South Dakota State scored all six of its runs on two-out hits, including the go-ahead two-run single from Jess Bellows in the bottom of the seventh inning, as the Jackrabbits downed North Dakota State, 6-3, in the opening game of a four-game Summit League baseball series Friday afternoon at Erv Huether Field.
SDSU improved to 10-27 overall and 6-11 in league play. The Bison, who saw their losing skid reach four games, fell to 13-24 overall and 10-8 in The Summit League.
The Jackrabbits grabbed a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning on a two-run double to left field by Bryce Ronken that plated both Nolan Grawe and Luke Luskey.
SDSU starter Arlen Peters held the Bison hitless through 4 1/3 innings and carried a shutout into the sixth inning. NDSU tied the game at 2-all in the sixth when Jake Schaffner led off with a walk and scored on Davis Hamilton’s home run to right-center field. Tristan Augedahl followed with 1 2/3 scoreless innings of relief for SDSU before giving way to closer Dylan Driessen.
After stranding two men in the third, fifth and sixth innings against NDSU starter Nolan Johnson, the Jackrabbits put together a pair of two-out rallies against the Bison bullpen in the late innings. In the home seventh, Luskey and Owen Siegert hit back-to-back two-out singles and Ronken worked a walk to load the bases. In a long at-bat in which he fouled off several two-strike pitches from Skyler Riedinger, Bellows lined a single to center field that brought home both Luskey and Siegert for a 4-2 Jackrabbit lead.
Some anxious moments ensued for the Jackrabbits in the top of the eighth. Hamilton reached on a sun-aided double to right field with one out in the inning and later scored when the throw to third base on a steal attempt glanced far enough off the glove of Grawe to allow Hamilton to race home. Driessen then walked each of the next three batters to load the bases, but the junior right-hander got out of the jam by striking out Alex Urlaub looking on a 3-2 pitch.
SDSU countered with more two-out hitting in the bottom of the eighth. Adam Benes led off with a single against Bison reliever Sam Roberts, but remained there after the next two Jackrabbit hitters were retired. However, Benes moved up two bases on an errant pickoff attempt and scored on Grawe’s third hit of the game, an infield single back up the middle. Grawe then circled the bases as Luskey doubled to the fence in left field for the Jackrabbit first baseman’s third hit of the game.
The Jackrabbits ended up with a 13-3 advantage in the hit column for the game. Siegert added two hits for SDSU.
Driessen worked a perfect top of the ninth to close out his second win of the season. He struck out four and walked three over the final 2 1/3 innings. Peters also fanned four and walked three in his season-best five-plus innings.
For NDSU, Johnson recorded nine strikeouts, walked two and scattered seven hits over six solid frames.
UP NEXT
The two squads are scheduled to play a doubleheader Saturday, starting at 11 a.m.
NOTES
- NDSU leads the season series, 2-1
- The Jackrabbits hold a 132-87 advantage in the all-time series
- SDSU improved to 7-3 in games at Erv Huether Field this season
- Bellows is a combined 6-for-9 with five RBIs in three games this week
- Grawe turned his third consecutive multi-hit game and also is batting .667 (8-for-12) with three RBIs and seven runs scored this week
- Benes is batting .522 (12-for-22) in home games this season
- Luskey upped his league-leading season RBI total to 51 and has driven in 82 runs in 82 career games