ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The South Dakota State baseball lost the final three games of a four-game series against New Mexico over the weekend.
The Jackrabbits lost 12-11 on Friday and then were …
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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The South Dakota State baseball lost the final three games of a four-game series against New Mexico over the weekend.
The Jackrabbits lost 12-11 on Friday and then were swept in a doubleheader on Saturday, losing 9-8 and 13-2 in seven innings.
New Mexico scored two runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to pull out a 12-11 victory over South Dakota State in a back-and-forth nonconference baseball game Friday afternoon at Santa Ana Star Field.
Will Asby started the final Lobo rally with a walk issued by Owen Bishop, who was in his third inning of work. Ethan Ott greeted Jackrabbit reliever Reece Arbogast with a single to put runners at the corners. Konner Kinkade then stepped to the plate and hit a ground-rule double down the left-field line that plated pinch runner Tye Wood and put another pinch runner, Andrew Neil, at third base with nobody out. After an intentional walk to Josh McAlister loaded the bases, Reed Spenrath came through with the game-ending single to right field.
UNM’s game-winning rally came after the Jackrabbits regained the lead with a pair of runs in the top of the final frame, starting with Thatcher Kozal leading off the inning with a game-tying home run to right-center field. With the lineup rolling back over to the top of the lineup, freshman Bryce Ronken recorded his third extra-base hit of the day — a double to the right-center gap — and later scored the go-ahead run on a single up the middle by Carter Sintek.
For the first time this season, the Jackrabbits did not score first. New Mexico grabbed a 1-0 first-inning lead on an RBI single by Luke Mansy.
SDSU responded with a four-run second inning and tacked on two more runs in the third to build a 6-1 advantage. The Jackrabbits took advantage of some shaky defense as Davis Carr plated the first two SDSU runs with a double to left field and Ronken followed with his first collegiate homer, a two-run shot to right.
The Jackrabbits’ third-inning runs scored on an RBI single by Jess Bellows that plated Cael Frost and on a safety squeeze bunt that drove in Cade Stuff.
The Lobos drew even at 6-all with a pair of runs in the bottom of the third and three runs in the fourth, chasing SDSU starter Arlen Peters from the game before an out was recorded in the latter frame. Jackrabbit reliever Dylan Driessen minimized the damage in the fourth and kept UNM off the board with two more scoreless frames.
Carr delivered his second run-scoring hit of the day in the top of the fifth, singling home Adam Benes as SDSU took the lead back at 7-6. The Jackrabbits capitalized on UNM errors to add single runs in both the sixth and seventh innings.
New Mexico rallied to take the lead for the first time with a four-run seventh inning highlighted by a Spenrath RBI double.
The Jackrabbits notched a season-high 19 hits, including Ronken, Sintek and Cael Frost each going 3-for-6 at the plate. Four other SDSU players collected two hits.
UNM’s Sean Stephens was a perfect 3-for-3 with a double and triple on the day and also drew two walks to reach base five times.
Arbogast was assessed the loss in his brief relief stint. Driessen tossed three scoreless frames, striking out one and walking one, while Peters was charged with six runs — five earned — on six hits. He walked five and struck out only one.
For the second straight day, the Lobos scored two runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to record a walkoff win, prevailing 9-8.
Trailing 8-3, New Mexico began its comeback with three runs in the bottom of the seventh by scoring three times with the aid of two Jackrabbit throwing errors. The Lobos pulled to within 8-7 in the eighth on a sacrifice fly by Konner Kinkade, but SDSU maintained the lead by turning an inning-ending around-the-horn double play with the tying run at third base.
Ethan Ott began the bottom of the ninth for UNM with a ground-rule double to left center off Sam Schlecht. Closer Alex Clemons then entered and proceeded to walk two of the next three hitters. Pinch runner Andrew Neil scored the tying run on a wild pitch and Will Asby plated the game-winning run with a single through a drawn-in infield.
SDSU staked starter Jake Goble to a 3-0 lead with two runs in the second inning and another run in the fourth. Carter Sintek drove in Cael Frost with the first run of the game with an RBI single and Sintek later scored on a sacrifice fly by Jess Bellows.
Bellows knocked in the fourth-inning run with a base hit that scored Cade Stuff.
UNM tied the game at 3-all with a three-run home half of the fourth, highlighted by an RBI triple by Reed Spenrath and a run-scoring double by Tye Wood.
The Jackrabbits regained the lead by putting three runs on the board in the top of the fifth. Dawson Parry drove in the first run with a single to right and Cael Frost followed with a run-scoring double to the left-center gap. Parry later scored on a sacrifice fly by Sintek.
Frost upped the SDSU lead to five runs with a two-run home run to right after Parry opened the frame with a double. Frost and Cade Stuff each were 3-for-4 to lead the Jackrabbits’ 14-hit attack.
Goble scattered seven hits over six innings. He struck out five and walked two.
UNM scored in every inning and ended the game early via the 10-run rule.
The Lobos notched two runs in each of the first three innings, opening the scoring on a two-run home run by Will Asby in the bottom of the first. Kinkade added a two-run single in the second inning, while Wood and Sean Stephens delivered run-scoring singles in the third. UNM’s third-inning runs came after the Jackrabbits posted their first run of the game on a sacrifice fly by Parry in the top of the third.
Thatcher Kozal accounted for the other SDSU run with a solo homer in the top of the fifth.
UNM tacked on two runs in the fifth inning and added another in the sixth before ending the game with a two-run homer by Gene Trujillo.
Sintek and Cohen Henry each tallied two of SDSU’s nine hits.
Jackrabbit starter Will Kent lasted only 2 2/3 innings, allowing six runs on eight hits. He walked two and struck out two in taking his first loss of the season.
In winning three of the four games in the series, UNM improved to 5-3 overall. The Jackrabbits dropped to 3-5.
