SAINT PAUL, Minn. (Interstat) — Saint Thomas defeated North Dakota State 3-2 Friday evening at Koch Diamond, overcoming the Bison on Owen Marsolek’s strong pitching performance.

Marsolek threw seven innings, allowing five hits and two earned runs while striking out 10. Zak Endres added two scoreless innings of relief with two strikeouts. For North Dakota State, Sheamus Ryan pitched eight innings, yielding no hits but three earned runs with six strikeouts.

The Tommies struck first in the third inning when Joe Roder’s sacrifice fly scored Tanner Recchio. North Dakota State tied it in the fourth on Dante Smith’s solo home run. Saint Thomas answered in the bottom half when Lucas McNellis grounded out to bring in Matthew Maulik. Owen Bond’s triple in the fifth drove in Roder, giving the Tommies a 3-1 lead. The Bison cut the deficit in the sixth on a single by Womack that scored Becker.

Owen Bond finished 2-for-4 with an RBI, and Tanner Recchio and Joe Roder each had two hits. Smith went 1-for-4 with a homer for North Dakota State.

Saint Thomas improved to 11-35, 4-15 Summit League, while North Dakota State fell to 10-32, 2-17. The teams meet again Saturday.