CONWAY, Ark. – South Dakota State split a pair of games Monday in the final day of the UCA Invitational, falling 9-3 to Louisiana Monroe before bouncing back with a 9-0 stomping of Arkansas-Pine Bluff in five innings.
The Jackrabbits (5-4) took three of four games over their two-day stay at the event.
SDSU faces Kansas in a doubleheader today at 1 p.m. at Arrocha Ballpark at Rock Chalk Park in Lawrence, Kan.
• Louisiana Monroe 9, SDSU 3
South Dakota State was dealt its first loss of the weekend at the hands of Louisiana Monroe. SDSU led 3-2 through three innings, but saw the Warhawks score two runs in the fourth, two more in the sixth and three in the seventh.
Madison Hope (2-1) started and took the loss, pitching into the seventh with eight runs (six earned) allowed on 11 hits. Hope struck out two before Taylor Compton, who was tagged for one run on one hit, finished the game.
Julia Andersen (two RBIs), Brittney Morse, Baily Janssen and Dana Chavez (RBI) all had two hits for the Jackrabbits, with Andersen and Morse notching doubles.
Scoreless through the first, SDSU found itself in a 2-0 hole after the top of the second but struck back with three runs of its own in the bottom of the frame to take the lead.
Morse started the inning with a double and took third as Janssen stroked an 0-1 pitch up the middle for a single. With runners on the corners and one out, Chavez pushed Morse home with a single, and after a groundout put Jackrabbits on second and third with two gone, Andersen ripped a 2-1 pitch into left center to plate Chavez and Morse.
ULM’s Paige Murray pitched five scoreless innings in relief to earn the win giving up five hits with a pair of strikeouts.
The Warhawks’ Ana Hogan hit a two-run homer and Jayden Mount added a solo shot. Mount finished 3-for-4 at the plate, and Rochelle Roberts and Victoria Pederson added two hits apiece. Megan Shaw had two RBIs.
• SDSU 9, Arkansas-Pine Bluff 0 (5 inn.)
The Jackrabbit offense blitzed Arkansas-Pine Bluff with nine first-inning runs and held on the rest of the way to close the event with a win.
Compton (3-3) started and threw four innings in the win, allowing just three hits and a walk while tallying a career-high five strikeouts. Kendra Conard tossed the final inning and walked one.
Ali Herdliska (2-for-3) led the Jacks with three RBIs and a double, while Andersen, Morse and Ponce posted doubles as well.
After working around a leadoff single in the top of the first, SDSU shut the UAPB offense down and jumped out to a 9-0 lead in the bottom half with six hits, two walks and two Golden Lion errors.
Andersen started the inning with a double to right on the first pitch she saw and took third on a passed ball in the next at-bat. With one out in the inning, Herdliska brought her home with a single down the left-field line, and after McQuistan’s hit pushed Herdliska to second the junior infielder wheeled around to score when Morse fired a 2-1 pitch down the left field line for her second two-bagger of the day.
With runners on second and third and a 2-0 lead, McQuistan scored and Morse moved up 60 feet on a passed ball before Rushing drew a two-out walk to put Jackrabbits on the corners. Morse came home as Chavez reached on an error, and Rushing dashed around the bases when the next hitter, Yanney Ponce, stroked a double into center.
After another wild pitch pushed Chavez home and Ponce to third, the Jacks turned a 6-0 lead into a nine-run advantage when Andersen reached on an error to plate Ponce before Herdliska followed with a double to right center, scoring Andersen and Murphy, who walked earlier in the inning.
Already in run-rule territory after one inning, the Jacks put runners on in the second and fourth frames, but wouldn’t need any further scoring as the defense kept UAPB from mounting a comeback.
Notes
The Jackrabbits have scored five or more runs in an inning four times this year. … Ali Herdliska moved into the top 10 for career doubles at SDSU with 27. She is nine shy of Shelly Brandel’s school record (36).
Photo from www.gojacks.com.
