Wild Ninth Inning Lifts Bears to Series Win

Sunday, March 16

Greeley, Colo.

12 p.m.

University of Northern Colorado

7-13, 2-1

South Dakota State

2-14, 1-2

South Dakota State

UNC

3/16/2025 7:25:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score Final Box Score (PDF)

UNC Walks Off South Dakota State in Series Finale

By: Michael High, Assistant Athletics Director for Strategic Communications

GREELEY, Colo. – Jake King scampered home on a wild pitch, completing a seven-run ninth-inning rally for Northern Colorado and clinching a series win over South Dakota State Sunday at Jackson Field.

Trailing 10-4 in its final at-bats, UNC (7-13, 2-1 Summit League) sent 10 batters to the plate, while South Dakota State (2-14, 1-2) utilized five pitchers in the frame.

The Bears registered five hits, four bases-on-balls, and a hit-batsman, while South Dakota State uncorked two wild pitches. Murphy Gienger, the starting pitcher in game one for UNC, pinch ran for Tony Castonguay and scored the tying run.

Trey Oblas led off the stanza with a triple past a diving left fielder and cut the margin to 10-5 on an RBI single by Anthony Stellato. Jake Bullard moved two into scoring position with a double, the third-straight hit to open the inning.

After a sacrifice fly by Carter Monda, Brett Barber singled, putting Bears on the corners. Kai Wagner doubled and plated both runs, bringing the tying run to the plate in the form of Castonguay.

Back-to-back walks by Jake King and Craig Kenny narrowed the gap to 10-9. The next batter, Oblas, knotted the game at 10 when struck by a pitch. The third pitch from the fifth hurler of the frame bounced in front of home plate and past the Jackrabbits backstop, allowing King to complete the rally.

UNC opened the scoring with one in the first and led 1-0 heading to the middle frames. The Jackrabbits opened a 10-3 advantage with three in the fourth, six in the fifth and one in the sixth.

The Bears posted solo markers in the fifth, sixth and eighth, setting up the dramatic finish.

Jack Tuttle, who picked up his second win of the season, with a scoreless top of the ninth. He retired all three batters he faced. Mason Bright, Gus Allred and Zach Hose joined Tuttle in shutting down the South Dakota State offense, allowing just one run on two hits and one walk, while fanning six.

Barber, Wagner, King and Bullard notched two hits each, while Monda, Kenny, Stellato and Oblas recorded a knock apiece.

UP NEXT
March 18 | UNC at Utah | Smith's Ballpark | Salt Lake City, Utah | 6 p.m.
March 19 | UNC at Utah | Smith's Ballpark | Salt Lake City, Utah | Noon
March 21 | North Dakota State at UNC | Jackson Field | Greeley, Colo. | 2 p.m.
March 22 | North Dakota State at UNC | Jackson Field | Greeley, Colo. | Noon
March 23 | North Dakota State at UNC | Jackson Field | Greeley, Colo. | Noon