Following a two-win Friday for the University of Minnesota Duluth, Northern State University returned the favor on Saturday afternoon by defeating the Bulldogs 5-4 and 9-2. UMD moves to 23-26 (18-19 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference) and will now turn its attention to the NSIC Tournament.

NSU 5, UMD 4

Senior southpaw Kevin Stocke shut down Northern State in the first three innings, but the first of two home runs from junior outfielder Lucas Lorenz and a pair of unearned runs allowed the Wolves to take the game's first lead at 3-0 in the fourth inning. NSU would go on to add two more runs in the fifth inning on Lorenz's second big fly. Stocke completed five innings on the hill, striking out four batters while giving up three runs.

The Wolves had no trouble holding down the Bulldog bats through the opening five innings, but a late UMD rally made things interesting as the score closed to 5-4 following a four-run sixth inning. Sophomore third baseman got the scoring started with a 2-RBI double that hit high off the left field wall, bringing freshman Chris Saltzmann and junior Brett Milazzo around to score. Senior outfielder Matt Vogt followed up a few batters later with a 2-RBI hit of his own, hitting a hard ground ball to the first baseman that wound up in right field to allow sophomore Tyler Wojciechowski and Danielson to bring the game within one.

Junior pitcher Jaylen Hakes pitched 1.2 innings of scoreless relief before freshman Jalen Busker retired a batter to close out the seventh inning.

UMD sent senior second baseman Kyle Hoffman to second base following a walk and sacrifice bunt, but were unable to scratch across the tying run. 

The Bulldogs finished with four runs on four hits, but also committed four errors in the loss. Northern State tallied five runs on six hits while committing one error.

NSU 9, UMD 2

Northern State grabbed the first lead of the game in the first inning, but UMD was able to even things up again in the third frame when Drew Stewart grounded a ball to third base that was booted for an error, allowing freshman catcher Reid Rubio to score. In the following inning, freshman outfielder Alex Welder belted his first collegiate home run to dead center field to give the Bulldogs a 2-1 lead.

It was all Northern State from there, as the Wolves scored eight straight runs to down UMD 9-2. The game remained within two runs until the ninth inning where NSU exploded for a five-run inning.

Freshman left-hander Rece Dietrich started the game on the mound for the Bulldogs and allowed one run while striking out four in 4.0 innings. Sophomore Adam Hallberg tossed a scoreless inning of relief, while freshman Evan Vick also chipped in 1.2 innings without a run.

UMD sent 16 different players to the plate in the game, led by freshman Chase Thomas who picked up a 4-for-5 showing to set a new career-high in hits. Stewart picked up the only other Bulldog RBI in the game and finished 0-for-3 with a walk.

UP NEXT

With today's results along with a pair of losses by Concordia University-St. Paul, UMD will earn the sixth seed in the NSIC Tournament and are set to face St. Cloud State University. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. in St. Cloud, Minn.