Ariy-El Boynton

The Jackrabbit baseball team started the 2008 season going 1-3, playing against the University of Central Arkansas at UCA’s field in Conway, Ark., over the weekend.

The Jacks lost 4-5 on Feb. 22; they managed to get back to .500 with a 3-2 win in the first game of the double-header on Feb. 23, but the Bears got the best of the Jacks by beating them 12-3 during the second game. On Feb. 24, the four-game series ended with a 3-5 loss for the Jacks.

In the first game of the double-header, Tyson Fisher drove in Korby Mintken with a double, which reached the left-field wall.

Bears first baseman Payton Seelinger put UCA ahead 2-1 in the fifth with a solo home run to left center. The Jackrabbits countered with a run in the sixth, a Craig Parry leadoff home run and Nick Adams, center fielder for SDSU, scored a run in the seventh.

Jackrabbits starting pitcher Caleb Thielbar allowed only six hits, two runs and punched out two Bears batters in five innings pitched. Matt Spinar (1-0) gained the win, allowing two hits and two walks in one and a third innings. Matt Baerlocher earned the save for getting out the last two batters.

SDSU started the second game of the double-header like the first as the Jacks came out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the third inning. Adams gave the Jacks a two-run double.

The Bears got two runs back in their portion of the third and tied the game at three runs a piece off an error. The Bears came out with a hit parade and erupted for four runs in the fifth and sixth and won the game 12-3.

Despite the somewhat sluggish 1-3 start, the Jackrabbits baseball squad is predicted to finish very well. They earned their strong prediction based on strong play last year. Depsite playing 49 of their 53 games away, the Jacks recorded a 34-19 season, the third most wins in school history.

All that hard work has paid off as the Jacks have been selected as the second best team in Summit League pre-season poll.

This year will have an added bonus as the Jacks will host more games in Brookings. On April 1, the Jacks will unveil their new stadium, Huether Field, on the Northwest part of campus. Their opponent on April Fool’s Day will be old North Central Conference foe, the Fighting Sioux of North Dakota at 2 p.m.

After a two-game series with Arkansas at Fayetteville, Ark., the Jacks will head to the Sam Houston State Tournament at Huntsville, Texas, where they will play four teams in weekend action.