SIOUX FALLS – South Dakota State scored a sweep over Omaha this weekend, but it was anything but conventional.

The series, which was moved from Brookings to Augustana’s Bowden Field, saw the Jackrabbits win all three games, but their wins included two thrillers in a doubleheader Friday and a 14-inning shutout by SDSU pitcher Tori Kniesche on Saturday afternoon.

The wins helped the Jacks improve to 23-14 on the season and 6-0 in Summit League play

• SDSU 1, Omaha 0 (Eight Innings)

Kniesche’s weekend began with a dominant performance in the opener of Friday’s doubleheader as the right-hander engaged in a pitcher’s duel with Omaha’s Kamryn Meyer but it almost didn’t happen as both teams had a chance to get on the board early.

Kniesche loaded the bases with a walk and two hit batters to load the bases against the Mavericks in the bottom of the first but struck out Marra Cramer to get out of the jam.

The Jacks mounted their own threat in the bottom of the second inning with a single by Lindsey Culver and a walk by Brooke Dumont. Both runners advanced to second and third after Cheyanne Masterson walked but Meyer got Chiara Bassi to fly out to end the inning.

The duel was on from there as Kniesche allowed two hits over eight innings, walking two batters and striking out 18 to keep the Mavericks off the board. Meyer was just as dominant for Omaha allowing five hits and four walks with 10 strikeouts over 7.2 innings.

Both pitchers continued to put up zeros on the scoreboard until the bottom of the eighth. After Mia Jarecki led off the inning with a single, she advanced to second on Rozelyn Carillo’s fly out to left and scored on Jocelyn Carillo’s walk-off single to give the Jackrabbits the victory.

• SDSU 5, Omaha 4

The second game of Friday’s doubleheader saw more action on the scoreboard but came down to the final innings as Mia Jarecki’s go-ahead single in the sixth inning helped the Jacks pick up their second win of the afternoon.

Omaha got on the board early with a two-RBI double from Emma Durr in the top of the first inning but the Jacks tied it on Emma Boyle’s two-RBI triple in the bottom of the second. The Mavericks took the lead back on Cramer’s sacrifice fly in the top of the third inning but Rozelyn Carillo tied the game again with an RBI double in the bottom of the third.

Omaha took its third lead of the game with Olivia Aden’s sacrifice fly in the top of the sixth but it set up SDSU for a game-winning rally in the bottom of the sixth.

Down 4-3, Culver led off the inning by reaching on a throwing error. Brooke Dumont bunted for a base hit to give the Jacks two runners on with nobody out but after Boyle struck out looking, Bassi delivered a pinch-hit RBI single to tie the game at 4-4. Sydney Nuismer struck out Alivya Bollen to almost get out of the inning but Jarecki delivered the game-winning hit with two outs to help the Jacks earn the sweep.

Shannon Lasey allowed four runs on two hits and eight walks with a strikeout in 5.1 innings while Kniesche came in to toss 1.2 perfect innings of relief to earn her 14th win of the season.

Jarecki went 3-for-4 with two RBI in the win while Rozelyn and Jocelyn Carillo each had doubles in the win. Boyle also went 1-for-3 with a triple.

Nuismer took the loss, allowing five runs (three earned) with eight hits, two walks and eight strikeouts.

• SDSU 1, Omaha 0 (14 innings)

Saturday’s series finale was the longest game in SDSU history but the Jacks came away with the win thanks to another outstanding performance by Kniesche.

Kniesche set another SDSU record by throwing all 14 innings in the win, allowing six hits, five walks and hitting two batters while striking out 15 batters. Kniesche was especially impressive as the game went on as the Mavericks led off the game with a single from Lyndsey Tucker and a walk by Maggie O’Brien and both runners advanced to second and third on a passed ball. Knieschke struck out Durr to end the inning, however and the Mavericks didn’t advance a runner to third base for the rest of the game.

For the second time this weekend, Meyer was a formidable opponent to match Knieschke’s dominance. The Omaha hurler tossed nine shutout innings allowing five hits and seven walks while notching four strikeouts. The Jacks mounted rallies in the bottom of the sixth inning and the bottom of the eighth inning but Meyer was able to get out of those jams, tossing nine shutout innings allowing five hits and seven walks while striking out four batters.

SDSU finally broke out in the bottom of the 14th inning after Bassi hit a lead off single against Nuismer. After advancing to second on a sacrifice bunt by Jarecki, Tori Tollefson pinch ran for Bassi and scored the game-winning on Emma Osmundson’s single that created an errant throw for the walk-off error.

Rozelyn Carillo, Jocelyn Carillo and Bassi all recorded two hits in the win, which helped Kniesche improve her record to 14-5 on the season.

UP NEXT

The Jacks will hit the road this week for a Tuesday doubleheader against Iowa State before continuing Summit League play with a weekend series at North Dakota State.