GREELEY, Colo. – South Dakota State scored three times in the top of the ninth to claim a 6-3 victory to wrap up a suspended game against Northern Colorado, then carried the momentum through for a 12-9 victory in the series finale to complete a sweep of a four-game nonconference college baseball series at Jackson Field.
With the two victories Sunday, the Jackrabbits improved to 5-2 overall. UNC dropped to 2-5 on the season.
The suspended game resumed in the top of the seventh, tied at 3-all. After the international tiebreaker went into effect for the second game in a row in the eighth inning, each team stranded a man at third base, with the Jackrabbits turning a 6-4-3 inning-ending double play.
In the ninth,
Luke Ira gave SDSU a 4-3 lead with a double to left-center that scored
Landon Badger, who had been placed on second base to begin the inning. The Jackrabbits' added some insurance as freshman
Jess Bellows doubled to the same gap, scoring both Ira and
Derek Hackman for the 6-3 advantage.
Drew Beazley, who entered the game for the final out on Saturday before play was halted, went the rest of the way to earn the victory. He struck out three, while walking two.
SDSU had taken a 3-0 lead Saturday, scoring an unearned run in the bottom the third. The Jackrabbits added two runs in the top of the sixth on an RBI triple by
Garrett Stout, who later scored on a bunt single by
Colton Cox.
Jackrabbit starter
Ryan Bourassa, who finished with 11 strikeouts, kept UNC off the board until the Bears put together a two-out rally in the home half of the sixth. Hayden Heinze scored the first run on a single by Sam Leach and Leach later scored on a base hit by Josh Glenn. Ben McKay plated pinch runner Blake Tweedt with the tying run on a double off Beazley.
The Jackrabbits' seven hits were scattered among seven players.
SOUTH DAKOTA STATE 12, NORTHERN COLORADO 9
The Jackrabbits hit three home runs, including two in a six-run sixth inning, before holding off Northern Colorado, 12-9, to finish off the sweep.
Wyatt Andersen gave SDSU a 2-0 lead in the top of the second as he lined a double down the third-base line that scored both
Derek Hackman and Bellows.
Carson Max connected on an opposite-field three-run homer to left in the fourth inning to put the Jackrabbits ahead 5-3, but Northern Colorado countered with a three-run home half of the frame that was highlighted by a two-run shot by Ben McKay.
Riley McSherry entered in relief of Jackrabbit starter
Owen Bishop with one out and facing the tying run in the bottom of the fifth, but struck out the next two hitters to keep the score 5-3.
Bellows continued his hot hitting with a solo home run to lead off the sixth, when the Jackrabbits sent 11 men to the plate. Beazley added a two-run shot later in the inning and Bellows capped the scoring with an RBI infield single. The other two runs of the inning scored on a Badger double and sacrifice fly by Ira.
The Bears chipped away at the deficit, scoring in each of the last three innings. C Gross doubled in two of the three UNC runs in the seventh, which ended when Jackrabbit second baseman
Garrett Stout made a diving stop and threw a runner out at home end the rally.
Bellows, a native of Miles City, Montana, scored his fourth run of the game in the top of the ninth on a pinch-hit single by fellow freshman
Avery Mellman.
Nate Holliday, the fourth pitcher of the game for SDSU, pitched the final 1 1/3 innings to pick up the save after entering the game with two men on in the eighth. Bishop struck out three over 4 1/3 innings in his first collegiate start, while McSherry fanned five in 2 1/3 innings to earn the win.
Bellows was 3-for-3 to lead SDSU's 11-hit attack.
UP NEXT
The Jackrabbits are scheduled to open a three-game series Friday at Southern Illinois-Edwardsville. First pitch is set for 3 p.m. at Simmons Complex on the SIUE campus.
NOTES
- The Jackrabbits lead the all-time series, 35-24
- SDSU matched its season win total from the pandemic-shortened 2020 season
- Bellows ended the series 5-for 9 (.556 avg.) with two doubles, a home run, six RBIs and six runs scored in three games
- Bellows has hit safely in all four games he has played
- Badger hit .400 (8-for-20) for the weekend with four doubles, two triples, eight runs scored and five RBIs
- Jackrabbit pitchers combined to strike out 50 Northern Colorado batters in the series, notching double figures in all four games
-GoJacks.com-
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