MINNEAPOLIS – Minnesota scored three times in the bottom of the second inning and held off South Dakota State for a 4-2 victory in nonconference baseball action Wednesday night at U.S. Bank Stadium.
The Golden Gophers evened their record at 4-4, while the Jackrabbits dropped to 1-6 on the season.
SDSU led 2-0 three batters into the game. Landon Badger led off the game by reaching on an error and came around to score all the way from first base on Gus Steiger’s double down the third-base line. Steiger advanced to third on the throw back to the infield and later scored on a groundout off the bat of Ryan McDonald.
Minnesota answered in the home half of the second, when Jordan Kozicky doubled in Easton Bertrand for the first run and Zack Raabe followed a few batters later with a two-out, two-run double that knocked out Jackrabbit starter Riley McSherry.
The score remained 3-2 until Minnesota added an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth on another double by Raabe, one that plated Kozicky. Jack Kelly joined Raabe and Kozicky with two hits for the Golden Gophers, who ended the night with nine hits as a team.
The Jackrabbits managed only three hits in the contest, but were issued 12 free passes – 10 walks and two hit batters – by the Minnesota pitching staff. Steiger was 2-for-4, adding a single in the fifth inning.
SDSU’s other hit was a double by Josh Falk in the fourth inning, but the Jackrabbits had a runner thrown out at third base on the play to thwart a potential rally. The Jackrabbits, who stranded 11 runners in the game, left the bases loaded in the sixth.
Six Jackrabbit pitchers combined for a season-high 12 strikeouts. Freshmen Eli Sundquist (five strikeouts) and Rick Atkins (three strikeouts) led SDSU on the mound. Atkins fanned the side in the third inning, while Sundquist followed suit in the fifth.
Minnesota starter Trent Schoeberl earned the win after pitching the first 5 1/3 innings, striking out five and walking five. Reliever Ryan Duffy added four strikeouts in 1 2/3 innings, with Sam Thoreson earning the save after pitching the final two innings with three strikeouts.
UP NEXT
The Jackrabbits open a four-game series Friday night at UT Rio Grande Valley. First pitch is set for 7 p.m. at UTRGV Stadium in Edinburg, Texas.
