Softball hits Sunshine State for spring break

Monday, March 6

Clearwater, Fla.

9 a.m.

South Dakota State University

Western Michigan University

Photo by: Laura Mullen

3/5/2017 10:17:00 AM | Softball

SDSU Game Notes

Jacks to play 11 games in seven days

Gameday Information

Date	Opponent	Game Time	Location
March 4	vs Western Michigan	9 a.m.	USF Softball Stadium (Clearwater, Fla.)
March 4	vs Niagara	11 a.m.	USF Softball Stadium (Clearwater, Fla.)
March 5	vs St. Bonaventure	11 a.m.	USF Softball Stadium (Clearwater, Fla.)
March 5	vs St. Bonaventure	1 p.m.	USF Softball Stadium (Clearwater, Fla.)
March 6	vs SIU Edwardsville	9 a.m.	USF Softball Stadium (Clearwater, Fla.)
March 6	vs La Salle	1 p.m.	USF Softball Stadium (Clearwater, Fla.)

South Dakota State heads for the Sunshine State to begin the second month of the season, playing six neutral site games in Clearwater, Florida March 6-8. The team will stay for the USF-Under Armour Invitational next weekend.
State faces Western Michigan and Niagara Monday before a doubleheader with St. Bonaventure Tuesday. The Jacks closes the set Wednesday with SIU Edwardsville and La Salle.
Due to unknown field amenities and game day staffing, live stats and coverage is unknown. More details will be available pregame through twitter (@GoJacksSoftball) and SDSU softball's schedule page.
SDSU (4-11) is coming off a weekend stay at the Cardinal Classic, hosted by Lamar in Beaumont, Texas. SDSU went 1-4 at the event with a run-rule win over Alabama A&M in the finale.
The Jacks are hitting .248 as a team through 15 games with 14 doubles, three triples and eight home runs. The team is 6 for 8 on stolen base attempts.
From the circle, SDSU holds a 4.04 combined ERA and has struck out 70 batters, allowing 56 earned runs through 97 total innings played.

Western Michigan Bronchos

SDSU opens its week against Western Michigan Monday at 9 a.m. CT / 10 a.m. ET.
The Jacks and Broncos have played once, when SDSU took down WMU, 1-0, in the 2013 season.
Western Michigan (5-9) is led offensively by Kelsea Cichocki, who is hitting .548 through 14 games with seven doubles and three home runs, picking up 15 RBI. Mackenzie Swinehart (.391 average) is second on the team in hitting, adding two RBI on a team that is hitting .308 combined with 26 doubles and 12 home runs.
As a staff WMU boasts a 3.12 ERA, allowing 34 earned runs in 98 innings. Jordan Kurth is 4-4 on the year and holds a 2.81 ERA with a team-high 26 strikeouts. The Broncos' other primary starter, Anissa Sanchez, has thrown 36.2 frames with 10 strikeouts and a 2.21 ERA.
Head Coach Kathy Lietke is in her 17th season with the Broncos and is 391-450-2 at the school. She is in her 26th year overall and has a 703-617-2 record.

Niagara Purple Eagles

The Jackrabbits and Purple Eagles play Monday at 11 a.m. CT / Noon ET.
SDSU and Niagara have played once all-time, with the Jacks falling 5-2 to the Purple Eagles last season
Niagara (3-1) is hitting .312 as a team with 11 doubles and two home runs through four games. The Purple Eagles are led by Sarah March and Jerri Ann Orfano, who are both hitting .500. Orfano has three doubles while March has two two-bag efforts.
The Purple Eagles have a 3.50 combined ERA with 14 strikeouts as a team, allowing 13 earned runs in 26 innings. Sierra Bertrand is 1-0 on the year and has eight strikeouts with a 2.62 ERA to lead the team.
Larry Puzan is in his third season with Niagra and is 25-71 overall.

St. Bonaventure Bonnies

South Dakota State and the Bonnies square off in a doubleheader Tuesday at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. CT / Noon and 2 p.m. ET.
SDSU leads the all-time series, 4-0. The teams last played in 2011 when the Jacks swept a pair of games.
St. Bonaventure (3-7) has racked up six doubles, a triple a three home runs on the year while putting together a .215 average. Desiree Gonzalez is hitting .400 on the year and has four RBI with a double, triple and home run. Hailey Blencowe (.308) has started all nine games and has three RBI, second behind Gonzalez and Alexandra Piergustavo in the category.
Kristen Hickling (1.88 ERA) is 1-1 on the year, tossing 18.2 innings with three strikeouts. Josie Borysevicz (2-2) leads the team with 23 innings thrown to go with 14 strikeouts and a 2-2 record.
The Bonnies are led by Mike Threehouse, who is 292-538 in 21 years at the helm.

SIU Edwardsville Cougars

SIU Edwardsville battles the Jacks Wednesday at 9 a.m. CT / 10 a.m. ET
State has won three of four matchups with the Cougars all-time, though SIUE won the most recent matchup in 2010.
SIUE (11-4) has a .259 team batting average with 24 doubles and six home runs through 15 games this year. Individually, Paige Clinton is hitting .500 through 11 appearances on the year while Zoe Schafer has two doubles, two home runs and a .354 batting average.
In the circle, Haley Chambers-Bock holds a 7-6 record this year with a 1.83 ERA in 57.1 innings pitched. She has struck out 69 opponents to lead a team that has a 2.64 combined ERA and 122 strikeouts this year.
Christina Sutcliffe is in her fifth season leading the Huskies and holds a 116-107 record.

La Salle Cougars

SDSU wraps up the mid-week games Wednesday at 1 p.m. CT / 2 p.m. ET against La Salle.
La Salle won the only matchup between the teams back in 2007, 2-1.
La Salle (7-2) holds a .280 team batting averaged with 16 doubles, two triples and four home runs. Christina Bascara leads the team with a .407 average, racking up five RBI with a trio of doubles and a triple. Suzanne Swanicke has driving in 11 runs and has one of the team's home runs to go alongside a .292 average.
McKenzie Peace (3-0) boasts a 1.08 ERA to lead the team over 13 innings pitched, while Marlo Roacap (4-0) has a 2.33 ERA in 30 innings with 33 strikeouts. As a team, La Salle has a 2.98 ERA and 54 strikeouts.
The Explorers are led by Ron Shoemaker, who is 72-107 in his sixth season.

Player Quick Hits

Brittney Morse has hit six home runs for the Jacks this season, which ranks third in NCAA Division I.
Madison Hope has racked up two saves already on the year, which ranks second in the NCAA and is one shy of SDSU's single season saves record.
Julia Andersen has five multiple-hit games this season and leads the team with 14 total hits.
Ali Herdliska hit her first home run of the season Feb. 26 against Alabama A&M in a game where she tallied five RBI. That mark is second best for a single game in SDSU's Division I history.
Lyndsey Crist scored four runs in SDSU's win over South Carolina State, a mark that is tied for the school's single game NCAA Division I record.
Danielle Steffo drove in four runs against South Carolina State, the second best performance for Jack this season.
Abby Deane struck out 10 Northern Iowa batters in her second career appearance, holding UNI scoreless through five innings before a late rally ended the shutout bid.
Ashlyn Bender has picked up all four wins on the season for SDSU and holds a 2.55 ERA. She has 24 strikeouts through 44 innings pitched. She allowed a career-low one hit against Alabama A&M Feb. 26.

Morse named Summit League Player of the Week

Newcomer Brittney Morse made the most of her weekend debut as a Jackrabbit en route to earning Summit League Player of the Week honors Feb. 13.
Morse hit .400 (6 of 15) over five starts and blasted four home runs. She posted 1.200 slugging and .471 on base percentages for the weekend and picked up six RBI.
Morse had a three-run home run against Montana, a pair of long balls in SDSU's win over Toledo and had a solo shot against Drake.
Jacks picked fifth in Summit League Poll
SDSU was tabbed fifth in the 2017 Summit League Preseason Coaches' Poll, released early February by the league office.
The Jacks have earned the No. 5 seed in the previous two Summit League Championships and will look to improve their seeding for the 2017 year-end tournament.
North Dakota State, the three-time defending Summit League Tournament champion, was picked first.

Herdliska named Player to Watch

As part of The Summit League's preseason poll release, eight Players to Watch were selected by league coaches. SDSU's Ali Herdliska, the 2016 Freshman of the Year was part of the list after earning All-Summit League First Team honors last year.
2016 saw Herdliska match the school's single-season home run record (16) while the first year player broke the single-season records for walks (34), total bases (108) and slugging percentage (.725). She also had 45 runs batted in, the second best performance in Jackrabbit history.

#BackAndBetter

Three All-Conference selections from the 2016 season lead the Jackrabbits into the new campaign as the team looks to continue its upward trend since the arrival of head coach Krista Wood two years ago.
Herdliska, mentioned above as a 2017 Player to Watch, was a First Team pick and the Freshman of the Year after leading the team with a .322 average, 48 hits, 16 home runs and 45 RBI.
Lyndsey Crist appeared in 48 games last year for SDSU and hit .319, racking up seven doubles, five home runs and 22 RBI while posting a .983 fielding percentage. She also went 8 of 9 on steal attempts.
Abbey Murphy started 53 of 55 games for SDSU and hit .280, tallying 10 doubles and three home runs with 21 RBI. Additionally, she walked 14 times, had six stolen bases and recorded a .943 fielding percentage.
Two senior pitchers, Ashlyn Bender and Katie Lang, anchor the staff for SDSU. Bender went 9-18 last year with a team-leading 4.00 ERA over 169.2 innings. Lang made five appearances, threw 9.1 innings and had three strikeouts with a 4.50 ERA.

Anderson Bats Renews Partnership

Anderson Bat Company announced last fall its renewal of a partnership with the South Dakota State Jackrabbit softball program on Thursday as the official softball bat supplier for the 2017 season.
The Jackrabbits will be swinging the Rocketech 2.0 and Supernova 2.0 Fast Pitch Softball Bats in the 2017 season.
Anderson Bat Company is a leading designer and manufacturer of high performance softball and baseball bats. Established in 1999, our labor of love has evolved from a private labeling operation into the industry's leading manufacturer of alloy and composite baseball and softball bats, and the best is yet to come.

2016 Season Review

2016 was a year of new heights for the Jackrabbit softball program as head coach Krista Wood completed her second season at the helm. South Dakota State finished the year 23-34, earning the fifth seed in the Summit League Tournament for the second consecutive year.
SDSU won 20 games in consecutive years for the first time in a decade. It was the 12th 20-win season in the program's 46-year history.
Ali Herdliska and Lyndsey Crist were All-Summit League First Team selections while Abbey Murphy earned second team honors.
SDSU tied an NCAA record with four consecutive home runs against Fort Wayne (April 30, 2016) as Lauren Chirnside, Abbey Murphy, Jordyn Sturgeon and Danielle Steffo went back-to-back-to-back-to-back in the fourth inning of a 12-1 win.
Devan Larsen ended her career with a school record 35 home runs, hitting 12 as a senior to finish second on the team.
Ali Herdliska tied Larson's single-season home run record with 16 round-trippers while also setting school records in slugging percentage (.725), total bases (108) and walks (34). Her 45 runs batted in was second most in school history for a season. In terms of single games, Herdliska walked four times against South Dakota on May 7, 2016 to reset the school record.
Christian McKone swiped a school record 29 bases out of 31 steal attempts.
Chirnside set a single-game school record (tying the NCAA mark) with four doubles on March 22, 2016 against Drake.