BISON ESCAPE WITH WIN IN SERIES OPENER

Friday, May 10

Brookings, S.D.

3 p.m.

South Dakota State University

18-26, 9-14

North Dakota State

17-25-1, 12-9-1

North Dakota State

South Dakota State

Photo by: Mark Kuhlmann

5/10/2024 8:49:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

North Dakota State's Cadyn Schwabe drove in five runs, including hitting a tie-breaking three-run home run in the top of the eighth inning, to lift the Bison to an 11-10 victory over South Dakota State in the opening game of a three-game Summit League baseball series Friday afternoon at Erv Huether Field.

NDSU improved to 17-25-1 overall and 12-9-1 in league play. The Jackrabbits dropped to 18-26 overall and 9-14 in The Summit League.

With the game tied at 8-all entering the eighth inning, Schwabe's heroics came after Will Busch led off the frame with a single to center field off SDSU reliever Alex Clemons. Busch moved up two bases on wild pitches before Jake Schaffner drew a four-pitch walk. Schwabe then greeted new pitcher Dylan Driessen with a blast over the right-field fence for what was NDSU's second three-run homer of the game.

SDSU wouldn't go down without a fight. After stranding two runners in the home half of the eighth, the Jackrabbits had an opportunity to tie the game in the ninth. Thatcher Kozal coaxed a leadoff walk and Jess Bellows followed with an infield single off Bison closer Joey Danielson. Adam Benes then stepped to the plate and delivered a single to right that scored Kozal and put runners at the corners. Following a strikeout, Reece Anderson lifted a fly ball to right field for a sacrifice fly. After Benes moved into scoring position on a passed ball, Danielson struck out Cade Stuff to end the game and earn his 11^th save of the season.

Each team put together a big second inning with NDSU scoring five times and the Jackrabbits hanging six runs on the board. Schaffner was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to force in the first Bison run while Schwabe and Colten Becker recorded two-out, two-run singles off SDSU ace Nic McCay.

The Jackrabbits, who scored the first run of the game on a sacrifice fly by Dawson Parry in the their first turn at the plate, quickly responded with an RBI single by Jess Bellows, followed by a three-run homer from Anderson and a solo shot from Cael Frost two batters later. Frost's home run was his league-leading 19^th of the season, tying him for the SDSU single-season record set by Jesse Sawyer in 2009 and matched in 2010.

Davis Carr also drove in a run in the six-run second inning against Bison starter Leland Wilson with a sacrifice fly.

The Jackrabbit lead grew to 8-5 on a Dawson Parry RBI single in the fourth, but NDSU tied the game a half-inning later on a three-run homer by Sam Canton. The Bison right-fielder was one of five NDSU hitters with two hits in the contest.

NDSU reliever Alex Karns logged five innings of one-run baseball, striking out four and walking one.

McCay worked 6 1/3 innings and allowed eight runs while striking out four and issuing three walks in a no-decision.

Anderson, Bellows and Benes each tallied three of the Jackrabbits' 14 hits.

UP NEXT
Game 2 of the series is set for a 1 p.m. start on Saturday.

NOTES

The season series is tied at two wins apiece
SDSU leads the all-time series, 130-84
Frost notched two hits for his 20^th multi-hit game of the season
The Jackrabbits' three sacrifice flies were a season-high
SDSU has hit two or more home runs in 22 games this season
Parry's two RBIs upped his season total to 57, which is tied for 10^th on the Jackrabbit single-season charts with Kerry Jacobson (2002) and Stephen Turner (2009)
McCay moved into seventh place in career innings pitched at SDSU with 241 1/3, passing both Billy McMacken (210 2/3 from 1987-90) and Tim Sweeney (210 1/3 from 1972-75) in Friday's game
McCay's 89 strikeouts this season rank sixth in program history