JACKRABBITS TO MEET UNC IN OMAHA FOR TWO

Friday, March 19

Omaha, Neb.

6 p.m.

South Dakota State University

Northern Colorado

Photo by: Courtesy Photo

3/18/2021 8:33:00 PM | Softball

Games 18 and 19: South Dakota State (13-4) at Connie Claussen Classic

When	Friday and Saturday, March 18-19 March 18 vs. Northern Colorado, 6 p.m. March 19 vs. Northern Colorado, 1 p.m.
Where	Connie Claussen Field \| Omaha, Neb.
TV	OMavs.com/watch
Radio	None
Live Stats	OMavs.com
Game Notes	South Dakota State \| Northern Colorado \| The Summit League
Social Media	Twitter \| Instagram \| #GRIT

The South Dakota State University softball team is scheduled to wrap up the pre-conference portion of its schedule this weekend with a pair of games against Northern Colorado as part of the Connie Claussen Classic in Omaha, Nebraska.

Friday's first game has been moved to a 6 p.m. first pitch at Connie Claussen Stadium on the University of Nebraska at Omaha campus. The second game between the two squads is slated for 1 p.m. Saturday.

The Jackrabbits enter the weekend with a 13-4 overall record. SDSU ran its winning streak to 10 games with a 4-3 victory over Wichita State in the opening game of a March 9 twinbill before falling in Game 2, 5-3. The Jackrabbits then closed their Spring Break trip with five games in Lawrence, Kansas, winning two of three games in a midweek series against the host Kansas Jayhawks before splitting a pair of games against Northern Iowa in the Rock Chalk Challenge.

Northern Colorado has compiled a 2-12 record so far this season. The Bears have not played since hosting the Colorado Classic March 5-7, including dropping a pair of contests to SDSU.

THE SERIES: Friday's game will mark the 22nd meeting between South Dakota State and Northern Colorado on the softball diamond. UNC?leads the all-time, which dates back to the 1973 AIAW World Series, by a 13-8 count, although SDSU has won the last three matchups.

The Jackrabbits cruised to a pair of wins over UNC?at the Colorado Classic in Greeley earlier this season, posting a 14-8 victory on March 5 and a 10-1, five-inning win on March 7.

SDSU jumped out to an 11-0 lead through three and a half innings in the first matchup as the Jackrabbits recorded nine extra-base hits in the game. Cylie Halvorson opened the scoring with a two-run homer in the first inning and Jocelyn Carrillo added a three-run double later in the frame Hannah Loving added a solo homer in the fourth.

Tori Kniesche struck out five over five innings to pick up the victory.

The March 7 game followed much of the same script as SDSU put together another early five-run inning — this time in the second inning. Summit League Player of the Week Rozelyn Carrillo doubled in two runs around run-scoring singles by Lindsey Culver and Kelsey Lenox. Carrillo added a run-scoring single in the third and capped the scoring with a two-run homer in the fifth to give her five runs batted in on the day.

Kendra Conard went the distance in the cirle for the Jackrabbits, striking out four. She did not walk a batter.

SHORT HOPS: Following are some quick notes regarding the South Dakota State softball team so far this season:

The Jackrabbits have hit 18 home runs as a team in 17 games, including a streak of six consecutive games with a homer from March 5-9;
Cylie Halvorson leads the team with seven home runs and hit a homer in each of the Jackrabbits three games against Kansas March 10-11;
Halvorson has two separate three-game home run streaks this season;
Kelsey Lenox drove in six of the Jackrabbits' seven runs in a March 9 doubleheader at Wichita State, then hit the go-ahead three-run homer in the second game of a March 11 twinbill at Kansas;
Grace Glanzer struck out 12 over 12 innings in two starts in the Kansas series;
Glanzer's save in the Jackrabbits' 2-1 victory over Northern Iowa on March 12 was her first of the season and her collegiate career;
SDSU is 3-0 in one-run games this season, winning each of the three games in its last at-bat;
The Jackrabbits put together a streak of nine consecutive errorless games from March 6-12 before committing two errors March 13 against Northern Iowa;
SDSU has outscored the opposition by a combined 53-19 in the first three innings of games this season;
The Jackrabbits are 10-0 this season when leading after four innings.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: South Dakota State outfielder Emma Osmundson was honored Monday as Summit League Player of the Week in helping lead the Jackrabbit softball team to another successful week.

A freshman from Sioux Falls, Osmundson batted .545 (12-for-22) with three runs batted in, eight runs scored and a .727 slugging percentage over seven games. She posted four multi-hit games, including a trio of three-hit efforts, and also tallied two doubles and a triple, and stole three bases.

In her final three-hit performance, Osmundson drove in the game-winning run with a double in the top of the seventh inning against Northern Iowa on March 12 as the Jackrabbits prevailed, 2-1. SDSU finished the week with a 4-3 record, winning two of three games at Kansas, while splitting two-game sets against Wichita State and UNI.

Osmundson is the second Jackrabbit in as many weeks to earn the award, joining fellow freshman Rozelyn Carrillo. SDSU also has had two Summit League Pitchers of the Week so far in 2021 with Tori Kniesche (Feb. 15) and Grace Glanzer (March 8) receiving the honor.

PRESEASON POLL: South Dakota State has been picked to finish second in the upcoming Summit League softball race, according to a preseason poll conducted among the league's seven head coaches that was announced in mid-February.

North Dakota State, which has won the last six Summit League championships, claimed the top spot with six first-place votes and 36 points. The Jackrabbits claimed the other first-place vote to finish second with 31 points. South Dakota was third with 25 points, followed by Omaha with 19 points.

Rounding out the preseason poll were Kansas City (16), North Dakota (12) and Western Illinois (8).

The Jackrabbits compiled a 15-8 record in an abbreviated 2020 season that was canceled before the start of league play and return a solid nucleus led by Summit League Players to Watch Grace Glanzer and Cylie Halvorson.

A native of Sioux Falls, Glanzer burst onto the scene as a freshman in 2020, leading the league with 74 strikeouts and a 12-2 record. She finished with a 1.73 earned run average and held opponents to a .215 batting average.

Halvorson, also a Sioux Falls native, paced the Summit League with seven doubles while hitting .406 with 19 runs batted in in 22 games. She notched eight multi-hit games and recorded a .641 slugging percentage in 2020.

Summit League play for the Jackrabbits begins March 27 at Kansas City, with the four-team Summit League Softball Championship scheduled for May 12-15 in Fargo, North Dakota.

Teams will now play four-game series in league play, consisting of back-to-back doubleheaders. Game times are set for noon and 2 p.m. for Jackrabbit home contests.

NO-HITTER HISTORY: Grace Glanzer's no-hitter against Oregon State on March 5 marked the second year in a row a Jackrabbit pitcher accomplished the feat.

Morgan DeMarais hurled a no-hitter March 8, 2020, against Merrimack, in a game played in Madeira Beach, Florida. DeMarais struck out seven and did not walk a batter, missing out on a perfect game due to two hit batters and a Jackrabbit error.

Glanzer's no-hitter is the sixth on record in program history; the others:

Jessica Jones, April 24, 1990, versus Nebraska-Omaha (W, 1-0);
Melissa Alleven, March 29, 2002, versus Northern State (W, 17-1; 5 inn.);
Meggan Staton, March 3, 2003, vs. Rollins (W, 1-0; 8 inn.);
Meggan Staton, March 6, 2003, vs. Lynn (W, 5-0);
Morgan DeMarais, March 8, 2020, vs. Merrimack (W, 12-0).

KNIESCHE OFF TO QUICK START: South Dakota State freshman Tori Kniesche was honored as Summit League Pitcher of the Week Feb. 15 following an impressive opening weekend on the softball diamond.

A right-hander from Wayne, Nebraska, Kniesche posted a 2-0 record with a 1.00 earned run average and 23 strikeouts in a pair of seven-inning complete-game efforts for the Jackrabbits at the Doc Halverson UNI-Dome Classic in Cedar Falls, Iowa.

In her collegiate debut against Drake on Feb. 12, Kniesche struck out 12 and walked four, allowing one run on three hits. The next day, Kniesche fanned 11 Northern Iowa hitters, once again giving up only one run and three hits.

For the season, Kniesche is 6-1 with a 1.97 ERA and 51 strikeouts in 39 innings.

DAUGHERTY SETS THE TABLE: Jackrabbit outfielder Peyton Daugherty has paced the SDSU offense during the first month of the season. The junior from Ankeny, Iowa, reached base safely in the first 10 games and 14 of 17 games this season while batting out of the leadoff spot.

A junior from Ankeny, Iowa, Daugherty ranks second on the team with a .365 batting average (23-for-63) and leads the team with 16 runs scored and six stolen bases. She also has notched a team-best eight multi-hit games.

GOOD THINGS HAPPEN IN THREES: South Dakota State accomplished a rare feat in the sixth inning of its Feb. 12 season opener against Iowa State — hitting three triples in the same inning. Jocelyn Carrillo started the parade of three-baggers with a leadoff triple and pinch-hitter Emma Osmundson followed two batters later with a triple in her first collegiate at-bat. Peyton Daugherty then stepped to the plate and made it three triples in four at-bats in the inning, lining one to the right-center gap to plate Osmundson with what was then the tying run.

Carrillo and Osmundson each share the team with two triples as the Jackrabbits have combined for seven three-base hits so far this year.

SDSU registered six triples as a team in 22 games during the abbreviated 2020 season.

SISTER ACT: Sisters and Palmdale, California, natives Rozelyn and Jocelyn Carrillo have both put up impressive numbers so far this season to solidify spots in the Jackrabbit starting lineup.

Jocelyn, the team's starting center fielder, is batting .275 and has driven in seven runs. Five of her 11 hits so far this season have gone for extra bases, including the go-ahead home run in the top of the 10th inning of the Jackrabbits' 15-11 victory at Kansas on March 10.

Rozelyn ranks second on the squad with three home runs, while ranking third with 12 runs batted in and a .333 batting average. She also has performed well at the shortstop position, committing only one error in 48 total chances.

COACH WOOD: Krista Wood begins her seventh season as head coach at South Dakota State in 2021.

Already the program's winningest coach with a 167-147 record after being hired to lead the program in August of 2014, Wood boasts a 437-301 overall career record after eight successful seasons at Wayne State College.

She has coached five NFCA All-Midwest Region selections (the first four in SDSU's Division I era) and 18 All-Summit League selections in her time at SDSU, including the 2016 Summit League Freshman of the Year (Ali Herdliska) and 2018 Player of the Year (Brittney Morse). Herdliska is the only Jackrabbit to earn All-Summit League honors four times in her career, and twice picked up an NFCA All-Midwest Region nod.

The Jackrabbits have won 20 or more games four times under coach Wood, and prior to the cancellation of the 2020 Summit League Championships had reached the league's year-end tournament in each of her first five seasons, including a championship series run in 2018.

SDSU won 37 games in back-to-back 2018 and 2019 seasons, earning berths in the National Invitational Softball Championship both seasons. Wood was named the Summit League's Coach of the Year in 2018 while guiding her team to a program-record .673 winning percentage, breaking the 35-win mark for the second time in history.

Her 2020 squad won 15 games and posted a Summit League-best.652 winning percentage before COVID-19 precautions ended the NCAA's Division I softball season nationwide.

Wood put together a 270-154 mark at Wayne State, turning the Wildcat program into a winner after inheriting a 10-win squad when she was hired before the 2007 season. She brought WSC to three consecutive NCAA Division II National Tournaments between 2009-11, including a 2010 NCAA Central Region crown. The Wildcats won a school-record 43 games during that season and claimed the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference tournament title.

Wood coached internationally during the summer of 2009, leading a United States team (sponsored by USA Athletes International) at the Oldenzaal Invitational in Holland.

A native of Missouri Valley, Iowa, Wood spent two seasons as an assistant coach at St. Cloud State University after a stellar playing career at Nebraska-Omaha from 1999-2003. She helped the Mavericks to the NCAA Division II national championship in 2001 as a sophomore and finished her career as the all-time winningest pitcher in Maverick softball history with 106 wins and 530 career strikeouts. Wood was named to Omaha's athletic hall of fame in 2020.

In the 2001 national championship game, Wood tossed a two-hit shutout with five strikeouts in a 4-0 win over Lewis University. She also ranks second in career shutouts at UNO with 43, and earned numerous honors as a player at UNO, earning First Team All-NCC honors three times, while also collecting three All-NCC Academic Team awards. She earned NFCA All-Region First Team honors in 2002 and a Second Team All-Region selection in 2001. Wood also earned North Central Conference Freshman of the Year in 2000.

Wood also coached at the high school level, serving as the pitching coach at Omaha Gross High School in the fall of 2003 and at state-qualifying Omaha Westside High School in 2004.

Wood earned a Bachelor of Science degree in physical education K-12 with an endorsement in coaching from the University of Nebraska-Omaha in 2004 and received a master's degree in sport management in 2006 from St. Cloud State University.

THE ROSTER: The 2021 SDSU softball roster features 24 players from six different states and one foreign country. Of the 24 players, eight are from South Dakota, four hail from Iowa and California and three are Nebraska natives. Two players call Minnesota and Missouri home. The international player hails from Italy.
By class, three are seniors, six are juniors, five are sophomores and 10 are freshmen.

A LOOK AHEAD: The Jackrabbits are scheduled to open Summit League play with a four-game series March 27-28 at conference newcomer Kansas City. Doubleheaders are set to begin at noon each day.

-GoJacks.com-