DULUTH, MN – After wrapping up the 2024 regular season midafternoon, the University of Mary had to wait until the final Northern Sun game of the season was completed in early evening to learn the Marauders opponent in the first round of the NSIC baseball tournament. The Marauders, the #7 seed in the 8-team tournament, face #2 Minnesota State University at 6 pm on Wednesday, May 8, at Veterans Memorial Ballpark at BNC Field in Mandan, ND.
The Marauders and the Mavericks split a four-game series to start the NSIC season in February.
For the second straight season, the University of Mary hosts the Northern Sun tournament, which runs May 8-11. The top eight teams in the final NSIC standings compete in a double elimination tournament for an automatic berth into the NCAA tournament. The opening two rounds on Wednesday and Thursday, May 8-9, will be played at Veterans Memorial Ballpark at BNC Field in Mandan, ND, and Municipal Ballpark at Dakota Community Bank & Trust Field in Bismarck, ND. The final two rounds on Friday and Saturday, May 10-11, are slated to be played at Mandan's Veterans Memorial Ballpark.
The NSIC tournament opens with four games on Wednesday, May 8. At 12 noon #1 seed Augustana University faces #8 Concordia St. Paul at Veterans Memorial Ballpark while #4 St. Cloud State and #5 Wayne State College play at Municipal Ballpark. At 6 pm #7 UMary faces #2 Minnesota State at Veterans Memorial Ballpark while #6 Southwest Minnesota State University tangles with #3 University of Minnesota Crookston.
Visit
www.northernsun.org/baseball for more information on the tournament, including tickets and live coverage.
The winner of the NSIC Baseball Tournament will earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Central Region Tournament. The 38-team NCAA Central Region is made up of teams from the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference, the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) and the Great American Conference (GAC). Automatic bids are awarded to the tournament champions from each conference with the final five spots awarded on an at-large basis.
After securing their third NSIC tournament berth in the last four years on Friday, the Marauders suffered a 5-2 setback at the University of Minnesota Duluth in UMary's last tuneup for the postseason on Saturday.
Jack Puder doubled home runs for the Bulldogs in the first, third and fifth innings to give UMD a 3-0 lead. The Bulldogs scored three runs total in the fifth to grab a 5-0 lead.
The Marauders, after leaving the bases loaded in the third, finally broke through in the eighth inning when
Carter Beck hit a 2-run home run to close the gap to 5-2. UMary added another baserunner in each of the eight and ninth innings but wouldn't cross the plate again.
Beck, who has 11 home runs as a freshman, was 2-for-3 with a double, two RBIs and a run scored.
Carter Shin also had two hits for UMary.
Alec Danen pitched the first five innings and recorded four strikeouts.
Kaden Moriarty (1.0 innings),
Kayden Beauregard (0.2 innings) and
Mark Schommer (1.1 innings) combined to allow one hit in three scoreless innings of relief.
Henry Wilkinson earned the win for UMD, striking out 11 in 7.0 scoreless innings. Puder finished 4-for-4 with three doubles and three RBIs.
UMary finished the regular season 23-25 overall and 19-19 in the NSIC. UMD concluded its season 18-31 and 14-26.
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