Jackrabbit rally falls short

Sunday, March 25

Greeley, Colo.

1:00 PM

South Dakota State University

Northern Colorado

3/25/2012 5:52:00 PM | Baseball

By: SDSU Sports Info

GREELEY, Colo. - Northern Colorado scored runs in bunches in the middle innings and held off a furious rally by South Dakota State to record a 15-13 victory Sunday afternoon in the final game of a four-game college baseball series.

In earning a split of the series, UNC improved to 8-11 overall. SDSU dropped to 6-12-1 on the season.

The Jackrabbits got out of the gates quickly, building an early 5-0 lead. SDSU scored three times in the top of the first as Andrew Phelan knocked in the first run with a base hit and Zach Rhodes followed with a two-run triple. The Jackrabbits added single runs in the second and third innings on a run-scoring groundout by Jordan Varga and a sacrifice fly by Rhodes.

UNC tied the game at 5-all by scoring three times in the home half of the third and added a pair of runs in the fourth. Tony Crudo hit a two-run home run in the third, while Adam Hilker doubled in a run in the fourth, with the tying run scoring on an error.

Steven Autenrieth's run-scoring single in the top of the fifth gave SDSU a momentary 6-5 lead, but the Bears took the lead for good with three runs of their own in the fifth, highlighted by Jensen Park's two-run single.

The Bears tacked on three more runs in the six and four in the seventh, including a three-run homer by Brooks Schneider, against the SDSU bullpen to lead 15-6 heading into the eighth.

SDSU wouldn't go quietly, however, scoring twice in the eighth on a two-run double by Phil Paquette and then putting the tying run on base in the ninth. After Zach Rhodes led off the ninth by popping out, the Jackrabbits strung together six consecutive singles, including run-scoring hits by Andrew Melton, Varga and Eric Cain to close to within 15-11. A sacrifice fly by Paquette and run-scoring pinch-hit single by Zach Briggs pulled the Jackrabbits to within 15-13. With the tying run at first base, UNC reliever Jess Amedee got Rhodes to fly out to left to end the game.

Each team recorded 17 hits in the game; Nick Andrews and Paquette each were 3-for-5 for SDSU, while Hilker and Crudo tallied three hits apiece for the Bears.

Joe Willman pitched the first five innings for UNC and was credited with the victory. Jackrabbit reliever Talon Jumper took the loss. Kolton Emery worked three innings in a starting role for SDSU, while Marcus Heemstra made his first appearance of the season since joining the team following the basketball season.

The Jackrabbits return to action Wednesday with a non-conference matchup at Minnesota. First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m. at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.

NORTHERN COLORADO 15, SOUTH DAKOTA STATE 13
SDSU 311 010 025 13-17-3
UNC 003 233 40X 15-17-4
SDSU: Kolton Emery, Talon Jumper (4), Marcus Heemstra (6), Blake Fiedelman (7), Deon Entringer (8) and Nick Andrews. UNC: Joe Willman, Nate Steinmetz (6), Kevin Willman (8), Jess Amedee (9) and Derek Baum.
W-J. Willman. L-Jumper (x-x). Save-none.
HR: UNC-Tony Crudo (x), Brooks Schneider (x).