CLEARWATER, Fla. – South Dakota State split its first two games of the USF-Under Armour Showcase, topping Seton Hall 6-1 before falling to Bethune-Cookman 3-1 on Friday.
SDSU is now 10-7 overall on the season and is off to its best start since the 2006 season.
• South Dakota State 6, Seton Hall 1
Abbey Murphy and Baily Janssen each had three hits and one run batted in for the Jacks while Julia Andersen went 2-for-5 at the plate with a pair of RBIs. Andersen, Mallory McQuistan (RBI) and Erin Mullen had doubles.
Madison Hope (6-1) earned the win, scattering four hits over seven complete innings with a pair of strikeouts.
State struck first, opening a 1-0 lead in the opening frame after a passed ball allowed Murphy, who reached earlier with a one-out single, to scamper home.
The Pirates tied it with a run in the third, but SDSU struck back with a pair in the fifth to take control for good. With one out in the inning, Ali Herdliska and Brittney Morse reached on consecutive singles before McQuistan ripped a double, scoring Herdliska and pushing Lyndsey Crist (Morse’s pinch runner) to third. Janssen followed with a single of her own to score Crist and give the Jacks the advantage, 3-1.
SDSU tacked on another in the sixth to gain additional breathing room and widened the gap in the seventh with another two-run frame.
With one out in the sixth, Yanney Ponce, Andersen and Murphy singled in consecutive fashion, and on Murphy’s hit Ponce dashed around from second to score.
The seventh opened with a Janssen single, and after Mullen took a pitch to left center for a double later in the inning, the Jacks sat with runners on second and third with one out. A fielder’s choice at the plate kept SDSU off the board initially for the inning, but Andersen pushed Mullen and Ponce (who reached on the fielder’s choice) across when she doubled to left center to raise her season RBI total to 12.
• Bethune-Cookman 3, South Dakota State 1
Herdliska hit her second home run of the season in the day’s finale but it wasn’t enough as SDSU fell to Bethune-Cookman.
Complete stats were not available at time of release.
Photo from www.gojacks.com.
