Softball heads for Razorback Invitational

Sunday, February 23

Fayetteville, Ark.

9 a.m.

South Dakota State University

8-6

Montana

6-9

Montana

South Dakota State

2/20/2020 11:37:00 AM | Softball

Box Score

GAMES 10-14: South Dakota State (4-5) at Razorback Invitational

When	Friday, Feb. 21 \| vs. Montana (10 a.m.); at Arkansas (2:30 p.m.) Saturday, Feb. 22 \| vs. Boston (10 a.m.); vs. Marist (4:45 p.m.) Sunday, Feb. 23 \| vs. Montana (9:30 a.m.)
Where	Bogle Park \| Fayetteville, Arkansas
Live Video	Not Available
Live Stats	Montana (Fri) \| Arkansas \| Boston \| Marist \| Montana (Sun)
Game Notes	South Dakota State
Social Media	Twitter \| Facebook \| #GRIT

South Dakota State softball heads for Fayetteville, Arkansas this weekend for the Razorback Invitational, Feb. 21-23. The Jackrabbits open the three-day stop Friday against Montana and host No. 23 Arkansas, then play Boston University and Marist Saturday. SDSU concludes its stay Sunday morning against Montana.

The Jackrabbits are 4-5 through two weeks of the season, picking up a pair of wins over Louisiana Monroe at the Scrap Yard College Softball Classic in Houston, Texas last time out.

Scouting the Jackrabbits

SDSU is hitting .236 as a team through nine games, scoring 25 runs on the season with nine doubles, two triples, four home runs and 11 walks. Opponents are batting .251 with 31 runs scored while drawing 31 walks.
Kelsey Lenox has blasted a pair of three-run home runs in the early season and leads the team with seven runs batted in. Lenox has three extra base hits (one double) in her five total hits, starting all nine games for the Jacks.
Cylie Halvorson has started the first nine games of her career and leads the team with a .400 average, racking up 10 hits, including three doubles, with four runs scored. Halvorson is even with Peyton Daugherty for the team lead in hits.
Allison Yoder has accounted for the Jackrabbits' other two long balls, hitting one in each invitational this year. Yoder has six total hits and leads the team with four extra-bases efforts (adding a double and a triple).
The Jackrabbits hold a 3.33 team ERA among six pitchers, led by Grace Glanzer's 31 innings, 22 strikeouts, 3.16 ERA and .211 batting average against. Kendra Conard (1-2) has made three appearances and tossed 15.1 innings.
SDSU has seen Allison Yoder, Hannah Loving and Lenox combine to throw six baserunners out trying to steal bases. Yoder has caught three runners, Lenox two and Loving one.
Peyton Daugherty, Caelyn Christiancy and Allison Beaudry are the primary position starters back from last year's team, and the trio started all four games last weekend. Daugherty racked up 43 hits in her freshman campaign with six doubles, and has started the new year 10-for-29 at the plate. Beaudry had a double and two RBIs in opening weekend after hitting .237 a year ago.
Daugherty tallied the first hit of 2020 in SDSU's first at-bat of the new year.
Paige Gerdes is the lone senior on a team with 17 underclassman. SDSU's junior class includes four letterwinners. Gerdes has appeared in 104 games as a Jackrabbit with nine doubles and a pair of home runs.
South Dakota State won 37 games the between 2018-19, matching its best two-year total all-time. The 74 wins are the most over two years as a Division I program, and are tied with SDSU's 1996-97 record (43 wins in 1996, 31 wins in 1997).
The Jackrabbits have made two consecutive postseason appearances, earning a trip to regionals of the National Invitational Softball Championship in Greeley, Colorado (2018) and Ames, Iowa (2019).

Opponent Capsules

Montana (5-5) went 1-4 last weekend at the Marucci Desert Classic, closing the event with an eight-inning win over Weber State. The Grizzlies hold a .204 team batting average and have outscored opponents, 38-32, through 10 games. Montana is led offensive by Cami Sellers (10 hits), Maygen McGrath (eight hits) and Brooklyn Weisgram (seven hits). The trio join Morgan Johnson with two doubles each, while McGrath leads the program with three home runs and seven RBIs. In the circle, Tristin Achenbach has made seven appearances and is 4-2 with a 2.08 ERA. The Montana staff has 69 strikeouts and a 2.48 combined ERA.
Arkansas (7-1) is the first ranked opponent on SDSU's 2020 slate, and current leads the SEC with a .376 team batting average. Sydney Parr, Ryan Jackson and Hannah McEwen are all hitting .429 and have two doubles each. Linnie Malkin has driven in 11 and leads the Razorbacks with three home runs. Autumn Storms (4-0, 0.46 ERA), Jenna Bloom (1-0, 1.40 ERA) and Mary Haff (2-1, 2.38 ERA) have thrown a majority of innings for a pitching staff that has 65 strikeouts in 49 innings thrown.
Boston (9-1) is fresh off a four-win showing at last weekend's Winthrop tournament. The Terriers' have used six shutouts to fuel their fast start, as Ali DuBois is already 6-1 on the season with a 0.34 ERA and 52 strikeouts. Emily Gant is 3-0 in the circle wih a 1.72 ERA. Offensively, Aliyah Huerta-Leipner is hitting .400 with thre home runs, a double and a triple and 12 runs batted in. Caitlin Coker, a freshman, leads the Terriers with a.467 average and .568 OPB behind four doubles.
Marist (3-1) enters the weekend on a three-game winning streak, defeating Green Bay, Northern Kentucky and Belmont last weekend at the Bruin Challenge. The Red Foxes are led offensively by Caroline Baratta (.438), Kaley Coltrain (.385) and Clair Oberdorf (.364), as Oberdorf has blasted a pair of home runs and driven in four. Callista Phippen holds a 0.78 with nine strikeouts, as the Red Foxes started three additional pitchers in their opening weekend: Kiley Myers (0.00 ERA), Meghan Haff (3.32 ERA) and Nicole Tegue (2.80 ERA).

-GoJacks.com-