NELSON POWERS JACKS IN SUMMIT OPENER

Wednesday, May 24

Fargo, N.D.

6 p.m.

South Dakota State University

23-26

North Dakota State

22-29

South Dakota State

North Dakota State

Photo by: The Summit League

5/24/2023 11:13:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

FARGO, N.D. — South Dakota State third baseman Nic Nelson tied Summit League Baseball Championship single-game records with three home runs and eight runs batted in, leading the third-seeded Jackrabbits to a 17-4 drubbing of North Dakota State in opening-round action Wednesday night at Newman Outdoor Field.

The Jackrabbits improved to 23-26 overall and will face top-seeded Oral Roberts in semifinal action at 6 p.m. Thursday. Second-seeded NDSU fell to 22-29 overall and meet Omaha in an elimination game at noon Thursday.

Nelson, who recorded his second three-homer game in the last 10 days, opened the scoring with the first of his round-trippers, a two-run, two-out liner off the foul screen down the left-field line in the bottom of the first inning.

SDSU continued its clutch two-out hitting an inning later as Reece Anderson lined a single to right-center that plated Thatcher Kozal with an unearned run for a 3-0 Jackrabbit lead.

The Jackrabbits continued their onslaught against NDSU ace Cade Feeney with a six-run fourth inning. Jess Bellows drove in Drew Beazley with the first run, with Anderson following two batters later with a chopper over the third baseman that resulted in a run-scoring double. Nelson and Cade Stuff capped the inning with back-to-back two-run singles.

SDSU left-hander Reece Arbogast limited the Bison to three hits in four scoreless innings until NDSU broke through with all four of their runs in the home half of the fifth. Will Busch's second double of the game drove in the first run, while Peter Brookshaw delivered a run-scoring single to chase Arbogast and Druw Sackett added an RBI single to greet reliever Brady Hawkins. The final run of the inning scored on a groundout.

Nelson helped the Jackrabbits seize the momentum back with his second two-run homer of the game in the top of the sixth and NDSU ran itself out of a potential comeback in the bottom of the frame. Jack Steil led off the Bison sixth with a walk and Stephen Lund followed with a double to right field; however, Steil was caught in a rundown between home and third and Lund was doubled off trying to return to second base with center fielder Reece Anderson applying the tag for the second out in a 9-3-2-5-8 twin killing.

The Jackrabbits sealed the victory with their second six-run outburst in the seventh, that included Nelson's third two-run homer of the contest in a 4-for-5, eight-RBI performance. Luke Ira dumped a two-run single to right-center after the first run of the inning scored on a balk, with Dawson Parry adding a single to right field that scored Ira.

Parry, Anderson and Bellows each notched two of the Jackrabbits' 14 hits. Busch was 3-for-4 to lead NDSU's 13-hit effort.

Arbogast struck out two over 4 1/3 innings in finishing with a no-decision. Four Jackrabbit relievers combined to strike out four and walk four the rest of the way, with freshman Dylan Driessen credited with the win after tossing 1 1/3 no-hit frames.

NOTES

SDSU improved to 19-23 in Summit League Baseball Championship games, including a 7-3 mark against North Dakota State
The Jackrabbits won an opening-round game in the tournament for the first time since a 6-5 victory over NDSU in 2017
NDSU leads the overall season series, 4-3
SDSU established a new single-season team record for home runs with 86, surpassing the previous mark of 84 in 2010
Nelson also hit three home runs in the second game of a May 14 doubleheader against Northern Colorado
Nelson moved into the team lead with 52 RBIs, marking the first time a Jackrabbit player has reached the 50-RBI mark since five players hit the milestone in 2010
Over his last seven games, Nelson has hit eight home runs and driven in 19 runs
Nelson's 16 home runs are tied with four others for fifth place on the Jackrabbit single-season charts
Previous three-home run games in tournament play were recorded by Mark Pederson and J.J. Swiatkowski, both of Oral Roberts, in the 2000 championship, while Pederson was one of three previous players with an eight-RBI performance
Luke Ira recorded his 216^th career hit, tying him with Doug Sehr (216 hits from 1991-94) for 10^th place in program history
Parry extended his hitting streak to nine games
Bellows has reached base safely in 16 consecutive games
Driessen took over the team lead in victories with five