SDSU comeback falls short

Saturday, April 28

Fort Wayne, Ind.

1 p.m.

South Dakota State University

11-24, 9-8

Fort Wayne

10-26, 6-14

South Dakota State

Fort Wayne

Photo by: Dave Eggen/Inertia

4/28/2018 5:22:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

By: Jason Hove

FORT WAYNE, Ind. — The South Dakota State University baseball team had its comeback bid fall just short in a 6-5 loss at Fort Wayne in Summit League action Saturday afternoon at Mastodon Field.

In evening the three-game weekend series at a game apiece, Fort Wayne improved to 10-26 overall and 6-14 in league play. SDSU dropped to 11-24 overall and 9-8 in The Summit League.

Trailing 5-0, the Jackrabbits got on the board in the top of the fifth on a two-run double by Newt Johnson that scored Anthony Schneider and Tony Kjolsing.

Fort Wayne got a run back in the home half of the fifth on an RBI single by Mike Snyder, but the Jackrabbits responded with two more runs in the sixth as Kjolsing came up with a two-out, two-run single that drove in both Landon Badger and Schneider.

As Jackrabbit reliever Bryce Johnson kept the Mastodons off the board with 3 2/3 scoreless innings, SDSU made it a one-run game in the eighth. The first two Jackrabbit batters reached and moved into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt by Ian Cote. Schneider then lifted a fly ball to left field that scored Badger to make the score 6-5, but the trail runner on the play was thrown out at third base after Badger crossed home.

SDSU again placed the first two batters of the ninth inning on base as Kjolsing drew a leadoff walk and Nick Smith singled. However, Fort Wayne pitcher Cameron Boyd induced a double-play grounder and notched his only strikeout of the game to end the Jackrabbit threat and the ball game.

Fort Wayne took advantage of three wild pitches to score twice in the second inning, then added three runs in the third inning against the Jackrabbit bullpen to build a 5-0 lead. Dylan Wilbert plated the first two runs in the third with a single, while Snyder was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to force in the other run.

Mastodon starter Damian Helm struck out five and walked two over six innings to earn the win. Boyd pitched the final three innings to pick up the save.

The Jackrabbits held a 10-9 edge in hits as Badger went 3-for-4 to lead the way. Schneider, Smith and Newt Johnson each added two hits. Brady Hettinger and Zak Kellogg each tallied two hits to lead Fort Wayne.

UP NEXT
The Jackrabbits and Mastodons are scheduled to play the decisive game of the series at 1 p.m. Eastern (noon Central) on Sunday.

NOTES
• Fort Wayne ended a 10-game losing streak to the Jackrabbits
• Smith extended his hitting streak to a career-best 14 games, which has included nine multi-hit games in that span
• Newt Johnson has reached base safely in 28 consecutive games
• Newt Johnson recorded his team-leading eighth multi-RBI game of the season
• SDSU stole four bases in the game, including one by Kjolsing, who upped his team-leading total to 13

-GoJacks.com-