runs on 15 hits and gave up just one error defensively
• NSU tallied three runs in the first, one in the second, two in the fourth, four in the fifth, and two in the sixth
• Drew Burkholder had a day on the bump, adding his third win of the season in six innings pitched with six strikeouts
• Brennan Phillips, Jack Weidner, and Karson Hesser kicked off the scoring for the Wolves in the first
• Hesser tallied a 1-out double down the right field line in the second, scoring Phillips, and Northern quickly held a 4-0 lead through two
• Winona State cut that lead in half in the bottom of the third, however Northern State responded making up the difference and then some
• Nick Friedges scored on a Weidner single to center and Weidner scored on a fields choice to the shortstop by Andrew Wedwick in the fourth
• NSU added four runs on two hits in the fifth with runs collected by Jonah Schmidt, Weidner, Hesser, and Nicholas Ochoa
• Friedges and Hesser grabbed the final two Northern State runs in the top of the sixth on a single to right by Schmidt and sacrifice fly by Ochoa
• The 12-2 held, despite three runs by the Warriors in the sixth and seventh
• Jack Miller held WSU scoreless through the final 2.2 innings of work, giving up just two hits and striking out three
• Hesser notched a team leading three hits, while Friedges, Weidner, Schmidt, Wedwick, and Benevides each tallied two

 
NORTHERN STATE STATISTICAL STANDOUTS

• Karson Hesser: 3-for-4, 3 runs, 2 RBI, 1 double, 1 walk
• Jack Weidner: 2-for-4, 3 runs, 1 RBI, 1 walk
• Nick Friedges: 2-for-4, 2 runs
• Drew Burkholder: 6.0 innings pitched, 10 hits, 3 earned runs, 6 strikeouts, win

 
UP NEXT
The Wolves return to Sioux Falls next Friday-Saturday, March 22-24, against Sioux Falls. Start times are set for 1:30 p.m. on Friday, 1:30 p.m. in a doubleheader on Saturday, and 12 p.m. on Sunday from Sioux Falls Stadium.