NDSU baseball falls 8-5 to SDSU in series finale

BROOKINGS, SD (NDSU/KVRR) – South Dakota State scored five runs in the seventh inning to top the North Dakota State baseball team, 8-5, in the series finale on Sunday afternoon at Erv Huether Field.

With the loss, the Bison, who won the first two games of the series, drop to 18-26-1 (13-10-1 Summit) on the season. South Dakota State improves to 19-27 (10-15 Summit) on the season with the win.

NDSU started fast with two RBI doubles off the bat of James Dunlap and Sam Canton to open up a 2-0 lead in the first inning. Dunlap then used a sacrifice fly in the third to score Jake Schaffner to stretch the lead to 3-0 in the third frame.

Following two scoreless innings, Davis Hamilton extended the edge to 4-0 in the sixth with an RBI single of his own. The Jackrabbits responded with three runs on two hits to cut the deficit to 4-3 after Cade Stuff scored an unearned run on a fielder’s choice in the sixth. SDSU carried its momentum into the seventh pushing across five more runs on three hits to steal the lead, 8-4, following an RBI single from Adam Benes.

Canton attempted to spark a late rally for the Bison launching his third home run of the weekend to right field to cut the deficit to 8-5 in the eighth inning. However, NDSU couldn’t get anything going the rest of the way and dropped the series finale, 8-5.

NDSU totaled nine hits as a team with seven different players contributing at least one. Canton went 2-of-3 at the plate with two RBI, while Dunlap added two runs, two RBI and one hit.

Landon Koenig made the start on the mound tossing five scoreless frames before finishing with three strikeouts over 5.1 innings.

NDSU will conclude regular season play beginning a three-game series against Northern Colorado on Thursday. First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m., at Newman Outdoor Field.