Softball pushes winning streak to five

Saturday, March 11

Clearwater, Fla.

8:15 a.m.

South Dakota State University

11-13

Central Connecticut State

2-8

South Dakota State

Central Conn. State

Photo by: Laura Mullen

3/11/2017 5:12:00 PM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

CLEARWATER, FLa. -- South Dakota State pushed its win streak to five games with another sweep on day two at the USF-Under Armour Invitational Saturday. The Jacks defeated Central Connecticut State, 8-5, in extras and claimed a 5-3 win over Canisius.

Stats were not immediately available for the first game of the day.

SDSU 5, Canisius 3
Ashlyn Bender got the start and tossed 3.1 innings with one earned run allowed (three total) while striking out two. Abby Deane (6-7) earned the win by throwing the next 3.2 frames in shutout fashion, allowing a hit and two walks with four strikeouts.

Julia Andersen went 2 for 3 with two runs scored while Ali Herdslika was 2 for 4 with a double and two RBI. Brittney Morse and Mallory McQuistan drove in a run apiece for the Jackrabbits as McQuistan blasted her first home run of the season.

McQuistan gave the Jacks the early lead in the second by taking the first pitch of the inning over the left field wall. Canisius struck back with a run in the bottom of the inning, before State plated another two in the top of the third.

With one out, Andersen singled through the left side before coming around to score as Herdliska doubled with two outs, advancing to third on a fielding error. Morse followed with a single into left center, allowing Herdliska to trot home and put the Jacks ahead 3-1.

Canisius, however, did not go away and pushed a run across in the third and fourth innings to tie it, 3-all.

SDSU went back on top for good in the fifth, taking advantage of a CC wild pitch. Andersen reached on a one-out single before moving to second on Lyndsey Crist's sacrifice bunt and a Herdliska fly out. From there, the Golden Griffins logged a strikeout, but the third strike pitch went wild as Morse reahed safely and Andersen scampered home.

Leading by one in the seventh, State tacked on an insurance run behind Herdliska's second single of the day, scoring Crist, who started the inning with a double.

From there, the back-and-forth scoring ceased as the Jacks closed out the game by working around a pair of CC baserunners to secure its fifth consecutive win.

Up Next
South Dakota State closes its stay in Clearwater, Florida Sunday with an 8:15 a.m. CT contest against SIU Edwardsville. A live video link will be available prior to that game.