MINNEAPOLIS – Matt Johnson and Newt Johnson each hit home runs and freshman Tyler Olmstead pitched five strong innings for his first collegiate victory as South Dakota State defeated Minnesota-Crookston, 8-4, on Wednesday.
The Jackrabbits, who won three times in their four-game slate at U.S. Bank Stadium, improved to 5-5 overall. Minnesota-Crookston dropped to 3-3.
After the Golden Eagles scored a run in the top of the first, Newt Johnson put SDSU out front with a three-run home run to left-center field, scoring Nick Smith and Phil Velez ahead of him. The Jackrabbits tacked on another run later in the frame on an RBI groundout by Skyler Wenninger that plated Matt Johnson, who followed Newt Johnson's home run with a double.
Philip Jacobson, who was 3-for-4, pushed the Jackrabbit lead to 5-1 in the third inning with a run-scoring single.
Olmstead surrendered an unearned run in the fifth inning as he finished his first collegiate start with seven strikeouts and no walks. Brett Mogen followed with five strikeouts over three innings in which he allowed one earned run. Chris Halbur added a strikeout in a scoreless ninth inning as SDSU finished with 13 strikeouts against only one base on balls.
Matt Johnson led off the seventh inning with his second home run of the season. SDSU scored two more runs later in the inning on a wild pitch and Smith's RBI bunt single.
Smith paced the Jackrabbits' 14-hit attack by going 4-for-5. Luke Ringhofer, Matt Johnson and Newt Johnson each tallied two hits.
For Minnesota-Crookston, leadoff hitter Anthony Stewart went 4-for-5, including a leadoff double, and scored the first three Golden Eagle runs. The final run of the game came on back-to-back doubles by Mitchell Bornhauser and Riley Thompson.
UP NEXT
The Jackrabbits open a three-game series Friday at returning College World Series qualifier Oklahoma State. First pitch Friday is set for 4 p.m.
NOTES: Wednesday's game marked the first-ever matchup between SDSU and Minnesota-Crookston on the baseball diamond. ... Matt Johnson has hit safely in all 10 games this season. ... Matt Johnson's home run was the 16th of his career. ... Smith tallied his third multi-hit game of the U.S. Bank Stadium series and sixth of the season to raise his batting average to a team-best .450. ... Halbur has not allowed a run in six appearances this season and has struck out nine batters in seven innings, while limiting the opposition to a .091 batting average
SOUTH DAKOTA STATE 8, MINNES0TA-CROOKSTON 4
UMC 100 010 110 – 4 9 0
SDSU 401 000 30x – 8 14 2
UMC: Jacob Butcher, Jayden Grover (4), Aaron Hollcraft (6), Wyatt Huso (7), Matthew Dallas (7), Cayden Barta (8) and Zach Frazier. SDSU: Tyler Olmstead, Brett Mogen (6), Chris Halbur (9) and Kolton Michalski. W-Olmstead (1-0). L-Butcher (0-1). HR: SDSU-Newt Johnson (1), Matt Johnson (2).
Gophers overcome Schneider homers
MINNEAPOLIS – Anthony Schneider hit a pair of home runs for South Dakota State, but Minnesota put together two big innings for a 7-5 victory Tuesday night at U.S. Bank Stadium.
The Jackrabbits dropped to 4-5 overall, while Minnesota improved to 7-4 overall.
Minnesota jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning as two Golden Gophers scored on a fielder's choice and ensuing errant throw. Matt Stemper plated the final run of the frame – and second unearned run – with a sacrifice fly.
Schneider led off the top of the second with a home run over the curtain in right-center field and SDSU trimmed the deficit to 3-2 on Matt Johnson's run-scoring single up the middle in the third. Johnson has hit safely in all nine Jackrabbit games this season.
The Golden Gophers countered with a four-run home half of the third during which they knocked out SDSU starter Austin Kost. Micah Coffey drove in Terrin Vavra with a single for the first run and Stemper delivered a two-run double down the left-field line. An RBI infield single by Troy Traxler later in the inning brought home Stemper.
While the Jackrabbit bullpen kept Minnesota at bay, SDSU continued to chip away. Philip Jacobson scored on a wild pitch in the top of the fourth, while Schneider tallied what would turn out to be the final runs of the game with a two-run blast to right field. Schneider now leads the Jackrabbits with three home runs this season.
Bryce Hanson struck out two over three shutout innings for the Jackrabbits, followed by two shutout frames from freshman Quinn Reimers and one by Ethan Kenkel.
Minnesota stater Nolan Burchill was credited with the victory after allowing three runs over 3 2/3 innings. He walked two and struck out one. Tim Shannon hurled a perfect ninth inning for the save.
Vavra and Alex Boxwell each collected two of the Golden Gophers' 11 hits. Nick Smith and Schneider posted two hits each for the Jackrabbits, who finished with seven hits.
MINNESOTA 7, SOUTH DAKOTA STATE 5
SDSU 011 120 000 – 5 7 2
MINN 304 000 00x – 7 11 1
SDSU: Austin Kost, Bryce Hanson (3), Quinn Reimers (6), Ethan Kenkel (8) and Luke Ringhofer. MINN: Nolan Burchill, Jackson Rose (4), Jeff Fasching (7), Tim Shannon (9) and Matt Stemper. W-Burchill (1-1). L-Kost (0-2). Sv-Shannon (1). HR: SDSU-Anthony Schneider 2 (3).
Big sixth innings lead to SDSU sweep
MINNEAPOLIS – SDSU scored five runs in the sixth inning of both games to sweep Waldorf by scores of 10-4 and 5-3 in a baseball doubleheader that ended in the wee hours of Tuesday morning at U.S. Bank Stadium.
With their two victories, the Jackrabbits evened their overall season record at 4-4. Waldorf dropped to 2-10 on the season.
In Game 1, SDSU spotted Waldorf a 3-0 first-inning lead before scoring 10 of the final 11 runs.
Nick Smith led off the Jackrabbits' home half of the first and scored on a sacrifice fly by Luke Ringhofer to put SDSU on the board.
SDSU tied the game at 3 in the bottom of the third without the benefit of a hit. Four walks, including a free pass to Matt Johnson with the bases loaded, and an RBI groundout by Landon Badger led to two Jackrabbit runs.
The Jackrabbits gained the lead for good with two runs in the fourth. Skyler Wenninger scored on Smith's second hit of the game and Smith later scored the third of his four runs in the contest on an error.
After Waldorf countered with a run in the top of the sixth, the Jackrabbits broke the game open with the five-run sixth-inning rally that started after a two-out error. Smith scored the first run of the frame on a wild pitch, then Newt Johnson drove in two runs with a ground-rule double to left field. Matt Johnson and Landon Badger each delivered run-scoring singles to close out the scoring.
Ryan Froom shook off a rough first inning to post a seven-inning, complete-game victory. The senior right-hander from nearby Crystal, Minnesota, allowed four hits and a walk in the first inning, then held the Warriors to two hits the rest of the way. Froom struck out six and walked three, en route to his second win of the season.
Smith was 2-for-3 to lead the Jackrabbits' eight-hit effort. Newt Johnson and Matt Johnson each drove in two runs.
In Game 2, SDSU again trailed 3-0 before Newt Johnson and Matt Johnson started the Jackrabbit sixth-inning rally with back-to-back doubles. Philip Jacobson tied the game with a two-run, two-out single, with Phil Velez scoring the go-ahead run on a wild pitch. Jacobson scored the final run of the inning on the back end of a double steal.
Waldorf out-hit the Jackrabbits, 10-6. The Warriors scored single runs in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings.
Jacobson went 2-for-3 to be the only SDSU player with more than one hit.
Derek Feige picked up the win in relief of Jackrabbit starter Brady Stover. Chris Halbur struck out the side in order in the top of the seventh for his second save of the season.
