In a winner-take-all game, the South Dakota State University baseball team scored three times in the top of the ninth for a 7-4 victory Saturday over North Dakota State and a berth in next week’s Summit League Baseball Championship.
The Jackrabbits improved to 21-33 overall and 13-17 in league play. NDSU had its season come to an end with a 29-25 overall record and a 12-18 mark in The Summit League.
With the game tied at 4-all entering the ninth, Tony Kjolsing started the Jackrabbits game-winning rally with his third hit of the game, a double down the left-field line. Two of the next three SDSU hitters were retired before Matt Johnson stepped to the plate and lined a Sean Terres pitch to right field that drove in Kjolsing. After Matt Johnson stole second to put runners at second and third, Newt Johnson followed with a two-run single to shallow right that scored both Ringhofer and Matt Johnson for a 7-4 lead.
The Jackrabbits will enter the Summit League Baseball Championship as the fourth seed and will face top-seeded Oral Roberts at 6 p.m. Wednesday. The double-elimination tournament will be played at J.L. Johnson Stadium on the ORU campus in Tulsa, Oklahoma, with second-seeded Omaha and third-seeded Fort Wayne meeting in the opener at noon Wednesday.
