JACKRABBITS COMPLETE SWEEP OVER BISON

Sunday, April 14

Fargo, N.D.

11 a.m.

South Dakota State University

27-18, 11-0

North Dakota State

16-28, 3-6

South Dakota St.

North Dakota St.

Tori Kniesche

Photo by: Dave Eggen/Inertia

4/14/2024 1:23:00 PM | Softball

Box Score

By: Andrew Pedersen

FARGO, N.D. — Tori Kniesche produced another complete-game shutout in the circle to lead the South Dakota State softball team to a series-clinching sweep over North Dakota State on Sunday at Tharaldson Park.

The Jackrabbits scored two runs in the first inning to give Kniesche some early breathing room.

Mia Jarecki led the game off by reaching base on a fielding error and eventually advanced to third on a double by Lindsey Culver. A Rozelyn Carrillo sacrifice fly plated Jarecki to give SDSU the early edge. Brooke Dumont followed with an RBI single to push the margin to 2-0.

Kniesche kept the Bison lineup off balanced early. Beyond a walk in the first and single given up in the second, the SDSU starting pitcher logged four strikeouts across the two frames.

Dumont came back up to the plate to lead the third inning off. She swung at the first pitch and crushed a home run, her second in her previous five games, to extend the Jackrabbit lead to 3-0. A single in the same inning by Alli Boyle, along with a single by Jarecki in the fourth, would be the SDSU lineup's final hits of the day.

That left Kniesche to take care of things against the Bison hitters.

Kniesche recorded a pair of 1-2-3 innings over the final four frames. The third inning saw NDSU get a runner to second thanks to a stolen base with two outs., but she'd be stranded following a flyout. The Bison got a runner on in the seventh behind a single, however a fielder's choice and strikeout closed out the Jackrabbit victory in the third game of the series.

The Jacks had a combined eight hits on the day. Culver and Dumont had a pair of hits for SDSU while Jarecki, Boyle, Emma Osmundson and Jocelyn Carrillo also reached base via a hit. Kniesche improved to 14-5 this season with her seven-inning effort. She struck out 11 batters while allowing three hits, a walk and a hit by pitch.

Notes

South Dakota State improved to 27-18 overall on the season while North Dakota State dropped to 16-28. The Jackrabbits remain lone team undefeated in conference play with an 11-0 record in Summit League action. The Bison are now 3-6.
The Jackrabbits have now won 14 straight meetings in the series against the Bison. NDSU still holds a 75-61 edgge all-time over SDSU.
Kniesche has now won her last eight starts and thrown shutouts in six of them. Her ERA on the season is down to a 1.73 mark.
Culver (.395) and Jarecki (.393) each have batting averages through 45 games that would rank among the top eight individuals in program history for a single season. Dumont has improved her batting average to .289 while producing hits in six of her last seven games.
Jarecki (.429) and Culver (.429) lead SDSU in hitting through 11 conference games. Following them are Madi Conklin (.381), Dumont (.355) and Osmundson (.353). Rozelyn Carrillo has a team-high 13 RBIs.
Kniesche is 7-0 in conference play and has allowed two runs (one earned). She has a 0.16 ERA over 45 innings pitched. Shannon Lasey is 3-0 in Summit League action and has a 1.08 ERA over 26 innings pitched.

Up Next
South Dakota State will have a week off from Summit League competition. The Jackrabbits will travel to Madison, Wis., next to face the Badgers in a doubleheader on Tuesday, April 23. SDSU follows that with a single game at Minnesota on Wednesday, April 24.

-GoJacks.com-