Box Score

BISMARCK, N.D. – The University of Mary rallied from an early 4-2 deficit and then held off a Southwest Minnesota State rally in the ninth inning to earn a 6-4 victory on Saturday afternoon and take the rubber game of the three-game series at Municipal Ballpark.
 
UMary (16-27, 12-18 NSIC) scored two first inning runs off of SMSU starting pitcher James Hardy, but the Mustangs rallied in the third inning to take the lead with four runs.
 
Derek Smith and Kip Gronholz started the rally with a walk and single respectively, before Connor Johnson reached to load the bases following an error on a sac bunt. Nathan Kuhn singled to plate the first run before Gronholz scored on a wild pitch to tie the score. The Mustangs went ahead as Jake Hendricks hit a ball to left field that was misplayed allowing two more runs to score and giving SMSU a 4-2 advantage.
 
The Marauders didn't trail for long pushing across two runs, one unearned, in the bottom of the third to tie the game at 4-4.
 
UMary regained the lead in the fourth scoring two runs on four hits to build a 6-4 advantage.
 
SMSU (9-24, 8-20 NSIC), as it did in Friday's game two loss, had several chances to tie the game in the final four innings, but failed to get the big hit. The Mustangs left two runners on base in both the sixth and seventh innings and then loaded the bases with two outs in the ninth, but a ground out ended the game.
 
The Mustangs, which stranded 10 men on base, finished with six hits. Johnson and Kuhn each collected two hits while Gronholz and Jayden Fleck both had one hit.
 
Hardy allowed two runs on three hits in two innings of work before being relieved by Spencer Rudnik, who fired five innings in suffering the loss. He gave up four runs (three earned) on eight hits with three strikeouts.
 
Southwest Minnesota State is back in action on Tuesday with a doubleheader versus Northern State beginning at 1:30 p.m. The two games will be played in Webster, S.D., due to Fossum Field in Aberdeen, S.D., closed due to construction.