JACKRABBITS RALLY TO SPLIT BASEBALL TWINBILL

Saturday, April 26

Brookings, S.D.

11 a.m.

South Dakota State University

10-28, 6-12

North Dakota State

14-24, 11-8

North Dakota State

South Dakota State

Photo by: Jenna Batka

4/26/2025 7:35:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

North Dakota State had the offense clicking in the opener before South Dakota State rallied in the late innings of Game 2 as the two Summit League baseball rivals split a doubleheader Saturday afternoon at Erv Huether Field.

SDSU ended the day with an 11-28 overall record, including a 7-12 mark in league play. The Bison moved to 14-25 overall and 11-9 in The Summit League.

Game 1: North Dakota State 8, South Dakota State 4
NDSU scored in seven of its nine trips to the plate in taking the opener, 8-4.

In five of the scoring innings for the Bison, the first batter to reach in the frame gained first base on a free pass — either a base on balls or a hit by pitch. In the first inning, Davis Hamilton drew a two-out walk against SDSU starter Caleb Duerr before advancing to second base on a wild pitch and scoring the first run of the game on a double by Sam Canton.

The Bison put together their lone multi-run inning of the game in the third inning. No. 9 hitter Luis Garcia drew a leadoff walk and advanced to third on a one-out single by Dante Smith. After Smith stole second, Hamilton notched a two-run single for a 3-0 NDSU lead.

NDSU added single runs in the fourth and fifth innings for a 5-1 lead before the Jackrabbits trimmed the deficit in half in the home half of the fifth on a two-run home run by Carter Sintek.

Walks to open both the top of the seventh and eighth innings led to two more NDSU runs and the Bison tacked on another run in the ninth on an RBI single by Garcia, who reached four times in the contest.

SDSU's final run of the game came on an Owen Siegert solo home run in the bottom of the eighth.

Canton was 3-for-3 to lead NDSU's 10-hit effort. The Jackrabbits finished with eight hits, including two each by Sintek, Nolan Grawe and Siegert. Grawe plated SDSU's first run of the game with a single in the third inning.

Duerr pitched six-plus innings and finished with a career-high seven strikeouts. The freshman right-hander was tagged with the loss after allowing six runs on six hits while walking four and hitting one batter.

Bison starter Logan Knight fanned six batters over six solid innings. Hayden Sylte added two strikeouts in three innings of relief to earn the save.

Game 2: South Dakota State 8, North Dakota State 6
The Jackrabbits scored two runs in each of the last three innings to rally for the Game 2 victory.

Trailing 5-2 through six innings, SDSU began the comeback against the Bison bullpen in the top of the seventh. Jess Bellows led off with a single and Nic Werk followed two batters later with a walk. That brought Grawe to the plate and the freshman third baseman came through with a two-run double to the left-center gap.

Meanwhile, Jake Goble kept NDSU at bay with four straight shutout innings after allowing a run in the fourth.

SDSU caught a pair of breaks to take the lead and then keep the lead in the eighth. Siegert walked to lead off the frame and scored the tying run on Bryce Ronken's double to the right-field corner. After Ronken moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Adam Benes, Ronken appeared to be trapped on a botched squeeze attempt; however, the throw back to third base was off the mark, allowing Ronken to score the go-ahead run.

In the bottom of the eighth, Alex Urlaub led off with a solid single to left field. Two batters later, Blake Timmons lined a pitch to left field that was misplayed for a two-base error, but Urlaub was thrown at home plate while trying to score on the play. Goble then induced a groundout to end the threat.

The Jackrabbits added a pair of much-needed insurance runs in the top of the ninth when Ronken recorded his fourth hit of the game by lacing a single to center field that brough home both Sintek and Luke Luskey.

NDSU scored a run off a tiring Goble on an RBI single by Davis Hamilton in the bottom of the ninth, but closer Dylan Driessen came on to record the final two outs for his fourth save of the season.

Hamilton was 4-for-5 and finished with four RBIs after driving in the first run of the game with a triple in the bottom of the first, while adding a run-scoring double in the third and another run-scoring hit in the fourth. Colten Becker added a two-run single to cap a three-run third inning against SDSU starter Owen Bishop.

Overall, NDSU held a 16-10 advantage in hits, including three by Jake Schaffner. Sintek and Grawe each registered a pair of hits for SDSU.
Dagen Schramm drove in the Jackrabbits' first two runs with a double in the top of the second.

Goble was credited with the win after logging 6 1/3 innings and tying a career high with eight strikeouts. The Jackrabbits did not issue a free pass in Game 2.

UP NEXT
The series finale is scheduled for 1 p.m. Sunday.

NOTES
• NDSU leads the season series, 3-2
• The Jackrabbits lead the all-time series, 133-88
• The Bison were the home team in Game 2 as that game was designated as the makeup game from the teams' first series of the season played in Fargo in late March
• Ronken recorded his second four-hit game of the season
• Ronken has reached base safely in 18 consecutive games
• Grawe has multiple hits in each of the last five games and is a combined 12-for-21 (.571 batting average) in that span
• Grawe took over the team lead in batting average at .347
• Goble previously struck out eight batters on March 2, 2024, in a winning effort at Southern Illinois-Edwardsville
• Siegert stole his team-leading 10^th base of the season in Game 1
• Sintek posted his team-leading 16^th multi-hit performance of the season in Game 2

-GoJacks.com-