FARGO, N.D. – For the second day in a row, North Dakota State rallied in the late innings, downing South Dakota State 6-5 on a bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the ninth Saturday afternoon at Newman Outdoor Field.

In sweeping the three-game series, NDSU improved to 25-22 overall and 15-13 in Summit League play, earning the third seed in next week’s Summit League Baseball Championship. The Jackrabbits, who fell to the No. 4 seed, ended the regular season 16-30 overall and 14-13 in league play.

Trailing 5-1, the Bison tied the game with a four-run bottom of the seventh inning.

Carter Thompson drew a leadoff walk against Jackrabbit starter Andrew Zimmerman and advanced to third on a single to right field by Tucker Rohde. SDSU reliever Bret Barnett walked the only man he faced, Kyle Emanuel, to load the bases.

SDSU closer Alex Marro then entered the game and recorded outs against the first two batters he faced, although Thompson scored on a groundout off the bat of Matt Elsenpeter. Drew Fearing then made it a 5-3 game with a run-scoring single up the middle and moved into scoring position on an outfield error. Jayse McLean tied the contest with a two-run single through the right side.

Zimmerman had held NDSU in check through the first six innings, retiring eight batters in a row heading into the seventh. Zimmerman, who was making only his second start of the season, struck out three, walked three and allowed only three hits in six-plus innings.

NDSU’s game-winning rally in the ninth began when leadoff hitter Nick Emanuel reached on the Jackrabbits’ third error of the game. Pinch-runner Alec Abercrombie moved to second on a bunt single by Elsenpeter and took third on a groundout. After an intentional walk to Fearing loaded the bases, McLean drew a walk on a 3-2 pitch from Derek Feige to give the Bison their only lead of the game.

The Jackrabbits scored two batters into the game as Tony Kjolsing connected on his fifth home run of the season, a solo shot to right field. SDSU added a run in the third on a two-out run-scoring single by Landon Badger that plated Gus Steiger.

The Bison countered with a run in the home half of the third as Fearing lofted a sacrifice fly to center field after the first two men in the frame reached on walks.

SDSU upped its lead to 5-1 with an RBI single by Newt Johnson in the fifth and two more runs in the sixth – Skyler Wenninger singled in the first run of the sixth, with Kjolsing adding a run-scoring groundout later in the frame.

The Jackrabbits finished with a 10-6 advantage in hits, including two each from Steiger, Johnson and Badger. Fearing was the lone NDSU player with more than one hit, while McLean drove in three runs.

Zach Smith, who struck out four in 2 2/3 innings of scoreless relief, picked up the victory.

Up Next

The Jackrabbits are scheduled to play top-seeded Oral Roberts in the opening round of the Summit League Baseball Championship. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. Wednesday at J.L. Johnson Stadium in Tulsa, Okla.

A complete tournament schedule is in the Scoreboard.

Notes

NDSU won the season series 3-2. … The Jackrabbits have a 162-128 record (.559 winning percentage) in Summit League regular season games in 11 seasons as a league member. … Anthony Schneider had his streak of reaching base safely by hit or walk end at 24 games. … Steiger recorded his team-leading 17th multi-hit game of the season. … Eight of Kjolsing’s 13 career home runs have been hit in the month of May.

NORTH DAKOTA STATE 6,

SOUTH DAKOTA STATE 5

SDSU 101 012 000  –  5  10  3

NDSU 001 000 401  –  6    6  2

Andrew Zimmerman, Bret Barnett (7), Alex Marro (7), Derek Feige (8) and Derek Hackman; Mitch O’Connor, Hunter Koep (6), Zach Smith (7) and Nick Emanuel. W – Smith (3-0). L – Feige (2-1). 2B: SDSU, Landon Badger. HR: SDSU, Tony Kjolsing.

Friday’s Games

FARGO, N.D. – North Dakota State rallied from two big deficits to win the opener, 15-14 in 10 innings, and carried the momentum through Game 2 for a 7-1 victory to sweep a Summit League baseball doubleheader from South Dakota State on Friday at Newman Outdoor Field.

Game 1

• North Dakota State 15, SDSU 14 (10 inn.)

North Dakota State recorded its second six-run inning of the game with a game-tying rally in the bottom of the ninth inning, then scored an unearned run in the 10th inning to pull out an improbable 15-14 victory.

Trailing 14-8 after SDSU extended its lead with four runs in the top of the ninth, the Bison tallied six hits – all singles – and benefitted from two Jackrabbit errors, including one on a would-be double-play grounder, to extend the game. Tucker Rohde, Jack Simonsen and Bennett Hostetler all delivered run-scoring singles off SDSU closer Alex Marro before the first error of the inning allowed the Bison to pull to within 14-12.

NDSU pulled to within a run when Hostetler scored on a wild pitch and then tied the game when Jayse McLean dumped a single into left field to plate Drew Fearing.

In the 10th, Carter Thompson reached on the Jackrabbits’ fourth error of the game to open the frame and advanced to third on a single to right by Rohde. After a walk loaded the bases, Matt Elsenpeter dribbled a single up the middle through a drawn-in infield to score Thompson with the game-winning run. It would be NDSU’s lone lead of the game.

The Jackrabbits appeared well on their way to winning the series opener as they raced out to an early 6-0 lead. Philip Jacobson drove in Landon Badger with an infield single for the first run of the game in the second inning and Skyler Wenninger drove a double down the third-base line that scored three runs in the top of the third.

Newt Johnson added a two-run single in the fourth before the Bison got on the board with a run against SDSU starter Brady Moxham. Jacobson drove in his second run of the game with a single in the fifth and later scored on an error to push the Jackrabbit lead back to six at 8-2.

The Bison rallied for six runs in the home half of the sixth to draw even at 8-all. Elsenpeter doubled in the first two runs of the inning against reliever Tyler Olmstead and Hostetler followed with a run-scoring single. After a pitching change, Mason Pierzchalski lined a double into the right-field corner with the bases loaded to score three.

SDSU recovered to regain the lead in the top of the seventh on a two-run, two-out single by Landon Badger. The Jackrabbits made it a 14-8 game in the ninth on RBI doubles by Josh Falk and Wenninger, along with a run-scoring triple by Jacobson.

Jacobson was 4-for-6 to lead the Jackrabbits’ 16-hit attack, while four other SDSU players tallied two hits each.  NDSU finished with 18 hits, receiving three hits apiece from Elsenpeter and Logan Busch.

NORTH DAKOTA STATE 15, SOUTH DAKOTA STATE 14

SDSU 013 220 204 0  –  14  16  4

NDSU 000 116 006 1  –  15  18  2

Brady Moxham, Tyler Olmstead (5), Brady Stover (6), Alex Marro (9), Quinn Reimers (9) and Derek Hackman, Kolton Michalski (6), Ian Cote (8); Riley Johnson, Chris Choles (4), Austin Truso (7), Kevin Folman (7), Jake Drew (10) and Sean Noel, Jack Simonsen (6). W – Drew (1-0). L – Reimers (0-1). 2B: SDSU, Josh Falk, Landon Badger, Skyler Wenninger (2); NDSU, Mason Pierzchalski, Matt Elsenpeter. 3B: SDSU, Philip Jacobson.

Game 2

• North Dakota State 7, SDSU 1

Nick Emanuel drove in four runs and reliever Parker Harm struck out 11 in five scoreless innings of relief as the Bison pulled away for a 7-1 victory.

Emanuel opened the scoring with a two-out single through the right side that drove home Thompson in the bottom of the second. Emanuel’s three-run, bases-clearing double in the eighth capped the Bison scoring.

The Jackrabbits’ lone run of the game scored as the result of two Bison errors and tied the game at 1-all in the top of the fourth. Josh Falk reached on a two-base error when his fly ball to right field was dropped. A throwing error on an attempted sacrifice by Badger allowed Falk to cross home.

Harm took over for Bison starter Blake Stockert to start the fifth inning and allowed only two hits while fanning 11 and walking two the rest of the way.

Meanwhile, the Bison grabbed the lead with a two-run sixth inning against SDSU starter Bryce Johnson. McLean led off with a walk, advanced to third on a Pierzchalski single and scored the go-ahead run on a sacrifice fly by Busch. Rohde added a run-scoring single later in the frame.

Emanuel and Drew Fearing each posted two of NDSU’s eight hits. The Jackrabbits’ five hits were spread among five different players.

Notes

Time of the opener was 4 hours and 48 minutes, while Game 2 was played in 2 hours, 50 minutes. ... SDSU’s 14 runs, 16 hits and four doubles in the opener all tied season highs. ... The Jackrabbits stranded a season-high 17 runners on base for the second game in a row in the opener. ... NDSU pitchers combined to issue 12 walks and hit six batters in the first game of the twinbill. ... Jackrabbit left-hander Brady Stover made his first appearance since April 27 and struck out two over 2 2/3 innings to up his season strikeout total to 60 in 41 1/3 innings. ... Badger reached base safely six times (two hits, three walks, hit by pitch) in Game 1. ... Reigning Summit League Player of the Week Anthony Schneider hit safely in both games and has reached base in 24 consecutive games. ... Kjolsing drew three walks in the first game of the twinbill to raise his season total to 40, which is tied with Kurt Augustin (1986) for the third-highest single-season total in program history. ... Jacobson’s three runs batted in in the opener set a career high, after entering the day with only two RBIs for the season. ... Wenninger’s four RBIs tied a single-game career best. ... SDSU played its ninth doubleheader of the season and is 6-12 in doubleheader games.

NORTH DAKOTA STATE 7, SOUTH DAKOTA STATE 1

SDSU 000 100 000  –  1  5  0

NDSU 010 102 03x  –  7  8  2

Bryce Johnson, Mitchell Oehme (7) and Derek Hackman, Kolton Michalski (7); Blake Stockert, Parker Harm (5) and Nick Emanuel. W – Harm (2-2). L – Johnson (0-4). 2B: SDSU, Skyler Wenninger; NDSU, Carter Thompson, Nick Emanuel.

Photo from www.gojacks.com.