SDSU WINS SERIES OPENER OVER LOBOS

Thursday, February 22

Albuquerque, N.M.

2 p.m. MT/3 p.m. CT

South Dakota State University

3-2

New Mexico

2-3

South Dakota State

New Mexico

Photo by: Erik Williams

2/22/2024 8:44:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Nic McCay made a successful return to the mound and South Dakota State hit four home runs in the first five innings in an 11-5 Jackrabbit victory over New Mexico in the opener of a four-game college baseball series Thursday afternoon at Santa Ana Star Field.

SDSU claimed its third consecutive victory on the young season to improve to 3-2 overall. The Lobos dropped to 2-3 overall.

McCay, who missed three of the past four seasons due to injury, including the entire 2023 campaign, tossed three shutout innings in a starting role. The right-hander from Carlisle, Iowa, struck out the side in each of the first two innings and finished his stint with seven strikeouts. He allowed only one hit and walked one.

Meanwhile, the Jackrabbit offense staked McCay to a 3-0 first-inning lead. SDSU scored two batters into the game as Luke Luskey led off the game with a double and scored on a base hit by Bryce Ronken. The lead quickly grew to 3-0 when reigning Summit League Player of the Week Dawson Parry launched a two-run home run over the fence in right-center field off Lobo starter Jaren Jackson. It was Parry's fourth home run of the season.

SDSU's bats heated back up in the fourth inning as Carter Sintek and Cade Stuff each hit solo home runs. The Jackrabbit lead grew to 11-0 with a six-run fifth inning highlighted by a two-run homer by Cael Frost and a three-run double into the left-field corner by Davis Carr that plated Sintek, Jess Bellows and Stuff. Carr later scored on a wild pitch.

Alex Koep followed McCay's three shutout innings with three scoreless frames of his own before New Mexico broke through with a three-run bottom of the seventh. Devon Dixon doubled in the first run and Sean Stephens added a two-run triple.

Koep struck out three and walked one while surrendering four hits in earning his first victory as a Jackrabbit.

Brett Russell pitched the final five innings for New Mexico and finished the afternoon with eight strikeouts. Lobo pitchers did not issue a walk in the contest.

New Mexico closed out the scoring with a pair of runs in the bottom of the ninth off Jackrabbit closer Alex Clemons.

SDSU's 11-hit attack was led by Parry, Stuff and Carr with two hits each. The Lobos' eight hits were posted by eight different players.

UP NEXT
Game 2 of the series is slated for 2 p.m. Mountain (3 p.m. Central) on Friday.

NOTES

New Mexico leads the all-time series, 23-4
Thursday's game marked the first meeting between the two squads since 1982 and the first Jackrabbit victory in the series since 1976
Bellows singled in the six-run fifth to extend his hitting streak to 14 games dating back to the 2023 season, as well as reach base for the 24^th game in a row
Parry has hit safely in seven games in a row and reached base in 17 consecutive contests
Parry has two or more hits and RBIs in four of SDSU's five games this season
Sintek's home run was his first at the collegiate level
Sam Schlecht made his team-leading third pitching appearance of the season for the Jackrabbits and tossed a scoreless eighth inning
McCay moved into a tie with four other pitchers for 10^th on the career games started chart with 29