Jacks run-rule Fort Wayne to open tournament

Thursday, May 10

Fargo, N.D.

2:30 p.m.

South Dakota State University

33-14

No. 6 seed Fort Wayne

19-34

Fort Wayne

South Dakota State

Photo by: Nick Nelson

5/10/2018 4:59:00 PM | Softball

Box Score

FARGO, N.D. – No. 2 seed South Dakota State opened the 2018 Summit League Softball Championship with a dominant 8-0, six-inning victory over No. 6 seed Fort Wayne Thursday afternoon.

SDSU (33-14) racked up 11 hits in the affair and did not commit an error, methodically pulling away from the Mastodons (19-34).

Madison Hope dazzled in her 20th win of the season, allowing just two hits and a walk while striking out four in a complete-game performance.

Julia Andersen was 3-for-4 at the plate with a triple and a double, while Megan Rushing went 1-for-2 with a pair of walks and a three-run home run.

Ali Herdliska and Baily Janssen added two hits apiece and Lyndsey Crist drove in two runs.

Scoreless through two, State broke the tie in the third with a three-run home run from Megan Rushing.

With one gone, Brittney Morse singled through the left side and moved to second as Crist walked. In the next at-bat, Rushing gave State the lead when she launched a 2-1 pitch down the left field line, sending it just fair over the foul pole for her sixth home run of the season.

The Jacks added two more in the bottom of the fourth with a trio hits to start the inning. Abbey Murphy opened the frame with a single to right and raced around to score when Andersen laced a triple into the right field corner. Herdliska brought her home by slipping a single through the left side as SDSU went ahead 5-0.

That score held until the sixth when SDSU put up three more to end it early.

Andersen ripped a double to center to start the inning before Herdliska reached on an infield single and Morse worked a five-pitch walk to load the bases. Crist took a pitch back up the middle to bring two runs home, and after a fielder's choice the Jacks won it when Rushing's fly ball to right was dropped, allowing Crist to scamper home from second for the winning run.

Game Notes

South Dakota State is now 2-5 all-time in The Summit League Championship. Today's win is their second in the tournament under head coach Krista Wood.
Madison Hope became the second 20-game winner in SDSU's history and the first since Melissa Peter won 22 in 1996.
The Jackrabbits went 4-0 against Fort Wayne this season and have won 12 of the last 13 in the series dating back to 2015.
Julia Andersen had two extra-base hits in the game, including her 18th double of the season. She now ranks second at SDSU (alongside teammate Ali Herdliska's 2017 total) for single-season doubles, one short of Elyse Eitel's record set in 2015.
Today's win is the 12th run-rule victory for the Jacks in 2018.

Up Next
South Dakota State continues its 2018 Summit League Championship run Friday at 1 p.m. against top-seeded North Dakota State from Ellig Sports Complex.

-GoJacks.com-