JACKS DROP DECISIVE GAME OF SERIES WITH UNC

Sunday, March 26

USAF Academy, Colo.

1 p.m. MT/2 p.m. CT

South Dakota State University

5-14, 1-2

Northern Colorado

4-16, 2-1

South Dakota State

Northern Colorado

Photo by: Bill Powell

3/26/2023 7:37:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. — Northern Colorado put together back-to-back three-run frames in the second and third innings to build the lead it needed to secure the decisive game of a three-game Summit League baseball series with a 9-6 victory Sunday afternoon at Falcon Field.

The Bears improved to 4-16 overall and 2-1 in league play. SDSU dropped to 5-14 overall and 1-2 in The Summit League.

After Ryan McDonald hit his team-leading eighth home run of the season to lead off the top of the second inning for the Jackrabbits for the first run of the game, UNC tallied three runs on four hits in the home half of the stanza. Doubles by Caden Wagner and Jackson Meier produced the first run, with Jake King later delivering a two-run double to knock out SDSU starter Blake Kunz from the game.

The Jackrabbits knotted the game at 3-all with three straight two-out hits: doubles by Dawson Parry and Nic Nelson, followed by a McDonald single.

The first run of the third-inning runs for the Bears scored on a groundout, while Carson Gross plated the other two runs with a two-out single up the middle that brought home both Craig Kenny and Wagner. Gross was 4-for-4 to lead UNC's 14-hit attack, while Wagner went 3-for-4.

An RBI single by Cade Stuff pulled the Jackrabbits to within 6-4 in the top of the fourth, but the Bears answered with an unearned run in the bottom of the inning, then tacked on two more runs in the sixth on RBI singles by King and Wagner.

SDSU trimmed the deficit to 9-6 with a pair of runs in the seventh as Nelson recorded his second double of the game and scored on a double by Luke Ira. McDonald later scored his second run of the game on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Thatcher Kozal.

UNC reliever Murphy Gienger kept the Jackrabbits off the board the rest of the way in closing out the Bear victory, striking out three and walking four. Jake Storey, who worked the middle three innings for the Bears, was credited with the win.

Six different Jackrabbit pitchers saw mound duty on Sunday. Eli Sundquist struck out three and gave up one run over 2 1/3 innings, while Alex Clemons added three strikeouts in 1 2/3 scoreless innings.

Five different Jackrabbits each collected two hits for the Jackrabbits, who finished with 12 in the game.

UP NEXT
The Jackrabbits have had their scheduled home-opening series against North Dakota State next weekend moved due to unplayable field conditions at Erv Huether Field. The two squads are now slated to play a doubleheader starting at noon Friday at Doc Ross Field located on the the Iowa Western Community College in Council Bluffs, Iowa. The series is scheduled to conclude with a 7 p.m. game Saturday at Tal Anderson Field on the University of Nebraska at Omaha campus.

NOTES

SDSU leads the all-time series against Northern Colorado, 38-27
Nelson became the fifth different Jackrabbit this season to record two doubles in a game
Nelson doubled in each of the three games in the series and finished the weekend with five extra-base hits (four doubles, one triple)
McDonald's home run was the 26^th of his career, moving him to within two from joining the SDSU all-time top 10
McDonald scored a team-high seven runs in the three-game series
Parry has hit safely in 17 of 19 games this season

-GoJacks.com-