SDSU takes series finale, 6-5

Sunday, March 4

Cape Girardeau, Mo.

1 p.m.

South Dakota State University

2-8

Southeast Missouri State

3-9

South Dakota State

Southeast Missouri

Photo by: Dave Eggen/Inertia

3/4/2018 5:17:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. — Freshman Gus Steiger plated the game-winning run for the second day in a row, delivering a sacrifice fly in the top of the ninth for a 6-5 South Dakota State victory over Southeast Missouri State in nonconference baseball action Sunday afternoon at Capaha Field.

In winning the final two games of the three-game weekend series, SDSU improved to 2-8 overall. SEMO dropped to 3-9.

Phil Velez started the game-winning rally with a one-out single to center field. After Skyler Wenninger and pinch-hitter Josh Kutzke walked to load the bases, Steiger lifted a fly ball to right field that was deep enough to allow Velez to score. Saturday, Steiger hit a two-run home run in the sixth inning that gave SDSU a 4-2 lead in a contest it went on to win, 7-4.

SDSU reliever Austin Suhr, who worked out of a jam in the eighth after allowing an inherited runner to score the tying run, pitched a 1-2-3 bottom of the ninth that included a pair of strikeouts to preserve the win.

The Jackrabbits sent eight men to the plate in the top of the first inning, scoring four times. Steiger led off the game with a single and scored on Nick Smith's double to right field. Anthony Schneider added a run-scoring double, with the other two runs scoring on groundouts off the bats of Newt Johnson and Velez.

The SDSU lead grew to 5-0 in the top of the sixth as Schneider tallied a sacrifice fly that brought home Johnson.

Otis Roby pitched five scoreless innings in his first start as a Jackrabbit before SEMO's comeback bid began in the home half of the sixth with a three-run home run to left field by Tristen Gagan. The Redhawks drew to within 5-4 in the seventh on a sacrifice fly by Wade Stauss before tying the game on Trevor Ezell's infield single in the eighth.

Ezell was 4-for-5 as SEMO held an 11-7 advantage in hits. SDSU's seven hits were scattered among seven different players, with Schneider tallying a pair of runs batted in.

Roby struck out seven and walked two in 5 2/3 innings, but did not factor in the decision.

UP NEXT
The Jackrabbits continue their Spring Break trip by opening a two-game series at Air Force on Tuesday afternoon. First pitch is slated for 2 p.m. Mountain Time (3 p.m. Central) at Falcon Field on the U.S. Air Force Academy campus near Colorado Springs, Colorado.

NOTES
• SEMO leads the all-time series, 7-4
• Schneider finished the series with seven runs batted in
• Josh Falk extended his hitting streak to six games with a sixth-inning single
• Tony Kjolsing singled in the first inning and has now reached base safely in 24 consecutive games dating back to the 2017 season
• Suhr, Brett Mogen and Bryce Johnson each made their team-leading fifth pitching appearances of the season
• SDSU committed an error in the sixth inning, ending a streak of five consecutive errorless games
• The Jackrabbits are fielding .986 as a team and have committed only five errors in 10 games

-GoJacks.com-