BROOKINGS, S.D. – St. Thomas left-hander Owen Marsolek carried a shutout into the eighth inning to lead the Tommies to a 4-2 victory over South Dakota State in Summit League baseball action Saturday afternoon at Erv Huether Field.
In squaring the three-game series at a game apiece, St. Thomas improved to 10-35 overall and 7-15 in league play. SDSU dropped to 19-27 overall and 10-12 in The Summit League.
St. Thomas took advantage of SDSU errors to score in the second and fourth innings. After Matthew Maulik reached first base on an infield single and moved into scoring position on an ensuing throwing error, Adam Puder doubled off Jackrabbit starter Sam Novotny to plate Maulik with the first run of the game.
The Tommies opened the fourth inning with back-to-back walks before Maulik dropped down a bunt in front of home plate. The throw to third base sailed into left field, allowing Joe Roder to score and the other two runners to move up a base. Puder then notched his second run batted in of the game with a sacrifice fly.
UST added a run against the Jackrabbit bullpen in the sixth inning on an RBI single by Nolan Welke.
Marsolek limited the Jackrabbits to three hits through the first seven innings — singles by Nate Wachter in the first inning, Luke Luskey in the fourth and Luke Jones in the seventh. SDSU would load the bases with two outs in the seventh on walks to Luke Wroblewski and Nolan Grawe, but Marsolek was able to get out of the jam with the 10th of his 12 strikeouts in the game.
The Jackrabbits would finally get to Marsolek with a two-out rally in the eighth. After Marsolek struck out the first two hitters of the frame, Carter Taylor was hit by a pitch and Jones walked. Pinch hitter Mason Lang then came through with a single to right field on a 3-2 pitch to plate Taylor and bring an end to Marsolek’s outing.
Nic Werk then greeted reliever Zak Endres with a run-scoring single to cut the deficit to 4-2, but Endres was able to retire the next hitter to end the inning and set the Jackrabbits down in order in the ninth to close out the game.
SDSU held a 5-4 advantage in hits. No player for either team tallied more than one hit.
Novotny walked four, allowed two hits and struck out two over four innings in taking the loss for the Jackrabbits. Jacob Sjuts (two innings) and Matthew Werk (three innings) combined to hold the Tommies to one run on two hits the rest of the way.
ON DECK
The third and decisive game of the series is scheduled for 1 p.m. Sunday.
NOTES
- SDSU leads the season series, 3-2, and the all-time series, 16-8
- The Jackrabbits dropped to 8-6 in home games this season
- Wachter is batting .551 (16-for-29) against left-handed pitching this season
- Grant Sorensen and Grawe each had their six-game hitting streaks come to an end
- Lang’s pinch hit was his team-leading fourth of the season
- Matthew Werk made his second pitching appearance of the series
- The Jackrabbits stranded 11 runners in the game as Marsolek walked seven batters