MINNEAPOLIS — South Dakota State will make its second appearance in the NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament after defeating Oral Roberts, 9-6, in a winner-take-all game Saturday in the finals of the Summit League Baseball Championship played at Siebert Field.
Oral Roberts stayed alive in the tournament with a 4-1 victory in Saturday’s first game before the Jackrabbits hit three home runs and rode the arm of relief pitcher Ty Madison in the finale.
SDSU moved to 24-31 overall while ORU had its season end with a 35-24 overall mark. The Jackrabbits’ other NCAA appearance at the Division I level was in 2013.
Game 1: Oral Roberts 4, SDSU 1
Oral Roberts scored a pair of runs in the top of the first inning and left-hander Jackson Farrell carried a shutout into the seventh inning to move the Golden Eagles into a winner-take-all final game.
The Golden Eagles’ first-inning rally began with a one-out single by Summit League Player of the Year Makani Tanaka. After a walk to Wailele Kane-Yates, both runners moved up a base on a wild pitch before Cooper Combs lined a two-run single back up the middle past SDSU starter Drew McDowell.
ORU pushed its lead to 3-0 in the fourth thanks to two Jackrabbit errors on the same play. Martell Davis led off the inning with a double and appeared destined to remain at second base after McDowell induced a pair of ground balls to third base. However, Nolan Grawe’s throw on the second of the two plays was offline and when first baseman Dayton Franke’s attempt to corral the baseball resulted with the ball going out of play, sending Davis home.
Farrell retired 11 batters in a row until running into a jam in the bottom of the seventh. Luke Luskey drew a one-out walk and Carter Taylor reached on an infield single two batters later to bring an end to Farrell’s outing. Luke Wroblewski then greeted reliever Kash Ferris with a single to right field that brought home Luskey, but Taylor was thrown out trying to advance to third.
The Golden Eagles added an insurance run in the top of the ninth on a Hudson Ellis single after a walk to Cooper Kelly. Ferris then closed out the game by striking out the side in order in the home of the inning.
Farrell fanned four and walked one in 6 2/3 innings. Five of the seven outs Ferris recorded en route to his third save were via the strikeout.
For SDSU, McDowell struck out four, walked three and allowed three runs — two earned — on three hits over seven innings.
Owen Siegert and Taylor each collected two of the Jackrabbits’ five hits. Tanaka led ORU with two of its six hits.
Game 2: SDSU 9, Oral Roberts 6
SDSU answered some early salvos from Oral Roberts and took the lead for good on a two-run double by Nic Werk in the bottom of the fifth.
The Golden Eagles again jumped out to an early 2-0 lead as their first batters of the game reached base safely, including on a run-scoring by Wailele Kane-Yates. Martell Davis added an RBI on a groundout.
The Jackrabbits’ initial response came in the form of back-to-back home runs by Nolan Grawe and Nate Wachter in the bottom of the first inning off ORU starter Conner Johnson.
A Will Edmunson RBI single in the top of the second inning put the Golden Eagles back out front by a run, but Werk connected on his first career home run in the bottom of the frame to knot the game at 3-all.
SDSU grabbed a 5-3 lead in the home half of the third when Grawe reached on an error and scored on a passed ball. Luke Jones then followed with the second of his four hits in the game, a single to center that plated Luke Luskey.
ORU countered with single runs in the fourth and fifth innings on another RBI single by Edmunson after Madison entered in relief of Jackrabbit starter Sam Novotny with two outs in the fourth. The fifth-inning run was unearned.
The Jackrabbits turned an extra opportunity into runs in taking the lead for good in the bottom of the fifth. Jones started the inning with a single and Keagen Jirschele reached on a fielders choice after a walk to Dayton Franke. A catchable foul ball hit by Werk outside of first base fell to the turf, and after Jirschele stole second, Werk lined a double past the third-base bag and into the corner to drive in both runners.
A solo home run by Edmunson with one out in the sixth made it a one-run game at 7-6, but once again SDSU had an answer as it put two runs on the board for the fourth and final time in a frame in its next at-bat. Luskey and Jones drew back-to-back one-out walks against Summit League Pitcher of the Year Jack Hill to set the stage for freshman Carter Taylor, who lined a single through the right side to bring home Luskey. Jirschele followed two batters later with a double to the left-field corner to plate Jones with an insurance run.
That would be more than enough offense for Madison, who faced the minimum over the final three innings, with the final out recorded on a sliding catch in right field by Wachter. A senior right-hander, Madison struck out two over 5 1/3 innings in his third appearance of the week and was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player.
SDSU finished with a 12-10 edge in hits as Jones went 4-for-4 with a walk and Wachter, Werk and Jirschele each tallied two hits. Edmunson tallied three hits for ORU.
Joining Madison on the all-tournament team for the Jackrabbits were Siegert, Werk, Wachter, Jones and Kaden Rylance.
ON DECK
SDSU will learn its postseason destination and pairings during the NCAA Selection Show at 11 a.m. Monday on ESPN2.
Story Provided by GoJacks.com
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