Tori Kniesche turned in the most dominant pitching performance in South Dakota State softball history by striking out 20 batters and throwing her second consecutive no-hitter as the Jackrabbits completed a Summit League series sweep with a 5-0 victory over St. Thomas Friday afternoon at Jackrabbit Softball Stadium.
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The league-leading Jackrabbits notched their eighth consecutive win to improve to 34-10 overall and 15-2 in Summit play. St. Thomas dropped to 12-33 overall and 7-11 in league play.
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A sophomore from Wayne, Nebraska, Kniesche tossed her third no-hitter of the season and fifth of her career, allowing only a walk to Christina Crawford in the second inning. The right-hander, who tied the then-school record with a 13-strikeout, no-hit performance to complete a doubleheader sweep on Thursday, fanned the side in every inning but the fifth on Friday, with the only ball to be put in play resulting in a foul out to third base.
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Meanwhile, the SDSU offense put runs on the board in each of the first four innings, starting with a solo home run by Cylie Halvorson in the bottom of the first inning.
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The Jackrabbits added two more runs in the second on a sacrifice fly by Brooke Dumont and a run-scoring infield single by Rozelyn Carrillo, who extended her school-record hitting streak to 21 games.
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Halvorson added another solo shot in the third inning for her team-leading 15th round-tripper of the season, and Jocelyn Carrillo provided the final tally with a solo homer in the fourth.
 UP NEXT
SDSU closes the regular season by hosting a three-game series May 6-7 against North Dakota. The series opens with a noon doubleheader on Friday.
 NOTES
The Jackrabbits homered 12 times in the three-game series
Kniesche upped her season strikeout total to 206
Kniesche fired a seven-inning no-hitter for the first time in her career
Halvorson homered three times in the series to up her career total to 36