Jacks drop series finale to Fort Wayne

Sunday, May 8

Brookings, S.D.

1:00 PM

South Dakota State University

18-28, 12-12

Fort Wayne

23-24, 8-16

IPFW

South Dakota State

5/8/2016 4:42:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

BROOKINGS, S.D. – Fort Wayne scored in every inning, pounding out 19 hits in an 18-7, seven-inning victory over South Dakota State in the decisive game of a three-game Summit League baseball series Sunday afternoon at Erv Huether Field.

Greg Kaiser homered twice and Brandon Soat tallied his second five-hit game of the series to lead the Mastodons, who improved to 23-24 overall and 8-16 in The Summit League. SDSU dropped to 18-28 overall and 12-12 in league play.

Run-scoring singles by Shane Trevino and Brock Logan gave Fort Wayne a 2-0 first-inning lead, and the Mastodons built the advantage to 7-0 on a grand slam by Kaiser in the second that contributed to an early departure for Jackrabbit starter Ryan Froom.

Matt Johnson put the Jackrabbits on the board with a two-run homer to center field in the bottom of the second and Cody Sharrow added an RBI double later in the frame.

The Mastodons extended their lead to 14-3 on an RBI single by Soat in the third inning and three-run home runs by Shannon Baker and Kaiser off SDSU reliever Henry DeCaster in the fourth.

Newt Johnson contributed an RBI single in the home half of the fifth and Paul Jacobson capped the Jackrabbit scoring with a two-run home run to left in the sixth. It was Jacobson's second home run of the series and tied him for the team lead with Matt Johnson with seven round-trippers on the season.

Fort Wayne ended the game via the 10-run rule by tacking on a run in the top of the seventh as Soat collected his fifth hit of the game and second triple in as many innings to plate Alec Reuille for the final run of the game.

Soat, who was 5-for-5 on Sunday, finished the three-game series 13-for-15 (.867 batting average) with 11 runs batted in. Six of his 13 hits went for extra bases as he collected three doubles, two triples and a home run.

Kaiser finished the game 4-for-5 with four runs scored and seven RBI as the Mastodons ended the game with 19 hits.

Matt Johnson, Nick Smith and Sharrow each posted two of the Jackrabbits' nine hits. Both of Sharrow's hits were doubles.

Mastodon starter Brandon Pease worked the first five innings to pick up the win. The left-hander allowed five runs on seven hits while striking out four and walking three.

SDSU is scheduled to play a doubleheader Wednesday at North Dakota before returning to Summit League action Friday against Oral Roberts.

FORT WAYNE 18, SOUTH DAKOTA STATE 7 [7 inn.]
IPFW 251 612 1 18-19-1
SDSU 030 112 0 7-9-0
IPFW: Brandon Pease, Adam Neal (6), Jordan Martin (6), Jake Weber (7) and Jonathan Valenzuela-Reece. SDSU: Ryan Froom, Henry DeCaster (3), Chris Halbur (5), Bryce Hanson (7) and Luke Ringhofer.
W-Pease (2-2). L-Froom (2-6). Save-none.
HR: IPFW-Greg Kaiser 2 (11), Shannon Baker (1); SDSU-Matt Johnson (7), Paul Jacobson (7).