Softball splits Friday in Florida

Friday, February 15

Jacksonville, Fla.

1 p.m.

South Dakota State University

4-2

Colgate

0-1

South Dakota State

Colgate

Photo by: Laura Mullen

2/15/2019 4:39:00 PM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- South Dakota State softball split a pair of games Friday at the UNF/Dolphin Invitational. The Jackrabbits (4-3) opened the day with a 9-7 victory over Colgate before falling in extra innings to North Florida, 10-8.

South Dakota State 9, Colgate 7
Emma Hardin started and threw into the third, allowing four runs on five hits with a strikeout. Morgan DeMarais (1-0) earned her first collegiate win in relief, giving up three runs (two earned) with a pair of strikeouts over the final 4.1 frames.

All nine offensive starters recorded a hit for SDSU, who used a well-rounded mix of speed and power in the win, swiping a school-record seven bags with a pair of home runs late.

Ali Herdliska, Lyndsey Crist and Caelyn Christiancy had multi-hit days at the plate. Crist had a three-run home run and Christiancy added a pair of RBIs.

Allison Beaudry hit her first career home run and scored a team-high three runs while working two free passes in the game.

SDSU started fast and built a 2-0 lead in the top of the first. Peyton Daugherty opened the game with a four-pitch walk, followed by a sacrifice bunt attempt from Allison Yoder that led to a Raider overthrow.

Yoder stole second soon after, and Herdliska drove the first run of the day home when she sent a 3-2 pitch back up the middle. Herdliska stole second in the next at-bat, and an errant throw on the play skipped away, allowing Yoder to dash home.

The Jackrabbits tacked on another in the second while continuing their aggressive approach on the base paths. With one gone in the inning, Christiancy singled and stole second, then wheeled around to score as Daugherty poked a single of her own through the right side.

Christiancy and the Jacks made it 5-0 in the third off a one-out, two-RBI single, but saw Colgate answer with a four-spot in the bottom of the inning to cut SDSU's lead to one (5-4).

Beaudry's solo shot gave State an insurance run in the top of the fourth, and the Jacks added three more when Crist came through with a three-run home run in the sixth to put SDSU ahead, 9-4.

That five-run cushion was crucial in the late innings, as the Raiders got one back in the bottom of the sixth and scored two more in the seventh, but the Jackrabbits avoided further damage in the final frame to hang on for the win.

North Florida 10, South Dakota State 8 (Eight innings)
Taylor Compton (2-2) took the loss in a complete game performance, striking out two.

Yanney Ponce was 4-for-4 in with an RBI and a stolen base, while Herdliska hit her third home run of the season and drove in four. Four other Jackrabbits had hits in a matchup that saw SDSU jump out to the early lead, only to fall late to the hard-charging Ospreys.

The Jackrabbits struck first once again, taking a 1-0 lead in the opening frame thanks to a one-out RBI single from Mallory McQuistan. Daugherty singled to start the game, and after a sacrifice bunt and Herdliska free pass, McQuistan drove a 1-0 pitch through the right side to plate the leadoff runner.

That score held until the top of the fourth, when the Jacks added six more runs. After loading the bases behind a hit-by-pitch (Beaudry) and two singles (Rushing and Ponce), the Jackrabbits scratched two runs across when Paige Gerdes' reached on a pinch-hit error to score Beaudry, and with two outs Crist brought Rushing home on an infield single.

Up 3-0 at that point, Herdliska brought in four more as she launched a 3-2 pitch over the center for her first-career grand slam.

That lead disappeared over the next two innings, though, as UNF got three back with a two-out rally in the bottom of the sixth, and with two gone in the seventh Dominica Cocuzza hit a game-tying grand slam of her own to force extras.

Using international tie-breaker rules, State opened the eighth with Beaudry on second, and after a ground ball pushed her to third the Elk Grove, California native dashed home on a gutsy squeeze bunt from Ponce gave the Jacks an 8-7 lead.

The Ospreys walked off with the win in the bottom of the inning, however, after a squeeze play of their own and a two-run home run to end it in the eight.

Game Notes

The Jackrabbits are now 1-0 all-time against Colgate and 0-2 against North Florida.
Lyndsey Crist has hit 15 home runs in a Jackrabbit uniform.
Ali Herdliska is now tied with Devan Larsen for the school's career home runs record, hitting 35 round-trippers in a Jackrabbit uniform.
SDSU's seven stolen bases against Colgate matches the school's Division I single-game record. It is the sixth occurrence of the record and first since the 2014 season.

Up Next
South Dakota State continues its stay in Jacksonville, Florida on Saturday with two more games at the Fred and Debbie Pruitt Softball Complex on Jacksonville University's campus. The Jackrabbits have a rematch with with Colgate at 2 p.m. EST / 1 p.m. CST, followed by a 3:30 p.m. CST first pitch against Jacksonville.

-GoJacks.com-