FARGO, N.D. — North Dakota State pushed an unearned run across in the bottom of the ninth inning to complete a sweep of a Summit League baseball doubleheader against South Dakota State Friday afternoon at Newman Outdoor Field. The Bison won the opener, 5-2, before rallying for a 3-2 victory in Game 2.
NDSU improved to 8-16 overall and 6-2 in The Summit League. The Jackrabbits dropped to 4-18 overall and 2-6 in league play.
Game 1: North Dakota State 5, South Dakota State 2
NDSU scored three times in the bottom of the fourth inning and made that lead stand up behind the pitching of Nolan Johnson to win the opener.
SDSU starter Caleb Duerr opened the game with three shutout innings, but did not record an out in the fourth as the Bison began the frame with four straight hits. Dante Smith led off with a double and scored on a base hit by Colten Becker. Davis Hamilton followed with a single, with Sam Canton delivered the go-ahead RBI single. Hamilton scored the final run of the inning on a sacrifice fly by Noah Gordon, who was the first batter Jackrabbit reliever Ty Madison faced.
The Bison pushed their lead to 5-1 with single runs in the fifth and eighth innings.
The Jackrabbits took a 1-0 lead two batters into the game. Carter Sintek led off with a single and freshman Nolan Grawe doubled to the left-field corner.
SDSU left the bases loaded in the bottom of the first and missed out on another opportunity to add to its lead in the top of the fourth as they had a runner thrown out a home on a safety squeeze play. The Jackrabbits would end up stranding 12 runners on base, including two men in each of the seventh and eighth innings.
Sintek singled and scored on a groundout in the top of the ninth as he led the Jackrabbits’ 10-hit effort by going 3-for-4. Luke Luskey and Jess Bellows each tallied two hits.
Johnson scattered seven hits in 6 2/3 innings of one-run baseball for the Bison. The left-hander struck out four and walked three. Danny Lachenmayer pitched the final two innings for his third save of the season.
Becker was the lone player for the Bison with more than one hit as he tallied two of NDSU’s six hits.
Reece Arbogast and Jude Sundquist each gave up one run in their two-inning relief stints for the Jackrabbits.
Game 2: North Dakota State 3, South Dakota State 2
Becker singled in Jake Schaffner for the winning run with two outs as the Bison overcame a late deficit.
Schaffner started the game-winning rally by reaching on an infield single and advancing to second base when SDSU pitcher Dylan Driessen’s flip throw to first base on the play was off the mark. Schaffner stole third before Becker lined a single to right field.
Becker tied the game at 2-all on an RBI single by Becker in the seventh inning. Schaffner scored on that play, as well, but SDSU center fielder Owen Siegert’s throw home was in time to cut down Smith to keep the game knotted.
Schaffner, who was 3-for-5, doubled and scored in the first inning to give NDSU an early advantage, but SDSU responded with runs in the fifth and sixth innings to take the lead. Three straight two-out singles by Bryce Ronken, Grawe and Sintek accounted for the fifth-inning run, while Keagen Jirschele came through with a two-out double to right field that scored Siegert in the sixth.
Becker also tallied three of NDSU’s 11 hits.
Owen Bishop worked the first three innings for the Jackrabbits, followed by Jake Goble tossing three scoreless innings in relief.
Logan Knight completed five innings for NDSU with six strikeouts before giving way to Landon Koenig, who struck out four batters in three frames. Skyler Riedinger was credited with the win after throwing a scoreless top of the ninth.
Sintek and Jirschele each collected two of the Jackrabbits’ seven hits.
UP NEXT
Saturday’s scheduled series finale has been postponed due to impending inclement weather. The game will be added to the series when SDSU hosts the Bison April 25-27 in Brookings.
Next action for the Jackrabbits is Tuesday (April 1) against the University of Sioux Falls. First pitch is set for 1 p.m. at Erv Huether Field.
NOTES
- SDSU leads the all-time series, 131-87, although NDSU holds a 43-39 advantage in Summit League regular season games since the two programs joined the league in 2008
- The Jackrabbits dropped to 1-5 in one-run games this season
- With hits in each game of the doubleheader, Grawe extended his hitting streak to 18 games to rank as the longest by a Jackrabbit freshman by surpassing Luke Ringhofer’s string of 17 games in 2015
- Siegert upped his hitting streak to eight games
- Sintek went 5-for-9 in the doubleheader and has hit safely in six consecutive games
- Goble struck out the side in order upon entering the game in the bottom of the fourth
- The Jackrabbit pitching staff has given up only one home run over its last 10 games