The Northern State softball team picked up a road sweep in its doubleheader against UMary.

The Wolves defeated the Marauders Wednesday afternoon 7-0 and 14-9. The Wolves tallied 29 hits in the two games. The Wolves put up four runs in the second inning, two more in the fourth, and their final run in the seventh with Abby Rux throwing a complete-game shutout, striking out eight. On the offensive side, Madi Jones, Dessa Bryant, Avarie Eagle and Tevan Bryant all went 2-for-4.

In game two, a seven-run first inning helped set the Wolves up for the rest of the game. The Marauders clawed back into the game in the fourth inning, cutting the Wolves’ lead to 10-8. Rux came on in relief in the fifth inning to earn the win, striking out three and giving up just one run, while the Wolves scored four more runs in their last six outs. Emma Owens led the offense, going 2-for-4 with four RBIs, two home runs, and three runs scored. Eden Ford went 3-for-4 with one RBI and one run.

Last weekend the Wolves dropped all four home games. On Saturday, they lost 9-3 and 10-2 to Wayne State. In the first game, Eagle and Tevan Bryant both sent one over the fence, accounting for all three of NSU’s runs, with Eagle finishing 3-for-4 on the game. In the second game, Northern’s two runs came on back-to-back home runs from Jones and Owens.

On Sunday, the Wolves lost to the University of Sioux Falls 6-3 in 8 innings and 5-0. Aune Boben started game one with a leadoff home run and Northern held the lead until the Cougars scored two runs in the top of the third. Ford tied the game back up on a double in the bottom half of the inning and the score remained tied until the top of the eighth when the Cougars put up four runs on the board. Northern scored once in the bottom half of the frame with Brooke Wolf scoring on a wild pitch.

In the last game of the homestand, the Cougars put up two runs in each of the first two innings, before adding three three more in the sixth. The Wolves managed just three hits, which came from Owens, Jones, and Addy Hobza.

Wolves baseball dropped their last six games, starting with St. Cloud State. They lost to the Huskies 8-7, 6-3, 11-4 and 13-2. In the first game, the Wolves outhit the Huskies 9-7 and scored first on a solo home run from Dylan Soulek. The Huskies were up 4-1, but Soulek scored on an error, AJ Mendez hit a three-run home run, and Nick Ochoa hit an RBI single to give the Wolves a two-run lead. SCSU tied it up in the bottom of the sixth, and walked it off in the bottom of the eighth.

In game two, the Wolves struck first again, this time with Brendan Phillips sending one over the wall. The Huskies answered back with two runs of their own in the third, before the Wolves regained the lead on a two-run home run from Jordan Hull. That lead didn’t last for long as St. Cloud scored four unanswered runs to close out the game.

In Sunday’s games, the Huskies struck first in game one, before Dillon Castellanos gave the Wolves the lead in the fourth on a sacrifice single. The Husky offense rattled off six runs in the fifth inning, and four more in the sixth to close out the Wolves. Castellanos went 3-for-4 in the game.

In the last game of the series, a two-run home run from Friedges in the second gave the Wolves a lead, but SCSU scored three times in the bottom half of the inning. The Husky bats were hot as they put up six more runs in the third, and one more in the fourth as that was all the scoring for the remainder of the game.

After a series on the road, Wolves baseball came back home for a Wednesday doubleheader against UMary. The Wolves dropped both games 19-8 and 14-3. In the first game, the Marauders put up 16 runs through the first four innings. The Wolves battled back however, with Drew Benson going 3-for-4 with two RBIs and a home run, Brennan Phillips and Soulek batting 2-for-3, and Hull tacking on another home run.

In game two, UMary’s offense struck quickly again with seven runs in the first two innings. Ochoa hit a two-run single in the bottom of the second to cut the lead down to five. The Marauders tacked on another run in the fourth, before Ochoa drove in his third run in the bottom half of the inning. UMary put up six runs in the final two innings to close out the game.

Coming up this weekend, Wolves baseball will host Minnesota-Duluth for a three-game series: a doubleheader on Saturday starting at 1:30 p.m., and a game at noon on Sunday. They will continue their homestand against Southwest Minnesota State on Tuesday for a doubleheader at 1:30 p.m.

Wolves softball will travel to Marshall to take on Southwest Minnesota State in a doubleheader on Sunday.

The Northern State Track and Field teams are back in action this weekend at the USD challenge in Vermillion on Saturday.

The Northern State Football team is also in action this weekend as the Wolves face Minnesota State Mankato on Sunday at 2 p.m. at Tea Area High School.