Jackrabbits fall twice

Saturday, February 27

Wilmington, N.C.

9:00 AM

South Dakota State University

0-6

Virginia Commonwealth

3-2

VCU

South Dakota State

2/27/2016 5:31:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

By: SDSU Sports Info

WILMINGTON, N.C. – The South Dakota State University baseball team dropped a pair of games Saturday at the Hughes Bros. Challenge, falling 14-8 to Virginia Commonwealth and 10-1 to Eastern Kentucky at Brooks Field.

The Jackrabbits remained winless on the season, falling to 0-7 overall. SDSU will close out play in the Hughes Bros. Challenge with a second matchup against Eastern Kentucky. First pitch is set for 10 a.m. Eastern Time (9 a.m. Central).

Game 1: Virginia Commonwealth 14, South Dakota State 8
In the opener, South Dakota State third baseman Newt Johnson hit a pair of three-run home runs, but VCU strung together 14 consecutive runs en route to a 14-8 victory over the Jackrabbits Saturday morning.

Johnson, a sophomore from Rapid City, opened the scoring with a three-run shot to right-center in the bottom of the first inning, scoring Anthony Schneider and Luke Ringhofer ahead of him. Paul Jacobson made it 5-0 Jackrabbits an inning later with a two-run homer to center.

From there, it was all Rams. VCU scored three unearned runs against Jackrabbit starter Landon Busch in the top of the third, then sent 10 batters to the plate in a six-run fourth inning. Zach Ching and Matt Davis each drove in two runs in the fourth.

The Rams, 3-2 overall, tacked on four more runs in the fifth, starting with an RBI triple by Davis.

Johnson ended the VCU streak with a three-run homer down the left-field line in the bottom of the seventh, becoming the first Jackrabbit player to hit two home runs in a game since Aaron Machbitz in a Februrary 2014 game at Jackson State (Miss.).

VCU starter Sean Thompson struck out six and walked two to pick up the victory. Matt Jamer recorded the save by pitching the final four innings, striking out two and walking two.

For SDSU, Joe Erickson pitched 2 2/3 innings of one-run baseball in relief, followed by two shutout innings from Derringer Huff.

Johnson and Jacobson were each 3-for-5 to lead the Jackrabbits' 10-hit effort. Skyler Wenninger came off the bench to post hits in each of his two at-bats.

VCU finished with 14 hits, including three by Jimmy Kerrigan.

Game 2: Eastern Kentucky 10, South Dakota State 1
Eastern Kentucky's Mandy Alvarez with 4-for-6 with a pair of solo home runs and three RBI to lead the Colonels past SDSU, 10-1, Saturday evening.

With the game tied at 1, Alvarez gave EKU the lead for good with a homer to lead off the fifth inning. His solo shot with one out in the seventh pushed the margin to 3-1.

Both of Alvarez's home runs came against Jackrabbit starter Andrew Clemen, who struck out seven and walked four over seven solid innings.

The Colonels roughed up the SDSU bullpen in the late innings, scoring once in the eighth and ending any hopes of a Jackrabbit comeback with a six-run ninth inning that was capped by a three-run, bases-clearing double by catcher Matt Olive.

Doubles by Kyle Nowlin and Shea Sullivan in the first inning led to the first run of the game by EKU, which improved to 3-4 overall.

SDSU's lone run of the game came in the bottom of the second as Cody Sharrow was hit by a pitch, stole second and scored on Zach Holt's single to left field.

The Jackrabbits were limited to five hits by three Colonel pitchers, although SDSU second baseman Anthony Schneider extended his hitting streak to seven games with a bunt single in the third inning. Starter Hunter Dunn struck out six and allowed three hits over five innings. Caleb Johnson fanned five hitters in three shutout innings out of the bullpen.

Game 1: VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH 14, SOUTH DAKOTA STATE 8
VCU 003 640 100 14-14-1
SDSU 320 000 300 8-10-5
VCU: Sean Thompson, Matt Jamer and Walker Haymaker. SDSU: Landon Busch, Greg Casper (4), Joe Erickson (5), Derringer Huff (8) and Luke Ringhofer.
W-Thompson (2-0). L-Busch (0-2). Save-Jamer (1).
HR: SDSU-Paul Jacobson (1); Newt Johnson 2 (2).

Game 2: EASTERN KENTUCKY 10, SOUTH DAKOTA STATE 1
EKU 100 010 116 10-12-1
SDSU 010 000 000 1-5-2
EKU: Hunter Dunn, Caleb Johnson (6), Spencer Jackson (9) and Matt Olive. SDSU: Andrew Clemen, Chris Halbur (8), Ethan Kenkel (9) and Ian Cote.
W-Dunn (1-1). L-Clemen (0-2). Save-none.
HR: EKU-Mandy Alvarez 2 (3).