TULSA, Okla. – The second-seeded North Dakota State baseball team overcame a five-run deficit in the ninth inning to bounce top-seeded Omaha, 7-5, in an elimination game at the Summit League Championship at J.L. Johnson Field on Thursday afternoon.
After Omaha (18-32-1) scored four runs in the opening inning and one more in the fifth, both teams then battled through five scoreless innings until the Bison (20-29-1) were able to load the bases in the ninth and Davis Hamilton was hit by a pitch to score Carson Hake for the first run.
Kyle Law, who checked in to pinch hit, sparked NDSU with a two-run single into left field to make the score 5-3. Jake Schaffner followed it up with an RBI double before Hake drew a bases-loaded walk to score Law to tie the contest, 5-5. Sam Canton capped the inning with a two RBI single to right field to give NDSU its first lead of the day, 7-5. Skyler Riedinger closed out the bottom half with two strikeouts to help secure the 7-5 comeback victory.
Landon Koenig made the start on the mound with two strikeouts over 2.2 innings. Joey Danielson worked a career-long 4.1 innings in relief with two strikeouts and didn’t allow a run, while Riedinger (2-1) earned the win closing out the final 2.0 innings with three strikeouts.
The Bison notched six hits as a team with Canton and Law each contributing two RBI.
NDSU will face the loser of the Thursday night matchup between third-seeded Oral Roberts and fourth-seeded Northern Colorado tomorrow. First pitch is set for 4:00 p.m. CT