TULSA, Okla. – Jordan Harms pitched eight strong innings and Ben Petersen supplied the offense with three hits and three runs batted in to lead North Dakota State to an 8-2 victory over South Dakota State in an elimination game Friday night at the Summit League Baseball Championship at J.L. Johnson Stadium.
With the loss, SDSU's first season under head coach Rob Bishop ended with a 26-24 overall record. NDSU improved to 31-24 overall and will face top-seeded Oral Roberts in the title game(s) at noon Saturday.
As they have throughout the tournament, the Bison jumped out to a first-inning lead. After SDSU starter Hunter Even retired two of the first three batters, the Bison loaded the bases with a walk and second hit batter of the frame before J.T. Core recorded the only hit of the inning, a two-run single to right, which was followed by a walk that led to an early call to the Jackrabbit bullpen.
The Bison added a run in the third on a Mason Pierzchalski run-scoring single, then upped the lead to 5-0 on a two-run opposite-field home run to right by Petersen – his second of the tournament against SDSU. Petersen added a run-scoring double as part of a three-run sixth inning, which included a two-run single by Logan Busch that upped the NDSU lead to 8-0.
After managing only three hits against Harms through the first seven innings, the Jackrabbits finally broke through with a pair of runs in the top of the eighth. Phil Velez drew a leadoff walk and moved to second on a single by Skyler Wenninger. Two batters later, Velez scored on Tony Kjolsing's double to the right-center gap. Wenninger came across with the second Jackrabbit run on a groundout off the bat of Luke Ringhofer.
Harms struck out four and walked four while surrendering five hits.
Conversely, six SDSU pitchers combined to issue 10 walks and hit two batters against only four strikeouts. Bryce Hanson notched the longest outing for the Jackrabbits, allowing one run on four hits with a pair of strikeouts in three innings.
Josh Kunzmann continued his hot hitting in the tournament with two of SDSU's six hits. Besides Petersen's three hits, Pierzchalski added a pair of hits for the Bison, who out-hit the Jackrabbits, 11-6.
Notes: The Jackrabbits fell to 14-15 all-time in Summit League tournament games, including a 5-2 record against North Dakota State. ... NDSU claimed the season series, 5-3. ... Kunzmann ended the tournament with a .500 batting average (6-for-12) in three games. ... Kunzmann finished the season with a seven-game hitting streak. ... Matt Johnson ended his career fourth on the SDSU career charts in putouts (1,250), fifth in games played (201), tied for fifth in doubles (50) and eighth in bases on balls (96)
NORTH DAKOTA STATE 8, SOUTH DAKOTA STATE 2
South Dakota State 000 000 020 – 2 6 1
North Dakota State 210 023 00x – 8 11 0
Hunter Even, Bryce Hanson (1), Brett Mogen (4), Quinn Reimers (5), Austin Kost (6), Brady Stover (8) and Luke Ringhofer; Jordan Harms, Alex Rogers (9) and Danny Palmiscno. W – Harms. L – Even. 2B: SDSU, Tony Kjolsing; NDSU, Ben Petersen. HR: NDSU, Ben Petersen.
