Jackrabbits double-up UND

Wednesday, April 28

Huether Field

1 p.m.

South Dakota State University

North Dakota [DH]

4/28/2010 9:00:00 PM | Baseball

By: SDSU Sports Info

South Dakota State's offensive juggernaut scored in 10 of the 12 innings in which it batted Wednesday afternoon, sweeping a pair of slugfests from North Dakota in non-conference baseball action at Erv Huether Field.

The Jackrabbits won the opener, 21-10, in a game called after seven innings by the 10-run rule, then closed out the twinbill with a 21-8 victory. Besides scoring 42 runs, SDSU tallied 46 hits in the two games, collecting 14 doubles and three home runs. SDSU improved to 25-13 overall, while UND dropped to 9-24 on the season.

In the opener, the Jackrabbits jumped out to a 9-0 lead through three innings. SDSU scored a run in the first inning when Eric Cain was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and tacked on six more in the second inning. Beau Hanowski plated the first run with a double and, after back-to-back walks, John Lee delivered a two-run double. Zach Briggs followed with a two-run single and Daniel Telford knocked in the final run of the inning with a base hit through the right side. Briggs added a run-scoring single in the third.

UND got on the board with a run in the fourth inning, then scored six consecutive runs to pull to within 10-7 in the sixth inning. UND scored four times in the fifth inning, highlighted by a two-run double by Josh Ray and run-scoring double from Aaron Cook. Three successive doubles from Josh Lagein, Craig Dolmage and Jake Magner accounted for the two sixth-inning runs.

Of UND's 10 hits in the game, six were doubles, including two by Dolmage.

SDSU responded with an 11-run outburst in the home half of the inning, sending 15 batters to the plate. Cain and Briggs each hit two-run doubles as part of a nine-hit frame.

The Jackrabbits, who notched 22 hits in the opener, received three hits each from Billy Stitz, Joel Blake, Lee, Briggs and Telford. Briggs tied a career high with five runs batted in.

Jared Koch (1-1) pitched the first five innings to record his first victory of the season. The senior right-hander allowed five runs - three earned - on five hits. He struck out three and walked two.

Neither starting pitcher lasted very long in the nitecap as the offensive onslaught continued.

UND led 8-1 after an inning and a half, scoring four runs in each of the first two innings. Josh Lagein led off the game with a home run against Jackrabbit starter Austin Busse and UND scored three more times on a pair of sacrifice flies and run-scoring single by Josh Nelson.

After Blaine Alberta relieved Busse with one out in the second inning, Jake Magner hit his seventh home run in less than a week and 13^th of the season to give UND a 7-1 lead. Kyle Bolander delivered a run-scoring single later in the frame for what would be UND"s final run of the day.

The Jackrabbits sent 12 batters to the plate in successive innings, scoring eight times in the second inning and nine more times in the third. Stitz hit a three-run home run in the second and Jesse Sawyer added a two-run shot to straight-away center field. Zach Rhodes tied the game with an RBI double later in the frame and SDSU took the lead at 9-8 on a run-scoring single by Beau Hanowski that scored Rhodes.

Rhodes hit his second of three doubles in the third inning, scoring two more runs. Sawyer, who was 4-for-5 with four RBI, added a two-run double and Cain capped the big inning with his team-leading 11^th home run, a three-run blast to left center. Cain was a perfect 5-for-5 with four runs batted in and four runs scored.

SDSU set a Division I-era team record with nine doubles in Game 2, including two by Blake, who tied his own single-season record with 21.

Alberta was credited with the victory for his first win in a Jackrabbit uniform. Alex Oberle and Trever Vermeulen each threw two scoreless innings out of the SDSU bullpen.

UND reliever David Spies was tagged with the loss after allowing 10 earned runs on 10 hits in an inning of work.

SDSU returns to Summit League play as it hosts Centenary (La.) in a key weekend series. The series opener is slated for 3 p.m. Friday at Erv Huether Field.

NOTES: SDSU leads the all-time series, 64-54-1 ... the Jackrabbits have won the last five meetings ... Koch, who missed the entire 2009 season due to injury, earned his first victory since April 5, 2008, when he defeated Centenary (La.) in a game played in Omaha, Neb. ... the Jackrabbits tallied 20 runs in a game for the fourth time this season and posted 20 hits for the seventh time ... Stitz recorded his 26^th and 27th multi-hit games of the season and extended his hitting streak to eight games ... during his eight-game hitting streak, Stitz is batting .548 (23-for-42), raising his season average to .399 ... Lee ended the day hitting .424, with Cain raising his average to .409 ... freshman catcher Nick Andrews was 2-for-5 and drove in two runs in Game 2 ... Telford played all three outfield positions in Game 2 ... Vermeulen lowered his earned run average to 0.96 after tallying four strikeouts in his two innings of work ... the Jackrabbits ended the day averaging 10.16 runs per game for the season with a team slugging percentage of .542

Game 1: SOUTH DAKOTA STATE 21, NORTH DAKOTA 10
UND 000 142 3 -- 10 10 2
SDSU 162 10(11) X -- 21 22 1
UND: Travis Clifton, Kevin Auth (3), Scott Eul (6) and Jeff Bunch. SDSU: Jared Koch, Shane Kraemer (6), Matt Spinar (7), Blaine Alberta (7) and Zach Briggs, Nick Andrews (7).
W-Koch (1-1). L-Clifton (0-3). SV-none.
HR: none.

Game 2: SOUTH DAKOTA STATE 21, NORTH DAKOTA 8
UND 440 000 0 -- 8 12 1
SDSU 189 210 X -- 21 24 1
UND: Kris Kwak, David Spies, Jameson Benson and Andy Sadler. SDSU: Austin Busse, Blaine Alberta (2), Alex Oberle (4), Trever Vermeulen (6) and Nick Andrews.
W-Alberta (1-0). L-Spies (0-3). SV-none.
HR: UND-Josh Lagein (6), Jake Magner (13); SDSU-Billy Stitz (3), Eric Cain (11), Jesse Sawyer (10).