Softball sweeps Wednesday action

Wednesday, March 6

Clearwater, Fla.

9 a.m.

South Dakota State University

13-4

Detroit Mercy

7-12

South Dakota State

Detroit Mercy

Photo by: Laura Mullen

3/6/2019 3:27:00 PM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

CLEARWATER, Fla. -- The Jackrabbit softball team's win streak reached nine Wednesday, as South Dakota State swept a pair of games. The Jackrabbits took down Detroit Mercy, 10-7, before closing the day's action with a 1-0 victory over Western Michigan.

SDSU is now 14-4 on the year with four wins so far on its spring break trip.

South Dakota State 10, Detroit Mercy 7
Morgan DeMarais (4-0) started and earned the win, allowing four runs (three earned) over four complete. She struck out four and scattering seven hits without walking a batter. Taylor Compton earned the save over three innings of relief, notching two strikeouts while allowing three runs.

Julia Andersen led the Jackrabbit offense with three runs batted in, recording a pair of hits (including a triple).

Ali Herdliska, Lyndsey Crist and Yanney Ponce (two RBIs) had multi-hit performances as well, as Crist (double) and Megan Rushing blasted solo home runs.

Detroit Mercy used a pair of first-inning hits to build a 1-0 lead early, but the Jackrabbit offense came to life in the second to take control.

With one gone in the inning, Crist's walk was followed by three consecutive singles from Allison Beaudry, Janssen and Ponce to bring two across. Two more Jackrabbits came around to score when a two-out error allowed Julia Andersen to reach safely as SDSU went ahead, 4-1.

The Titans got one back in the third, and after the Jacks responded with a run of their own in the top of the fourth behind Herdliska's RBI single, Detroit Mercy struck for two more in the bottom of the frame to make it 5-4.

State picked up an insurance run in the sixth to regain a two-run advantage, using an RBI single from Andersen to score Ponce. Ponce led off the frame with a single and moved to second on a ground ball before wheeling around.

Back-to-back home runs from Rushing and Crist started SDSU in the seventh, and with two outs Andersen made it 10-4 with a two-RBI triple down the left field line.

Detroit Mercy put together a three-run rally in the bottom of the seventh, but the two big innings for SDSU proved too much for the Titans to overcome.

South Dakota State 1, Western Michigan 0
Kendra Conard (3-0) was efficient in the circle, earning the complete-game victory. She scattered four hits and did not walk a batter, rolling up 16 ground outs for the Jackrabbit defense.

Peyton Daugherty, Rushing and Caelyn Christiancy recorded doubles for an SDSU squad that had four hits, but Ponce's solo home run proved to be all State needed in the shutout victory.

Scoreless through two, Ponce found an opportune time for her second-career home run, launching a ball over the left-center fence for the only score of the day.

The Jackrabbits settled in from there and retired 12 of the final 13 Bronco batters, including nine consecutive between the third and sixth innings, to secure the win.

Up Next
South Dakota State has a day off Thursday before returning to action Friday morning at the USF-Clearwater Parks and Recreation Showcase in Clearwater, Florida. The Jackrabbits will play St. Francis at 11:30 a.m. CST before taking on Penn State at 2 p.m. CST. Live stats will not be available for the St. Francis contest.

-GoJacks.com-