JACKS, UNC SPLIT DOUBLEHEADER

Friday, March 24

USAF Academy, Colo. [note location change]

noon MT/1 p.m. CT

South Dakota State University

4-13, 0

Northern Colorado

3-15, 0

South Dakota State

Northern Colorado

Photo by: Dave Eggen/Inertia

3/24/2023 9:24:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. — Northern Colorado won a back-and-forth opener with a late rally while South Dakota State got its offense in high gear in Game 2 as the two Summit League rivals split a baseball doubleheader Friday afternoon at Falcon Field.

Game 1: Northern Colorado 9, South Dakota State 7
UNC's Caden Wagner capped a four-run bottom of the eighth inning with a three-run home run that gave the Bears the lead for good.

Wagner's heroics came after SDSU rallied from a 5-1 deficit to take a 7-5 lead heading into the late innings. Reece Anderson started the Jackrabbits on the comeback trail with his first career home run, a three-run shot to left in the top of the fourth inning.

SDSU pulled even at 5-all on a fifth-inning sacrifice fly by Luke Ira that scored Jess Bellows, then took a 7-5 lead in the seventh inning when Dawson Parry doubled in Ryan McDonald and Drew Beazley drew a bases-loaded walk that forced in Parry.

Jackrabbit reliever Reece Arbogast held the Bears in check over four scoreless innings before giving way to Ryan Bourassa in the seventh. A sophomore left-hander, Arbogast allowed two hits and struck out three following short stints by Jack Kruger and Alex Clemons.

Zain Zinicola started the game-winning rally for UNC with single to lead off the eighth and he later advanced to second on an error. After both runners moved up a base on a passed ball, Austin Bunn knocked in Zinicola with a base hit and Wagner followed with his three-run blast to left field.

UNC also scored four times in the opening inning, sending 10 men to the plate as the Bears took advantage of three walks and a hit batter after a leadoff double by Hayden Heinze. Dominic Palma closed out the scoring with a two-run single.

Kevin Sharp was credited with the win for UNC after striking out three and surrendering one hit over 2 1/3 scoreless frames.

The Bears held a 10-8 advantage in hits, with the bulk of the Jackrabbit offense coming from Parry and Nic Nelson with three hits each. Nelson finished a home run away from the cycle.

Game 2: South Dakota State 17, Northern Colorado 3
Jake Goble turned in his second solid start in a row and the Jackrabbits set numerous season highs on the offensive end in a 17-3, seven-inning victory.

After UNC scored the first run of the game in the bottom of the first inning, the Jackrabbits put their first crooked number of the game on the scoreboard by scoring four times on five hits in the top of the second.

Ryan McDonald started the outburst with his team-leading seventh home run to lead off the frame and Bellows, Cade Stuff and Nelson all followed later in the inning with run-scoring hits.

The squads traded two-run half-innings in the third to make it a 6-3 game, but the Jackrabbits erupted for five runs in the sixth and added on six more runs in the seventh to put the 10-run rule in effect. Jess Bellows, who was 3-for-5, started the sixth-inning outburst with a base hit and added a two-run single in the seventh en route to a career-high four RBIs.

Reece Anderson made it six RBIs in the doubleheader after drawing a bases-loaded walk in the sixth inning and lacing a two-run single in the seventh.

Colorado native Adam Benes delivered a two-run pinch-hit single in the sixth and Drew Beazley doubled in a pair of runs in the seventh to round out the offensive explosion.

The Jackrabbits' 17 runs were a season high, while their 16 hits were the second most in a game in 2023. McDonald was 3-for-4 and scored four times.

Goble limited UNC to four hits in five innings and struck out three to earn his second consecutive victory. Dylan Driessen finished up with two perfect innings, adding three more strikeouts.

UP NEXT
The series finale is slated to be played at noon Mountain Time (1 p.m. Central) Saturday at Falcon Field.

NOTES

SDSU leads the all-time series, 38-26
Friday's doubleheader marked the start of Summit League for both teams this season
The Jackrabbits ended the day 5-13 overall, while UNC moved to 3-16
SDSU tallied a season-high five doubles in Game 2, including Dagen Schramm's first collegiate hit
Anderson began the day with two RBIs
Parry became the fourth Jackrabbit with two doubles in a game this season in the opener and has now hit safely in 16 of 18 games in 2023

-GoJacks.com-