JACKS FALL AS MINNESOTA RALLIES LATE

Wednesday, March 8

Minneapolis, Minn. // U.S. Bank Stadium

6 p.m.

South Dakota State University

Minnesota

Photo by: Courtesy Photo

3/8/2023 10:47:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota rallied for three runs in the late innings to pull out a 3-2 victory over South Dakota State in nonconference baseball action Wednesday night at U.S. Bank Stadium.

In winning their second game in a row, the Golden Gophers improved to 2-11 on the season. SDSU, which had its own two-game winning streak snapped, dropped to 3-5 overall.

Jackrabbit freshman pitcher Jack Kruger, from nearby Belle Plaine, Minnesota, held the Gophers scoreless through the first six innings. The right-hander retired seven in a row at one point and finished with four strikeouts, two walks and five hits allowed before exiting with two outs and two men on in the bottom of the seventh and SDSU leading 2-0.

Both of those inherited runners would come around to score as Brett Bateman plated Kris Hokenson with a base hit for the first run and Kyle Bork came across with the tying run on a passed ball.

Minnesota gained its only lead of the night an inning later as Jake Perry drew a two-out walk against Dylan Driessen and Brady Jurgella greeted SDSU closer Ryan Bourassa with a double to the left-center gap that allowed Perry to score all the way from first base.

The game was scoreless until Nic Nelson launched a two-run home run to left field with one out in the top of the sixth that scored Ryan McDonald ahead of him. An Apple Valley, Minnesota, native, Nelson homered for the second consecutive game and third time this season.

Minnesota finished with a 7-6 advantage in hits, with Bateman recording a game-high two hits. The Jackrabbits' six hits were spread among six different players.

Noah Rooney pitched 1 2/3 innings of scoreless relief to earn the win for Minnesota, while Connor Wietgrefe came on to record the final out for the save.

UP NEXT
The Jackrabbits are scheduled to open a three-game weekend series Friday afternoon at Western Kentucky. First pitch is set for 3 p.m. at Nick Denes Field in Bowling Green, Kentucky.

NOTES

Minnesota leads the all-time series, 38-15, with the Golden Gophers ending a three-game winning streak in the series by SDSU
McDonald doubled ahead of Nelson's home run to extend his streak of reaching base safely to 41 games, a string that began in March 2022
Dawson Parry extended his hitting streak to 10 games dating back to last season
The Jackrabbits have hit a home run in all eight games in 2023 and have homered in 34 of their last 36 games dating back to last year
Luke Ira made his 101^st consecutive start at shortstop and 122^nd consecutive start overall
Kruger's 6 2/3 innings marked the longest start by a Jackrabbit pitcher this season