SDSU claims series with 9-8 win at Oral Roberts

Sunday, March 24

Tulsa, Okla.

1 p.m.

South Dakota State University

11-10, 4-2

Oral Roberts

10-11, 4-2

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
South Dakota State	0	3	0	0	1	3	1	0	1	9	14	1
Oral Roberts	0	0	0	0	4	1	2	1	0	8	11	1

Photo by: Mike Janes/Four Seam Images

3/24/2019 5:19:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

TULSA, Okla. – Luke Ira doubled in the winning run with two outs in the top of the ninth inning as South Dakota State recovered from a couple comeback bids by Oral Roberts for a 9-8, series-clinching victory in Summit League baseball action Sunday afternoon at J.L. Johnson Stadium.

In winning two of three games over the weekend, SDSU improved to 11-10 overall and 4-2 in league play. The Golden Eagles dropped to 10-11 overall and 4-2 in The Summit League.

Ira's heroics came after the Jackrabbits had the potential go-ahead run ruled out on a play at the plate after Gus Steiger's fourth hit of the game. Steiger later advanced to second on a balk and then scored when Ira, a freshman from Iowa City, Iowa, lined a pitch to the left-center gap.

Drew Beazley, who began the game at first base before coming on to pitch in the bottom of the seventh, struck out two Oral Roberts batters in the ninth to seal the victory.

Oral Roberts rallied from a pair of deficits, first tying the game at 4-all with a four-run fifth inning that consisted of a solo home run by Trevor McCutchin and three-run blast by Hunter Wilson. The Golden Eagles scored in four consecutive innings, again knotting the game at 8-all with two runs in the seventh and a run in the eighth against the SDSU bullpen after the Jackrabbits regained an 8-5 lead.

Isaac Coffey, who also was ORU's starting pitcher, hit a solo home run in the sixth, while McCutchin added a two-run double in the seventh. The tying run in the eighth scored on a sacrifice fly by Anthony Martinez.

SDSU gained the early lead by putting together a three-run second inning. Ira, who was 2-for-5, opened the frame with a base hit and later scored on a sacrifice fly by Logan Holtz. Two batters later, Josh Falk connected on a two-run homer to left-center.

Beazley hit the first of his two doubles in the fifth inning and came around to score on a single by Steiger for a 4-0 Jackrabbit lead.

Jackrabbit starter Nic McCay retired ORU in order in each of the first three innings and held the Golden Eagles off the scoreboard until running into trouble in the fifth. The freshman right-hander struck out three and walked one in 5 1/3 innings.

SDSU went back out front with a three-run top of the sixth. Braeden Brown scored the lead run on a fielders choice before Beazley delivered a two-run double off the wall in right-center that scored both Holtz and Falk.

Steiger added a solo home run – his team-leading fourth of the season – to lead off the Jackrabbits' top of the seventh.

The Jackrabbits out-hit ORU, 14-11, with Steiger going 4-for-5 and both Beazley and Brown collecting three hits apiece.

Beazley was credited with his first collegiate victory after pitching the final 2 1/3 innings.

UP NEXT
SDSU opens a three-game Summit League series Friday afternoon at Purdue Fort Wayne. First pitch is slated for 3 p.m. Eastern Time (2 p.m. Central) at Mastodon Field in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

NOTES

All three games in the series were decided by one run
The Jackrabbits improved to 4-4 in one-run games this season
SDSU is the only program to win a Summit League series at Oral Roberts, also accomplishing the feat by winning two of three games at J.L. Johnson Stadium in 2015 (April 24-26)
Jackrabbit pitchers combined to limit Oral Roberts to a .232 team batting average in the three-game series
Steiger tallied his second four-hit game of the season, with the other against UA Little Rock on March 8
Steiger has reached base safely by hit or base on balls in 16 consecutive games
Nick Smith had his streak of reaching base safely in 11 straight games come to an end
Ira notched his team-leading 11^th multi-hit game, while Steiger recorded his 10^th multi-hit game and seventh multi-RBI game of the season
SDSU's starting pitchers have logged five-plus innings in 15 of 21 games this season, including all three games of the weekend series