Sankovich, Wieland and senior relief pitcher Nick Simoff were honored before the game.

With the sweep, the Polar Bears improved to 16-20 overall and 8-8 in the Ohio Athletic Conference.

The eight conference wins are the most ONU has had since 2002.

Muskingum dropped to 16-17 overall and 4-12 in the OAC.

“It was nice to get wins in our last home games,” ONU head coach Justin Bergman said. “I’m happy for Mark and Drew. They pitched real well. Mark, Drew and Nick have all been a big part of our program.”

Sankovich pitched his OAC-leading eighth complete game and his second shutout of the season in Game 1 as the Polar Bears’ bats gave him an early cushion with five runs in the bottom of the first.

“I felt comfortable after we put five runs up in the first,” Sankovich said. “I was just able to go out and throw strikes. Everything was working real good today. My curve ball was acting nasty and my fastball was going good.”

Sophomore Greg Gibbons doubled to lead off the first and scored when sophomore Drew Robinson doubled. Back-to-back singles by sophomore Brett Katana and freshman Adam Grof loaded the bases for freshman Eric Stegman, who was then hit by pitch to score Robinson. Freshman Chris Sobieray followed with a two-run double, and freshman Mike Hoelzal grounded out to score Stegman and put ONU up 5-0.

Northern added a pair of runs in the fourth as Robinson hit a RBI single and Grof hit into a fielder’s choice that allowed Robinson to score.

Northern’s final run came in the fifth when Gibbons hit a sacrifice fly to score Hoelzal and give ONU the 8-0 lead.

Sankovich gave up only four hits and walked two, while striking out five in seven innings. He improved to 8-2 with an ERA of 2.36.

Muskingum’s Aubrey Neuhart dropped to 6-4 after giving up eight runs in five innings.

Wieland struck out five Muskies and gave up no runs in eight innings of work in Game 2 to raise his K total to an OAC-best 71 and improve his record to 4-5.

Katana led off the second inning of Game 2 with his first home run of the year. Northern took a 3-0 lead after the second when Sobieray followed with a RBI single and Hubbard hit a RBI sacrifice fly.

Northern went up 6-0 in the fourth after Hubbard hit a one-run single and Gibbons smacked a two-run triple with two outs.

“It felt good to come out and pitch great in front of friends and family,” Wieland said. “We are starting to come around as a program and we are starting to see results. Guys are realizing what it takes to be successful.”

Northern won four OAC games in 2004, one in 2005, six in 2007 and now have a chance to win 10 games in the conference when it travels to Marietta next Saturday.

ONU returns to action Tuesday at Defiance for a single nine inning game at 4:30 p.m.