FORT COLLINS, Colo. — South Dakota State wrapped up its season at the National Invitational Softball Championship over the weekend, going 1-2 in its final three games to finish with an overall record of 2-2 at the tournament.
The Jackrabbits kicked off the weekend by falling to Iowa 6-3 on Friday afternoon but rebounded to beat Tarleton State 11-1 before falling to BYU 5-0 in the semifinals on Saturday morning.
SDSU finished its season with a 39-19 record and a 17-0 record for the regular season title in the Summit League.
• Iowa 6, SDSU 3
The Jacks came into Saturday’s game looking to advance in the winner’s bracket but Iowa scored all six of its runs in the first two innings to advance to the NISC semifinals.
The Hawkeyes got to SDSU starter Shannon Lasey early as Denali Loecker led off the scoring with an RBI single. Grace Banes followed up with an RBI double before Sammy Diaz drove in another run on an RBI single to give Iowa a 3-0 lead.
Iowa made it a 4-0 game when Tatianna Roman walked with the bases loaded in the bottom of the second inning and added another run when Tory Bennett reached on a fielder’s choice. Loecker added her second RBI of the game with a single and the Jacks were in a 6-0 hole after two innings.
Alexa Williams cut into the lead with a three-run homer in the top of the sixth inning but SDSU couldn’t find enough offense to complete the rally.
Williams went 2-for-3 with a home run and three RBI while Jocelyn Carillo went 2-for-3 with a walk, a ran scored and a double. Jocelyn Carillo and Cheyanne Masterson also hit doubles for the Jacks while Allison Yoder went 1-for-4 at the plate.
Lase allowed six earned runs on five hits and three walks in one inning of work while Williams closed the game with five shutout innings, allowing three hits, two walks and two strikeouts.
• SDSU 11, Tarleton State 1
The Jacks rebounded quickly on Friday afternoon, using an eight-run second inning to defeat Tarleton State.
Masterson led off the scoring with an RBI single before Williams scored on a wild pitch to make it a two-run game. Allison Yoder’s single drove in a pair of runs before a throwing error by MacKenzie Peterson allowed another run to score to give SDSU a 5-0 lead.
Rozelyn Carillio added a run on an RBI single and Jocelyn Carillo drove in another run on a RBI double before Emma Osmundson capped off the scoring with an RBI single to make it an 8-0 game.
Katy Schaefer hit a solo home run off Tori Kniesche in the bottom of the second inning but it would be the only blip of the day for the Jacks.
Osmundson finished the afternoon 3-for-3 at the plate with four RBI, driving in two runs with a double in the third inning and one more on a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the fifth to end the game.
Eight different players had hits for SDSU as Mia Jarecki also added a double and a walk for the Jacks.
Kneische improved to 24-6 on the season with the win, allowing one run on two hits, three walks and striking out five batters to help SDSU advance to the semi finals.
n BYU 5, SDSU 0
The Jacks’ run in the tournament ended when they fell to BYU in the semifinals. The Cougars traded scoreless innings with SDSU until Ailana Agbayani hit a three-run homer in the top of the third to break the game open.
Maddie Udall added to the lead with an RBI single in the fourth and Agabayani drove in her fourth run of the game with a single in the top of the sixth.
Allison Yoder went 2-for-3 with a double in the loss while Jocelyn Carillo went 2-for-3 with a pair of singles.
Kniesche allowed three runs on three hits and a walk with one strikeout over 2.1 innings to fall to 24-7 on the season. Williams allowed one run on three hits and three walks in 2.2 innings while Lasey finished the game allowing one run on one hit and four walks with three strikeouts in two innings.
