ST. GEORGE, Utah – Montana State University Billings starter Jake Campeau turned in a quality start with six-plus innings pitched, but home standing Dixie State rallied for six runs in the eighth inning to complete a comeback 9-5 victory over the Yellowjackets' baseball team Thursday evening at Bruce Hurst Field.
 
A leadoff walk foreshadowed a big inning for DSU, which entered the eighth trailing 4-3. Singles by Miles Bice, Tanner Morache and Drew McLaughlin each scored runs, and two more crossed the plate on a wild pitch and a throwing error by the 'Jackets.
 
MSUB placed one runner on in the top of the ninth, but Evan Parker finished the game for the Red Storm to secure the victory.
 
In his second start of the season, Campeau allowed three runs on five hits with five strikeouts and three walks in five innings. Lee Busto (0-4) took the loss for MSUB allowing three earned runs in 1 1/3 inning, while Jeremy Alderman was the victor for the Red Storm allowing one earned run on two hits with two strikeouts and no walks in 1 2/3 innings.
 
"Jake was awesome tonight," said MSUB head coach Rob Bishop on Campeau, who was named the St. Vincent Healthcare Player of the Game. "Our offense gave us a chance against a very good staff but the big inning hurt us again in the eighth."
 
At the plate for the 'Jackets, Kevin Toon and Conner Holbrook each finished with three hits and an RBI, and leadoff batter Kyle Durbin was 2-for-5 and drove in a pair. Bret Bitow had the lone extra-base hit for the 'Jackets, a leadoff double in the seventh that kicked off a two-run rally.
 
For Dixie State (2-6), Bice finished 3-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored out of the nine hole, and Morache drove in three on a pair of hits in the leadoff spot. Similar to the Yellowjackets, the Red Storm logged just one extra-base hit as Yuto Kata had a double and two runs scored.
 
Campeau cruised through the first three innings, retiring seven of the first eight batters he faced. After a one-out single by Bice in the bottom of the third, the Yellowjackets turned a nice double play as Brody Miller fed to Durbin at the bag at second, and the relay throw to Toon at first was in time to end the inning.
 
The twin killing helped complete a shutdown inning, after MSUB took a 1-0 lead in the top of the frame on an RBI-single by Durbin that plated Holbrook.
 
DSU threatened to score a run in the bottom of the fourth, moving runners to second and third with two outs. Campeau kept his cool however, striking out Zach Watts on a 2-2 pitch as the Red Storm stranded a pair.
 
MSUB (1-7) tacked on a run in the next half inning, as Trevor Nix and Holbrook led off with back-to-back singles. A sacrifice bunt by Casey Merritt moved the runners up 90 feet, and a fielder's choice ground out by Durbin made the score 2-0 in favor of the 'Jackets.
 
The Red Storm got on the scoreboard in the fifth as Kata came around to score after a leadoff double, but the 'Jackets answered with another run in the sixth. A two-out base hit up the middle by Holbrook plated Sternhagen as the MSUB offense provided Campeau with an insurance run.
 
Bitow sparked another rally with a leadoff double in the seventh, and Luke Reinschmidt brought him home with a one-out base hit. The junior center fielder worked his way around to third on a wild pitch and a stolen base, and Toon came through with an RBI-single to give the 'Jackets a 5-1 lead.
 
A walk and a hit batter to start the seventh drove Campeau from the game, and DSU didn't waste the opportunity to chip into the lead. Morache punched a base hit into right to score one run, and Donald Glover pulled the Red Storm within two runs on a sacrifice fly that scored Bice.
 
An efficient, 1-2-3 inning for Alderman in the top of the eighth set DSU up for another chance to pull even, and the Red Storm capitalized with the game-changing offensive outburst.
 
On the game the Yellowjackets out-hit the Red Storm 12-10, marking the fourth time this season MSUB has recorded more hits than its opponent in a loss. The big eighth inning also marked the fourth game in-a-row that MSUB has allowed at least five runs in an inning in the sixth or later.
 
"This was a tough loss for our team," Bishop said. "We definitely need a big performance from our bullpen to turn things around tomorrow."
 
NEXT UP: The series continues with a doubleheader on Friday beginning at 3 p.m. at Bruce Hurst Field. The two games are the first of five total for the 'Jackets in the next three days, as a three-game set against Minot State awaits MSUB after the conclusion of the series with Dixie State.