BROOKINGS The South Dakota State baseball team finished the regular season with two losses to Oral Roberts over the weekend.
After losing both games of a doubleheader on Thursday, SDSU lost to 13-11 on Friday and 9-2 on Saturday.
SDSU finished the regular season 16-34 overall and 12-18 in Summit League play.
The Jacks will be the No. 4 seed in the Summit League Tournament this week in Omaha. SDSU will play top-seeded Oral Roberts on Wednesday at 12 p.m. It is a double-elimination tournament.
Friday
Oral Roberts 13, SDSU 11
Oral Roberts Will Edmunson capped a four-run ninth inning with a three-run, go-ahead home run as the Golden Eagles rallied to defeat South Dakota State in a 13-11 Summit League baseball slugfest Friday afternoon at Erv Huether Field.
SDSU led 10-4 through four innings after putting multiple runs on the board in three consecutive frame. Trailing 3-0, Dagen Schramm put the Jackrabbits on the board with a two-run home run in the bottom of the second and SDSU grabbed a 7-4 lead with a five-run third inning that featured a run-scoring single by Bryce Ronken and a grand slam by Adam Benes.
Ronken added another run-scoring single in the fourth inning that was sandwiched around an RBI single by Nolan Grawe and a run-scoring groundout off the bat of Owen Siegert.
The Golden Eagles began their comeback with three runs in the fifth inning, which were aided by three SDSU errors. Owen Coil plated the first run with an infield single and another run scored on the back end of the play on a throwing error. Edmunson followed two batters later with a sacrifice fly.
ORU made it a one-run game in the seventh inning by scoring two times without the benefit of a hit. Back-to-back one-out walks put runners at first and second, with both runners moving up a base on a wild pitch before the fifth Jackrabbit error of the game allowed one run score and move another runner into scoring position.
Ronken momentarily stemmed the tide with a home run to lead off the bottom of the eighth that made the score 11-9 in favor of the Jackrabbits. Ronken and Carter Sintek combined for nine of SDSUs 15 hits, with Ronken going 4-for-5 and Sintek putting together a 5-for-6 day at the plate.
With Jackrabbit closer Dylan Driessen on the mound for his second full inning of work, Makani Tanaka started the final ORU rally with a single up the middle. Driessen bookended strikeouts around a walk to put the Jackrabbits one out away from victory.
That win proved to be elusive, however, as the two Golden Eagle baserunners advanced on a passed ball and Martell Davis lined a single off Driessens glove for an infield single to plate one run. Edmunson, who was 3-for-6 in the game, then lined an 0-1 pitch well over the fence in right field for a three-run homer.
Jack Hill pitched a perfect ninth inning to close out the win for the Golden Eagles.
ORU reliever Weston Rouse kept the Jackrabbits at bay by striking out 10 batters over his five innings on the mound as he entered the game after Golden Eagle starter Keaton Ruthardt was roughed up for seven runs on seven hits in two-plus innings.
Caleb Duerr tied a season and career high with seven strikeouts over 4 2/3 innings as the Jackrabbit freshman hurler finished with a no-decision. Driessen fanned five and walked four over his 2 2/3 innings in suffering the loss.
Saturday
Oral Roberts 9, SDSU 2
Oral Roberts starter Brendan Asher limited South Dakota State to two runs over six innings for a Golden Eagles squad that finished off a four-game sweep of a Summit League baseball series with a 9-2 victory Saturday afternoon at Erv Huether Field.
After leaving runners at the corners in each of the first two innings, the Golden Eagles broke a scoreless deadlock with a pair of runs in the top of the fourth. Ethan Fender and Keaton Campbell opened the frame with back-to-back singles off SDSU starter Dylan Richey. Fender came around to score on a base hit by Martell Davis and Campbell later crossed home plate on a sacrifice fly by Will Edmunson.
The two squads traded two-run half-innings in the fifth. The Golden Eagles upped their lead to 4-0 when Wailele Kane-Yates was hit by a pitch to open the inning and scored on a sacrifice fly by Fender. Campbells third of three hits in the game plated another run.
SDSUs lone rally of the game began when Jess Bellows reached on an error. Davis Carr followed with a solid single to left and a bunt single by Keagen Jirschele loaded the bases. Pinch hitter Dayton Franke looped a single to center field to drive in Bellows and Carter Sintek added a sacrifice fly that scored Carr.
Asher, meanwhile, put another zero on the board in the sixth inning to finish his outing with four strikeouts and two walks while scattering five hits. Three different ORU relievers each logged one scoreless inning to close out the victory.
ORU added a run on its third sacrifice fly of the game in the sixth inning and tacked on four more runs in the eighth. Edmunson hit his third home run of the series to open the eighth and Makani Tanaka added a two-run single. The final run of the game scored on a bloop double down the right-field line by Matthew Brandt.
Cooper Combs and Jack Schark also tallied three of ORUs 17 hits. The Jackrabbits eight hits were spread among eight different players.
Seven different pitchers went to the mound for SDSU. Richey turned in the longest outing as he went 3 1/3 innings, allowing two runs on eight hits.
Notes
- Oral Roberts swept the season series, 6-0.
- The Jackrabbits ended the home portion of their schedule with an 11-9 record.
- Bryce Ronken doubled in the eighth inning to reach base safely for the 29th consecutive game.
- Nolan Grawe upped his hitting streak to 10 games with an infield single in the eighth.\
- SDSU committed four errors in Saturdays game and committed 16 miscues in the four-game series.
- Alex Clemons made his 72nd career appearance, moving him into a tie with Brett Mogen (72 appearances from 2017-21) for fourth place on the SDSU all-time charts.
- Ty Madison made his team-leading 21st appearance of the season.
Leave a Reply