Jacks drop a pair at North Dakota

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GRAND FORKS, N.D. - South Dakota State fell twice to North Dakota Wednesday in a midweek doubleheader, dropping 6-0 and 4-3 contests at Apollo Sports Complex.

South Dakota State is now 14-25 for the year while North Dakota is 15-23.

• North Dakota 6, South Dakota State 0

Abby Deane (8-13) started and allowed six runs with a strikeout, pitching into the fourth. Madison Hope threw the rest of the game in shutout fashion with one hit allowed and three strikeouts.

Emily Ensrud and Julia Andersen had hits for the Jacks while Ali Herdliska drew a walk.

UND loaded the bases with no outs in the second with hopes to jump on State early, but Deane and the Jackrabbit defense got out of the jam with only one run allowed.

Down 1-0, the Jacks looked to answer in the fourth after Andersen led off the inning with a single and moved to second when Abbey Murphy was hit by a two-out pitch, but UND got a strikeout to escape unscathed and keep a one-run advantage.

The Fighting Hawks pushed another five runs across in the fifth and hung on the rest of the way, dealing the Jacks a 6-0 defeat in game one.

• North Dakota 4, South Dakota State 3

Ashlyn Bender started and threw into the fifth, facing one batter before giving way to Hope. Bender allowed three runs (two earned) and struck out one. Hope (0-3) took the loss, throwing two innings with one run allowed on two hits.

Mallory McQuistan hit a solo home run and logged two RBI while Murphy (one RBI), Ensrud, Yanney Ponce and Lyndsey Crist had singles.

UND took a 1-0 lead in the first, but State answered with a solo home run from McQuistan to open the third.

The Fighting Hawks regained the lead in the bottom of the third behind a two-out double, but the Jackrabbits again answered in the next frame.

Crist singled to start the inning and moved to second on Herdliska's sacrifice bunt. Murphy drove Crist home in the next at bat, driving the first pitch up the middle before taking second on the throw to the plate. From there, Paige Gerdes reached safely on a UND error as Murphy took third, and McQuistan followed with a sacrifice fly to left, plating Murphy after the Jackrabbit second baseman dove over the tag at home to give SDSU a 3-2 lead.

A two-run home run put UND back in front, 4-3, in the fifth and the Hawks kept SDSU off the board in the final two innings to claim the win.

Game Notes

SDSU now leads the all-time series with UND, 51-28. ... Mallory McQuistan hit her third home run of the season in game two.

Up Next

South Dakota State is idle until next Tuesday when the Jacks take on UMKC in a doubleheader in Kansas City.