JACKS, YOTES OPEN SUMMIT LEAGUE PLAY THURSDAY

Thursday, March 21

Vermillion, S.D.

1:30 p.m.

South Dakota State University

South Dakota (DH)

Jocelyn Carrillo

Photo by: Megan Glover | South Dakota State

3/20/2024 2:57:00 PM | Softball

By: Andrew Pedersen

Week 7: South Dakota State at South Dakota
When	Thursday, March 21 (1:30/4 p.m.) / Friday, March 22 (1 p.m.)
Location	Nygaard Field (Vermillion, South Dakota)
Stream	Midco Sports Plus
Live Stats	GoJacksLive.com (Games 1 & 2) / GoYotes.com (Game 3)
South Dakota State	Game Notes

South Dakota State begins its conference schedule with an altered slate this week. The Jackrabbits and South Dakota Coyotes were originally set to meet for a weekend series in Vermillion at Nygaard Field. However, with forecasted weather conditions, the three games have moved to Thursday and Friday. The Interstate Series, presented by First Interstate Bank, begins with a doubleheader at 1:30 p.m. on Thursday. The two sides will then meet in a single game at 1 p.m. on Friday.

The Jackrabbits and Coyotes meet a season after playing five games against each other in 2023. SDSU swept the regular season series with two of the meetings ending by run rule. South Dakota won its opening game of The Summit League Tournament and upset the Jackrabbits, 2-0, to advance to the winner's bracket of the conference event held in Brookings. The two played a rematch in a meeting to decide who would advance to the championship game. The Jacks defeated the Coyotes in that matchup, 3-0. SDSU holds a 90-66 all-time record over South Dakota.

SDSU completed a two-week trip through the southeast portion of the United States this past weekend. The Jackrabbits dropped doubleheaders to nationally-ranked Duke and Florida State, but completed a sweep of Kennesaw State during the first week of action.

The weekend saw the Jacks participate in Kentucky's John Cropp Classic. SDSU lost its first two games of the tournament, but rebounded to win three straight. It included a 7-3 victory over Ohio State in a rematch from two days prior. The Jacks also beat Columbia twice by run-rule scores.

The Jackrabbits had multiple stellar efforts on the field in Lexington. Lindsey Culver had a sensational stretch across five games at the plate. She went 9-for-18 with three home runs, three doubles, seven RBIs and 10 runs scored. Mia Jarecki had seven hits, which included a pair of doubles and home runs, to go along with four runs scored five RBIs. Brooke Dumont had four hits and six RBIs, Rozelyn Carrillo recorded five hits and five runs scored, while produced six hits, three runs scored and three RBIs.

In the circle, the Jacks had several strong performances. Shannon Lasey had good outings in her last two starts of the tournament. She pitched back-to-back five-inning efforts in wins over Ohio State and Columbia. Akayla Barnard threw a six-inning complete game versus Columbia, giving up four hits and striking out six in a shutout. Hailey Herman pitched two scoreless relief innings in SDSU's win over the Buckeyes.

Coverage Information
South Dakota State's games versus South Dakota will be streamed on Midco Sports Plus. Links for live stats are available on the SDSU Athletics' website. For more information about Jackrabbit softball, you can follow the team social media accounts (@GoJacksSB) or visit the team page at GoJacks.com.

-GoJacks.com-