Softball Splits Drake Doubleheader

Tuesday, March 22

Des Moines, Iowa

2:00 PM

South Dakota State University

10-16

Drake

12-11

South Dakota State

Drake

Photo by: Inertia Sports Media/Dave Eggen

3/22/2016 7:19:00 PM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

By: Ryan Sweeter

DES MOINES, Iowa – The South Dakota State softball team returned to action after an 11 day break on Tuesday to split a doubleheader at Drake, winning the opener 10-6, before falling 10-2 in five innings in the second game.

The Jackrabbits end the day with a 10-17 overall record, while the Bulldogs finish with a 13-11 mark.

SDSU got an Ali Herdliska sacrifice fly in the top of the first inning of Game 1 to take the early 1-0 lead, only to see the Bulldogs get that run back in the bottom of the second.

The Jacks came back with three runs in the top of the third, two of them coming on a two-run home run from Devan Larsen and one more off an RBI single from Abbey Murphy to go up 4-1, but Drake came right back with three runs in the bottom of the third to tie the game at 4-4.

Still tied at 4-all into the fifth, SDSU got and RBI double from Lauren Chirnside, who also scored an unearned run in the inning, and a Jordyn Sturgeon RBI single to take a 7-4 lead into the top of the sixth, when the Jacks added three more.

Chirnside hit another RBI double, and then scored on a Herdliska home run to give SDSU at 10-4 lead, which held up as the final score.

Ashlyn Bender went the distance for the Jackrabbits in the circle to improve to 5-9 on the season. She gave up six runs, three earned, on 10 hits with one each in walks and strikeouts.

The Bulldogs came out hot in the nightcap, scoring three runs in the first, one in the second and five in the third to take a commanding 9-0 lead heading into the fourth inning.

The only two Jackrabbit runs in the game came off the bat of Lyndsey Crist, who smacked her first-career home run to get SDSU on the board in the fourth, but the Jacks stranded two on base that inning, and did not threaten in the fifth.

SDSU remains on the road this weekend to open Summit League play at Western Illinois. The three-game series starts with a doubleheader on Friday at 2 p.m., followed by a single game on Saturday at 11 a.m.