BROOKINGS — The Brookings Bandits played their most complete game of the year, combining a diligent approach at the plate with an outstanding outing on the mound by Tyson Antonen to stun the second-seeded Rapid City Post 22 Hardhats 5-2 in front of a packed crowd at Bob Shelden Field on Tuesday night.

The win advances the Bandits to a winner’s bracket matchup against Renner at 7 p.m. Wednesday but it’s how they got there that stuck in Brookings coach Carter Roach’s mind after the game.

“Rapid City is a very, very good baseball team and we knew that coming in,” Roach said. “Our kids met the challenge and came to play in a huge way tonight.”

The Bandits brought the energy from the opening pitch and although they didn’t score in the opening inning, their approach set the framework for a big night. 

Brookings took their time at the plate and battled to send Lee Neugebauers’ pitch count into the mid-40s in the second inning. After Nolan Miles drew a nine-pitch walk to get on base, David Brink followed up with another nine-pitch at-bat to put runners on first and second base to allow Ronning to drive in the first run of the game with an RBI single.

It was part of an offensive output that saw all nine players come up with a hit and seven players have multi-hit games to pace the Brookings offense.

“It all goes into our season-long approach,” Roach said of the long at-bats. “We’ve talked about it all year and with our guys that have been in these State Tournaments before, they know that our approach is to just put it in play. That was huge for us tonight.”

Owen Schneider started another rally with a two-out single in the top of the third inning and advanced to second base on a wild pitch before Zach Struck drove him in with a single to put Brookings ahead 2-0.

The Bandits would have runners on the corners after a Miles single later in the inning but Neugebauer got Brink to fly out to end the inning. That play seemed to be a turning point when Jace Morgan drove in a run with a single and Harrison Good tied the game on a fielder’s choice in the bottom of the third inning but Brookings kept finding answers.

Back-to-back one-out doubles by Struck and Miles set up a two-run single by Brink to give Brookings a 4-2 lead. The Bandits tacked on another run when Sam Johnson and Tate Helmbolt led off with back-to-back singles and Schneider drove in a run with an infield single to put the Bandits up 5-2.

That left the game in the hands of Antonen. The junior worked around nine hits but he navigated a bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the sixth inning and wound up with a complete game allowing two runs (one earned) with three strikeouts.

“He was an absolute stud today on the mound,” Roach said of Antonen. “He competed his tail off all night. He even threw [106 pitches]. He just grabbed the ball and competed and that’s what really did it for him tonight. He’s a kid that always wants the ball and wants to be in those moments.”

Miles went 2-for-3 with a double, a walk and two runs scored while Struck went 2-for-3 with a double, a walk, a run scored and an RBI. Brink went 2-for-4 with two RBI and Ronning went 2-for-4 with a run driven in. Austin Clark also went 2-for-4 while Johnson went 2-for-3 with a run scored.

Helmbolt and Breck Hirrschoff each went 1-for-4. Hirrschoff also had a stolen base.

Neugebauer allowed two earned runs on seven hits and a walk with a strikeout over three innings for Rapid City while Eli Kelly took the loss, allowing three earned runs on nine hits and a walk over four innings.

Aiden Roach went 2-for-3 in the loss while Aaron Roberts went 1-for-4 with a run scored and a stolen base. Good and Morgan each went 1-for-4. Hayden Holec, Tate Crosswalt and Phillip Bentz each went 1-for-3. Dawson Inhofer went 1-for-2.

It was a great night for Brookings which saw plenty of people come out in support. While the Bandits played their best game of the year, they also need to find a way to replicate it as they go deeper into the tournament beginning with Wednesday’s matchup against Renner.

It’s a scenario that Roach believes the Bandits’ experience will shine through and one that could make nights like Tuesday more common as the tournament progresses.

“We have a lot of players that have been here over the past two years,” Roach said. “We came in as a lower seed, but I told the guys that we’re not done yet and we have a lot of tournament to go. We have to bring that same intensity and that same compete level tomorrow night.”