LONG BEACH, Calif. – The North Dakota State baseball team came up short at No. 25/RV Long Beach State, 8-5, in the series finale on Sunday afternoon at Blair Field.
The Bison (5-6) started fast as
Will Busch sent an RBI single into left center to make the score 1-0 in the opening frame.
Hunter Koep then stretched the edge up to 2-0 after he connected on his first home run of the season into right field. NDSU continued to apply pressure after Busch delivered an RBI single and
Jack Simonsen scored on wild pitch in the third frame to increase the lead to 4-0.
After
Peter Brookshaw added an unearned run on a fielding error, the Dirtbags (4-6) erupted for a three-run bottom half of the fifth to cut the deficit to two, 5-3. The contest then went scoreless until the eighth inning when Long Beach State pushed five runs across to steal the lead, 8-5. The Bison weren't able to rally in the ninth and went on to drop the contest, 8-5.
Cade Feeney made his third start of the season on the mound and tied a season-high five strikeouts over 6.0 innings.
Skyler Riedinger (0-1) picked up the loss tossing one strikeout over 1.1 innings.
NDSU totaled nine hits as a team with Busch setting the pace with two hits and two RBI.
Zach Kluvers also added in two hits, while Brookshaw contributed two runs and one hit.
NDSU will be back in action against Minnesota on Tuesday night at U.S. Bank Stadium. First pitch is set for 6:00 p.m.
