Jacks put together complete victory in opener

Friday, February 15

Russellville, Ark.

4 p.m.

South Dakota State University

1-0

UT Martin

0-1

South Dakota State

UT Martin

Photo by: Inertia Sports Media/Dave Eggen

2/15/2019 8:53:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – South Dakota State received offensive production up and down its lineup and four Jackrabbit pitchers combined to strike out 14 UT Martin hitters in a 15-3 season-opening win in college baseball action Friday afternoon at Tech Field.

Starting pitcher Brady Stover fanned nine batters in five shutout innings to pace SDSU on the mound. Rapid City native Cody Carlson added four strikeouts in three innings out of the bullpen in his Jackrabbit debut as SDSU took a shutout into the ninth.

Meanwhile, the Jackrabbit offense got on track early, scoring runs in bunches. After being retired in order in the top of the first, SDSU scored three times in both the second and third innings. Landon Badger plated the first run of the game with a double that scored Braeden Brown, who walked. Two batters later, Derek Hackman hit an opposite-field home run to left field for a 3-0 lead.

SDSU strung together four consecutive singles to open the third inning, including run-scoring hits by Gus Steiger and Josh Falk. The third run of the frame scored on an error.

The Jackrabbits tacked on five more runs in the fourth, knocking out UT Martin starter Winston Cannon. The SDSU onslaught was highlighted by a run-scoring double by freshman Drew Beazley, Falk's second run-scoring hit of the game and a two-run homer by Brown, a junior college transfer.

Stover struck out at least one batter in each of his five innings of work, with eight of his nine K's coming on swinging third strikes. He limited UT Martin to a pair of hits, walked two and hit one batter.

Freshman third baseman Luke Ira, who was a home run away from the cycle in his first collegiate game, singled in a run as part of a two-run sixth inning and Falk capped the Jackrabbit scoring with a two-run homer to left in the seventh. Both Ira and Falk were 3-for-5 to lead SDSU's 16-hit attack.

The shutout bid ended in the ninth as UT Martin scored three times. The first Skyhawk run came across on a wild pitch, while Blake Daniels added a two-run single.

Sean Dixon collected two of UT Martin's five hits.

UP NEXT
Game 2 of the three-game series is scheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday

NOTES

SDSU improved to 5-10 in season openers during the Division I era (since 2005), including a 2-1 mark under current head coach Rob Bishop
The Jackrabbits' 15 runs were the most in a season opener at the Division I level, surpassing the 11 against Texas Southern in 2014
Hackman and Brown each hit their first home runs in a Jackrabbit uniform
Falk's four runs batted in were a single-game career high
SDSU did not commit an error
UT Martin reliever Jefferey O'Doherty struck out four Jackrabbit batters in the fifth inning
The game was moved to Arkansas Tech's campus after inclement weather was forecast for the entire weekend in the Martin, Tennessee, area

-GoJacks.com-