TUCSON, Ariz. – Henry Hammrich delivered an RBI single in the bottom of the ninth to cap a four-run rally and lift Southwest Minnesota State to a dramatic walk-off 8-7 victory over Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) at the Kino Sports Complex on Thursday afternoon.
 
SMSU, which trailed 4-1 in the eighth and 7-4 in the ninth, rallied for the victory collecting four hits and taking advantage of two hit by pitches and a walk to earn its second walk-off victory of the season.
 
SMSU improves to 7-5 overall, while DWU drops to 9-3 on the season. The teams will play again on Friday starting at 11 a.m. CST.
 
DWU snapped a 4-4 game plating three runs in the top of the ninth to build a 7-4 advantage. SMSU rallied in the home half of the night with Caden King starting the comeback with a single before Levi Lampert reached via hit by pitch. Jared Cortez loaded the bases with a bad-hop single before Connor Davis smacked a two-run single down the right field line to pull SMSU to within 7-6. Evan Behn was hit by a pitch one batter later to load the bases before Nathan Wheeler coaxed a bases loaded walk to tie the game at 7-7. Following a strikeout, Hammrich came through with a line single to left-center for his second base hit of the game.
 
SMSU closed the game with 12 base hits with Lampert leading the way with three hits while King, Hammrich and Behn each finished with two hits.
 
Four Mustang pitchers combined to strikeout 16 Tiger batters, while allowing three earned runs.
 
Tyler Nesheim started for the Mustangs and struck out nine batters while allowing four runs (two earned) on four hits with two walks and one hit by pitch. Tad Tjaden struck out five in two innings of work. Austin Dent (2-1) retired all three batters he faced in the ninth to earn the victory.
 
SMSU broke a scoreless game in the third with King hitting a single up the middle and hustling to second on an error by the centerfielder. Lampert came through moments later with an RBI single to give the Mustangs a 1-0 lead.
 
DWU rallied to take the lead in the sixth scoring four runs, two unearned, on four hits. 
 
SMSU started its first comeback in the eighth with Lampert hitting a one-out single before Cortez reached on a fielder's choice and Lampert advancing to third on a throw error. Following a strikeout, Behn came through with a clutch run-scoring single before Tanner Rezny smacked an RBI pinch-hit single to make the game 4-3. Tyler Froland was hit by a pitch to load the bases before Hammrich was hit by a pitch to tie the game at 4-4.
 
DWU regained the lead in the ninth using a pair of triples and an error to plate three runs (two unearned) before SMSU rallied for the win in the bottom of the frame.