SDSU finishes off sweep of Mastodons

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FORT WAYNE, Ind. – Ethan Kenkel pitched seven strong innings and the South Dakota State offense scored in each of the first four innings as the Jackrabbits completed a series sweep of Fort Wayne with a 10-5 victory Sunday afternoon at Mastodon Field.

The Jackrabbits, who also swept the season series, 6-0, improved to 22-22 overall and remained in third place in the Summit League standings with a 15-12 mark. Last-place Fort Wayne dropped to 8-40 overall and 3-24 in league play.

SDSU scored single runs in each of the first two innings before putting three runs on the board in the third. Matt Johnson plated Tony Kjolsing on a groundout for the first run of the game, while Josh Kunzmann tripled and scored on a Landon Badger single in the second. Freshman Jake Thompson knocked in all three third-inning runs with a double to right field.

The Mastodons answered with a run of their own in the home half of the third as Brady Hettinger tripled and scored on a groundout off the bat of Jake Weber.

The top of the Jackrabbit lineup accounted for the next three runs as SDSU built its lead to 8-1 through six innings. Luke Ringhofer delivered a run-scoring single in the fourth and Kjolsing added a solo homer in the sixth. Ringhofer followed Kjolsing's homer with his fourth hit of the game, a single, and later scored on a base hit by Matt Johnson.

Kenkel, meanwhile, held Fort Wayne to one run until tiring in the seventh, when he allowed a two-run single to Travis Upp. A senior right-hander, Kenkel finished the longest outing of his career with two walks and only one strikeout as he scattered nine hits.

Philip Jacobson and Skyler Wenninger tallied run-scoring singles in the top of the ninth to close the scoring for the Jackrabbits. Fort Wayne countered with a pair of runs against the Jackrabbit bullpen in the bottom of the ninth on an infield single by Jacob Dickson and sacrifice fly by Brandon Yoho.

SDSU finished with a 15-12 advantage in hits. Besides Ringhofer's four-hit day, Kjolsing went 3-for-5 with three runs scored. Dickson and Upp were two of Fort Wayne's four players to record a pair of hits.

UP NEXT

The Jackrabbits are scheduled to open their final Summit League series of the season Thursday afternoon, hosting Omaha. First pitch is slated for 3 p.m. at Erv Huether Field.

NOTES – The Jackrabbits recorded double figures for runs in all three games of the series, outscoring Fort Wayne, 33-10. ... SDSU out-hit the Mastodons, .377 to .215, collecting 46 hits compared to 23 by Fort Wayne in the three-game set. ... The Jackrabbits' current five-game winning streak is their longest of the season. ... Kjolsing extended his hitting streak to eight games and raised his batting average to .310. ... Wenninger has reached base safely in 14 consecutive games. ... Ringhofer recorded the third four-hit game of his career and ended the series 8-for-14 (.571 batting average) with four runs batted in and six runs scored

SOUTH DAKOTA STATE 10, FORT WAYNE 5

SDSU              113 102 002 – 10 15 2

IPFW              001 000 202 –   5 12 0

Ethan Kenkel, Quinn Reimers (8), Austin Kost (9), Brett Mogen (9) and Luke Ringhofer; Jordan Martin, Mitchell Ley (5) and Dylan Wilbert. W – Kenkel (3-1). L – Martin (2-7). HR: SDSU, Tony Kjolsing (3).

Saturday

• SDSU 11, IPFW 2 (10 inn.)

South Dakota State scored nine times in the top of the 10th inning, clinching a berth in the Summit League Baseball Championship tournament with an 11-2 victory over IPFW.

Coupled with a loss by Omaha on Saturday afternoon at Oral Roberts, SDSU secured a top-four finish in the league standings and will make its eighth appearance in Summit League postseason play in nine years.

With the game tied at 2-all, SDSU sent 14 men to the plate in the nine-run 10th inning. Anthony Schneider started the rally with a leadoff single. He moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Tony Kjolsing, and, after a walk to Luke Ringhofer, scored the go-ahead run on a double by Matt Johnson.

Each of the next four Jackrabbit runs in the inning scored on consecutive bases-loaded walks to Josh Kunzmann, Philip Jacobson, Landon Badger and Skyler Wenninger. Schneider then posted his second hit of the inning to score another run and Ringhofer followed two batters later with a two-run single.

Chris Halbur, who pitched a scoreless bottom of the ninth, earned his third victory of the season.

Jackrabbit starter Tyler Olmstead limited IPFW to one run - a solo home run by Garrett Mohler in the fifth - on three hits over six innings. He struck out three and walked one.

Schneider, who was 3-for-6 and scored three runs, led off the game with a double and scored on a sacrifice fly by Ringhofer to give the Jackrabbits a 1-0, first-inning lead.

Matt Johnson, who led SDSU at the plate by going 4-for-5, gave the Jackrabbits a momentary 2-1 lead in the top of the eighth with his team-leading 11th home run of the season.

After leaving two men in scoring position against Jackrabbit reliever Derek Feige in the seventh, IPFW tied the game an inning later as Jake Weber doubled with one out and came across with the tying run on a single by Jacob Dickson.

SDSU held a 13-7 advantage in hits. Weber was the lone player with more than one hit for the Mastodons.

SOUTH DAKOTA STATE 11, IPFW 2 (10 inn.)

SDSU              100 000 010 9 – 11 13 1

IPFW               000 010 010 0 –   2   7 1

Tyler Olmstead, Derek Feige (7), Chris Halbur (9), Hunter Even (10) and Luke Ringhofer; Chase Phelps, Damian Helm (5) , Tanner McAnich (7), Cameron Boyd (8), Tanner Hart (10), Josh Van Beek (10), Duane Miller (10) and Dylan Wilbert. W – Halbur (3-0). L – Boyd (0-8). 2B: SDSU, Anthony Schneider, Matt Johnson; IPFW, Jake Weber. HR: SDSU, Johnson (11); IPFW, Garrett Mohler (1).