GRAND FORKS, N.D. – Matt Johnson went 3-for-3 and drove in three runs to lead South Dakota State to a 6-3 victory over North Dakota in non-conference baseball action Wednesday afternoon at Kraft Memorial Field.
The Jackrabbits improved to 19-28 overall, while UND dropped to 8-31.
SDSU never trailed, although the game was tied on two occasions. The Jackrabbits opened the scoring in the third inning as Paul Jacobson led off with a single, moved to second on a groundout and scored on Johnson's single to right field.
UND tied the game on an RBI single by Miles Lewis in the home half of the third, but the Jackrabbits regained the lead in the fifth inning on back-to-back bases-loaded walks to Newt Johnson and Anthony Schneider. UND pitchers issued 10 bases on balls in the game.
Again the Fighting Hawks answered in their next at-bat, tying the game at 3-all on a two-run double by Brett Harrison.
Matt Johnson factored in the scoring for the final three runs of the game. He led off the seventh inning with a double and later scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch. In the eighth, Johnson doubled for the second consecutive inning, scoring both pinch-runner Zach Holt and Luke Ringhofer. Ringhofer tallied two hits in the game, extending his streak of games reaching base safely to 39.
Chris Halbur blanked UND over the final two innings to earn his second save of the season, striking out three batters. Ethan Kenkel pitched a scoreless sixth inning to pick up the win. Austin Kost started on the mound for SDSU and struck out three batters in two scoreless frames.
The Jackrabbits return to action Friday, hosting Oral Roberts at 3 p.m. in the first game of a three-game Summit League series.
SOUTH DAKOTA STATE 6, NORTH DAKOTA 3
SDSUÂ Â Â Â 001Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 020Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 120Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 6-8-1
UNDÂ Â Â Â Â 001Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 020Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 000Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 3-8-0
SDSU: Austin Kost, Joe Erickson (3), Derek Feige (4), Ethan Kenkel (6), Ryan Froom (7), Derringer Huff (8), Chris Halbur (8) and Luke Ringhofer. UND: Jack Collins, Nick Gagnon (5), Henry Berning (5), Austin Crank (6), Zach Finley (8), Andrew Favaro (8) and Brett Harrison, Hayden May.
W-Kenkel (1-3). L-Crank (0-2). Save-Halbur (2).
HR: none.
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