JACKS DROP SERIES FINALE IN 10 INNINGS

Sunday, March 3

Edwardsville, Ill.

1 p.m.

South Dakota State University

6-6

SIUE

2-10

South Dakota State

SIUE

Photo by: Dave Eggen/Inertia

3/3/2024 7:52:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. — SIUE tied the game with three runs in the bottom of the ninth inning and pushed a run across in the home half of the 10^th to pull out a 6-5 victory over South Dakota State Sunday afternoon in the finale of a four-game weekend series at the Simmons Baseball Complex.

SIUE improved to 2-10 overall in salvaging the series finale. The Jackrabbits dropped to 6-6 on the season.

South Dakota State had a pair of three-run leads in the game before faltering late. Jordan Sagedahl put the Jackrabbits on the board with a solo home run in the top of the third inning and Cade Stuff added a two-run shot an inning later.

SDSU starter Arlen Peters held SIUE scoreless through the first five innings until Ethan Willoughby ended the shutout bid with an RBI triple in the bottom of the sixth. Peters completed seven innings of one-run baseball by striking out 10 and walking two batters. He scattered five hits.

The Cougars drew to within one with a run in the bottom of the eighth inning as Ryan Niedzwiesz led off the inning with a triple and scored on a sacrifice fly.

The Jackrabbits appeared on the verge of a series sweep after Sagedahl hit his second home run of the game, a two-run blast to center field in the top of the ninth that pushed the SDSU lead to 5-2.

However, SIUE closed back to within a run on a two-run homer by John Stallcup that chased reliever Brady Hawkins from the contest. The next SDSU pitcher in the ninth, Jack Kruger, did not record an out as the Cougars loaded the bases with nobody out.

Dylan Driessen then entered the game on the mound for the Jackrabbits and did his best to keep the game alive as he retired all three hitters he faced in the inning, although SIUE tied the game on a groundout that resulted in the first out of the frame. Each of the next two Cougar hitters popped out to first base to end the frame, the first of which came on a squeeze-bunt attempt.

SDSU went down in order in the top of the 10^th while SIUE put together the game-winning rally for its only lead of the contest. Franck singled with one out, moved to second on an errant pickoff attempt and took third on a wild pitch. After Stallcup was walked, Drew Mize singled through the right side to bring home Franck for the decisive run.

SIUE finished with an 11-9 advantage in hits, including two by four different players.

Sagedahl, Cael Frost and Jess Bellows each tallied two hits for the Jackrabbits. Bellows extended his hitting streak to 19 games, dating back to last season, tying him for the longest streak in the Division I era of SDSU baseball (since 2005) with Tyson Fisher (2006) and Matt Johnson (2016).

Cougar starter Stearns allowed three runs over 7 2/3 innings, striking out four and walking two. Ian Benner was credited with the victory after striking out four and giving up two runs over the final 2 1/3 innings.

UP NEXT
The Jackrabbits return to action with a four-game weekend series March 8-10 at Dayton. Friday's series opener is set for a noon Eastern (11 a.m. Central) first pitch.

NOTES

The all-time series between SDSU and SIUE is tied at six wins apiece
SDSU has homered in all 12 games this season for a a total of 25 round-trippers
Sagedahl became the 10^th different Jackrabbit to homer this season
Sagedahl posted the first two-home run game of his career and the second by an SDSU player this season, joining Dawson Parry (Feb. 18 at New Mexico State)
Peters became the first Jackrabbit pitcher with double digits in strikeouts in a game since Ryan Bourassa tallied 12 at Oral Roberts on March 25, 2022
Frost finished the series with a .444 batting average (8-for-18) and extended his hitting streak to 10 games