Jackrabbits sweep series at Omaha

Sunday, March 19

Omaha, Neb. [Isaacson Field]

noon

South Dakota State University

9-7, 0

Omaha

2-17, 0

South Dakota State

Omaha

Photo by: Inertia Sports Media/Dave Eggen

3/19/2017 4:57:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

OMAHA, Neb. – Skyler Wenninger drove in a career-high four runs, including two in an eight-run sixth inning, as the South Dakota State University baseball team completed a Summit League series sweep of Omaha with a 13-4 victory Sunday afternoon at Isaacson Field.

The Jackrabbits improved to 9-7 overall and 3-0 in league play. Omaha dropped to 2-16 overall and 0-3 in The Summit League.

Omaha scored three times in the bottom of the first inning as the Mavericks took their first — and only – lead of the series. Cole Thibodeau led off with a single and later scored on Parker Smejkal's single up the middle. The other two Maverick runs scored on a pair of two-out hits — a triple by Cole Patterson and a single by Nate Mallott.

SDSU starter Tyler Olmstead would keep the Mavericks off the board the rest of his outing as he exited with one out in the fifth. The freshman right-hander struck out two and walked two while surrendering five hits — four of which came in the first inning. Bryce Hanson followed with 1 2/3 innings of scoreless relief to pick up the win.

The Jackrabbits tied the game at 3-all with a three-run fourth inning. Newt Johnson started the rally with a single, moved to third on an error and scored on Anthony Schneider's base hit to left. Two batters later, Wenninger knotted the game with a double down the left-field line that scored both Matt Johnson and Schneider.

SDSU sent 14 men to the plate in the decisive sixth inning. Schneider walked to lead off the frame and, after the second Omaha error of the game, Phil Velez broke the deadlock with a two-run single to center and Nick Smith followed with a double to right-center that brought Velez home for a 6-3 lead. After the Jackrabbits' second out of the inning, the next six SDSU batters all singled, the last of whom was Wenninger, who plated two more runs to up the SDSU lead to 11-3.

Luke Ringhofer, Matt Johnson, and Schneider also recorded RBIs in the string of hits.

Omaha ended the string of 11 consecutive runs with a run of its own in the eighth, but the Jackrabbits closed the scoring in the top of the ninth on an RBI double by Newt Johnson and a run-scoring groundout by pinch-hitter Jake Thompson.

All nine starters for the Jackrabbits notched at least one hit. Ringhofer and Newt Johnson each tallied three of SDSU's 16 hits. Jack Kalina and Andrew Hall each posted two of Omaha's nine hits.

UP NEXT
The Jackrabbits are scheduled to play a non-conference game at Mount Marty on Wednesday. First pitch is slated for 3 p.m. at Riverside Park in Yankton.

NOTES
• The Jackrabbits last started the Summit League schedule with a 3-0 mark in 2010, when it swept a four-game series at Fort Wayne
• SDSU has won five of the last six meetings against the Mavericks dating back to last season
• The Jackrabbits swept a series from Omaha for the first time since winning four games in a row during the 1994 season (April 8-10)
• SDSU outscored Omaha, 33-6, in the three-game series and held a 44-21 advantage in hits as the Jackrabbits batted .355 as a team
• The Jackrabbits scored double figures in runs in back-to-back games for the first time since defeating North Dakota State by scores of 11-3 and 14-7 April 15-16 at Erv Huether Field
• SDSU turned eight double plays in the three-game series, including two on Sunday
• Matt Johnson extended his hitting streak to 16 games, which is tied with Nick Adams (2006) for the fourth-longest in the Division I era of Jackrabbit baseball
• Newt Johnson has hit safely in 14 of the 15 games in which he has played this season, including the last seven
• Wenninger had one RBI for the season entering play Sunday, and his previous single-game career high was two against Oral Roberts on March 18, 2016

SOUTH DAKOTA STATE 13, OMAHA 4
SDSU 000 308 002 13-16-1
UNO 300 000 010 4- 9-2
SDSU: Tyler Olmstead, Bryce Hanson (5), Quinn Reimers (7), Ethan Kenkel (8), Austin Kost (9) and Luke Ringhofer. UNO: Grant Suponchick, Shane Meltz (5), Brett Sasse (6), Nick Drahozal (6), David Flattery (7), James Smith (9) and Nate Mallott.
W-Hanson (2-0). L-Meltz (0-2). Save-none.
HR: none.

-GoJacks.com-