Softball run-rules NDSU to split Thursday

Thursday, April 12

Sioux Falls, S.D.. (Bowden Field)

2 p.m.

South Dakota State University

24-12, 4-3

North Dakota State

22-13, 2-1

North Dakota State

South Dakota State

Photo by: Dave Eggen/Inertia

4/12/2018 6:29:00 PM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – South Dakota State earned an 11-3 run-rule victory in game two to earn a split with North Dakota State Thursday after dropping the opener 9-2 at Bowden Field.

SDSU is now 24-12 on the season with a 5-3 mark in Summit League play.

Game One: North Dakota State 9, South Dakota State 2
Madison Hope (14-5) took the loss, throwing 6.1 innings with nine runs allowed and three strikeouts. Kendra Conard pitched the final two outs of the seventh.

Julia Andersen was 2-for-3 in the game, while Brittney Morse hit a home run and Erin Mullen drove in the other Jackrabbit run.

Scoreless after one and a half, Morse gave the Jacks an early lead when she launched a 1-1 pitch over the right center field fence for her sixth home run of the season.

NDSU responded in the fourth with a two-run long ball of its own but saw the Jacks answer with one run in the bottom of the inning to tie. Andersen and Ali Herdliska started the inning with consecutive singles, and after Lyndsey Crist drew a one-out walk Mullen hit a fly ball to center deep enough to score Andersen from third on a sacrifice fly.

The Bison broke a 2-all tie in the sixth with another two-run home run, and in the top of the seventh pulled away with another five runs.

Game Two: South Dakota State 11, North Dakota State 3 (Five innings)
Taylor Compton (6-6) started and threw into the fifth for the win, exiting after allowing three runs on four hits and five walks while striking out two. Hope finished the fourth without allowing a hit.

Morse was 2-for-3 with a three-run home run in the game, while Megan Rushing finished 2-for-2 with a double and an RBI.

SDSU took a lead in third with a four-spot to break a scoreless tie. Rushing opened the frame with a double down the left field line and moved to third on a Yanney Ponce sacrifice bunt. With two outs in the inning, Andersen roped a single to right to plate Rushing and put the Jacks up 1-0. Herdliska followed with a five-pitch walk and in the next at-bat Morse blasted a three-run home run high over the left field fence to give SDSU a 4-0 advantage.

The Jacks kept the offense going in the fourth to stretch their lead to 5-0. Crist reached on an error to open the second, moving to second on the overthrow before taking third on Baily Janssen's sacrifice bunt. Rushing followed with a squeeze bunt as Crist crossed safely.

NDSU got three back with one swing in the top of the fifth on a three-run home run, cutting it to 5-3 before the Jacks responded with six runs in the bottom of the inning to end it early.

With one out, Andersen walked before Herdliska and Morse followed with consecutive singles. Mullen reached on a fielder's choice in the next at-bat when her ground ball to third set up a play at the plate, but an overthrow from the third baseman allowed Andersen and Herdliska to come home while runners reached second and third. Later in the inning with two gone, Paige Gerdes roped an RBI single to left, and Rushing followed with a bloop hit down the right field line as the Jacks went up 9-3.

Ponce sent the first pitch she saw back up the middle as Gerdes raced home from third, and Murphy ended the game when she singled to right and Rushing came home from second, beating the throw at the plate.

Up Next
The series finale originally set for Friday has been canceled due to wintry weather. The Jackrabbits will be off until April 21 when a three-game series at Fort Wayne begins.

-GoJacks.com-