NDSU Baseball Upsets South Dakota State, 4-3, in First Round of Summit League Tournament

Thursday, May 22

Sioux Falls, S.D.

7:10 p.m.

North Dakota State Athletics

23-24

South Dakota State

27-28

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
North Dakota State	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	4	11	1
South Dakota State	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	1	3	11	0

Photo by: Jim Trewin

NDSU Baseball Upsets South Dakota State, 4-3, in First Round of Summit League Tournament

5/22/2014 11:37:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The North Dakota State baseball team (23-24) used a three-run eighth inning to upset top-seeded South Dakota State (27-28), 4-3, in the opening round of The Summit League Baseball Championship, presented by First PREMIER Bank/PREMIER Bankcard, Thursday, May 22, at Sioux Falls Stadium.

With the win, the Bison advance to the semifinals of the tournament and will face second-seeded Western Illinois Friday, May 23, at 3 p.m. with a spot in the tournament championship game on the line.

Trailing 2-1 entering the eighth, Kyle Kleinendorst stepped to the plate and belted his team-high fifth triple of the season off the right centerfield wall, allowing Jon Hechtner and Wes Satzinger to cross home plate and give the Bison a 3-2 advantage. With one out in the inning, Hechtner singled to shortstop and Satzinger worked a walk, bringing Kleinendorst to the plate. Kleinendorst scored NDSU's third run of the inning on a South Dakota State wild pitch to build the lead to 4-2.

Right-hander David Ernst went seven-and two-thirds innings on the mound for the Bison, allowing two earned runs on nine hits, all singles, while striking out three and walking only one batter on 108 pitches to earn the win and improve to 5-4 overall.

NDSU reliever Trevor Jaunich picked up his team-best seventh save of the season after pitching 1.1 innings and striking out three while allowing one earned run on a pair of hits.

Hechtner (3-for-5) and Nick Altavilla (2-for-4) both recorded multiple hits in the contest with Altavilla also batting in a run.

The Jackrabbits cut the Bison lead to 4-3 in the bottom of the ninth after getting back-to-back two-out doubles from Scott Splett and Zach Coppola, but Jaunich got Aaron Machbitz to pop out, securing the NDSU victory.

Machbitz paced the South Dakota State offense, going 3-for-5 at the plate, while Jackrabbit starting pitcher Adam Bray pitched 7.2 innings, allowing four earned runs on 11 hits to take the loss and fall to 5-7 overall.

With the win, the Bison improve to 23-24 overall and 6-6 all-time in Summit League Tournament play while the Jackrabbits fall to 27-28 overall and see their four-game tournament win streak come to an end.