CEDAR FALLS, Iowa – South Dakota State scored four times in the bottom of the seventh inning to steal a 7-6 victory from Drake in the first game of the day, then carried the momentum through to an 8-1 win over host Northern Iowa during softball action Saturday at the Doc Halverson UNI-Dome Classic.
With the two victories, the Jackrabbits improved to 3-1 overall. SDSU will close out the season-opening tournament Sunday with a 9 a.m. matchup against Butler.
SDSU 7, Drake 6
The Jackrabbits capitalized on three Drake errors in the decisive seventh inning to pull out the one-run victory.
Trailing 6-3,
Allison Yoder started the rally by reaching on an error. SDSU loaded the bases with no outs as
Jocelyn Carrillo walked and
Lindsey Culver singled. Yoder scored when pinch-hitter
Emma Osmundson reached on a fielders choice, with Carrillo also scoring on the back end of the play on a throwing error to pull the Jackrabbits to within 6-5.
A
Peyton Daugherty single re-loaded the bases, sending
Olivia Pfeifer to the plate. Pfeifer hit a chopper to third base, but the throw home glanced off the glove of the catcher, allowing both Osmundson and Culver to score with the respective tying and game-winning runs.
Drake took an 2-0 lead in the top of the first on a two-run double by Addie Lightner, but SDSU answered with a pair of runs of its own in the home half of the frame on a sacrifice fly by
Mia Elliott and run-scoring single by
Caelyn Christiancy.
An RBI double by
Cylie Halvorson put the Jackrabbits ahead 3-2 in the bottom of the seventh, but Drake scored single runs in each of the fourth through seventh innings to build its 6-3 advantage.
Hits were even at seven apiece as Halvorson was the lone Jackrabbit with more than one hit, going 2-for-3.
Grace Glanzer struck out seven and walked three in a complete-game effort to pick up her first win of the season.
SDSU 8, Northern Iowa 1
South Dakota State
Tori Kniesche continued her early-season dominance in the pitching circle, holding Northern Iowa to a single run on three hits as the Jackrabbits prevailed in the nightcap.
UNI struck first on a solo home run by Sammey Bunch with two outs in the bottom of the first inning. The Panthers would not record another hit until an infield single by Taylor Hogan in the fifth.
SDSU responded with three runs in the top of the second. Freshman
Cheyanne Masterson, who was 2-for-4 with three runs batted in, plated Yoder with the first run on a single to left field.
Rozelyn Carrillo followed with an RBI single up the middle and
Peyton Daugherty capped the scoring with a double to right-center that scored
Jocelyn Carrillo.
Masterson upped the Jackrabbit lead to 4-1 with a solo home run in the fourth.
The Jackrabbits broke the game open with a four-run seventh inning.
Allison Yoder singled in the first run of the inning and two more Jackrabbit baserunners scored on an error on the play. Masterson added a sacrifice fly later in the inning to plate the final run.
A freshman from Wayne, Nebraska, Kniesche followed her 12-strikeout performance in her collegiate debut Friday against Drake with 11 more K's against three walks on Saturday. She fanned the side in order in the bottom of the seventh to finish off her complete game.
Daugherty, Yoder and Masterson each tallied two of the Jackrabbits' eight hits.
-GoJacks.com-