Jacks take two in doubleheader over Tommies

BROOKINGS, S.D. (SDSU) — South Dakota State was solid in its doubleheader meeting against St. Thomas on Saturday, April 27, en route to two victories in Summit League softball. The Jackrabbits defeated the Tommies 5-2 to begin the day at Jackrabbit Softball Stadium, then won a five-inning run-rule 8-0 game to close the two-game set out.

Game One
SDSU was held scoreless, despite getting two runners on base in the first, as the two sides went to the second inning knotted at 0-0. The Jacks broke the meeting open in the bottom of the second.

Alli Boyle hit a one-out single and advanced to second as Cheyanne Masterson drew a two-out walk. Mia Jarecki followed with an RBI single to get SDSU on the board first. Emma Osmundson came up next and crushed a three-run home run over the right-field fence to propel the Jackrabbits ahead 4-0.

Starting pitcher Tori Kniesche cruised through her first three innings of work putting the Tommies down in order. Rozelyn Carrillo hit a double to leadoff the bottom of the third and scored on an RBI double by Brooke Dumont .

St. Thomas got to Kniesche in the top of the fourth. Three walks, along with a two-run home run, resulted in the Tommies cutting the deficit to 5-2. The Tommies put together another threat in the sixth inning. St. Thomas got runners on first and third base with two outs, but Kniesche got out of the frame unscathed with a strikeout.

Kniesche wrapped up a complete game with a strong seventh inning by striking out two batters and producing a flyout.

The Jackrabbit senior pitcher improved her record to 15-5 by allowing two runs on two hits and three walks across seven innings. She struck out 13 batters in the victory.

SDSU produced nine hits in the game with Jarecki and Carrillo each picking up two. Osmundson had a team-high three RBIs while drawing two walks.

Game Two
The Jackrabbits used two big innings, along with a strong performance in the circle by Shannon Lasey , en route to the 8-0 run-rule win.

St. Thomas threatened at the plate to begin the second game of the day. Two singles set the Tommies up with runners on first and third with no outs. Their opportunity ended on a failed suicide squeeze attempt which resulted on a runner caught stealing by Dumont behind the plate.

SDSU was held hitless through two innings before breaking the game open in the third. Masterson reached base with one out and Jarecki singled to put two runners on base. The two would score on an Osmundson RBI single to make it 2-0. Lindsey Culver singled to place another pair of runners on. The two would be plated on a three-run home run off the bat of Dumont as State went on top 5-0.

A double, single and walk set St. Thomas up with bases loaded in the fourth with two outs. Lasey was able to escape the frame with a strikeout. She then pitched a 1-2-3 fifth inning to set the Jackrabbit lineup up in the bottom half.

Osmundson singled and Culver doubled to get the inning started. Carrillo hit a sacrifice fly, scoring Osmundson, to make it a 6-0 ballgame. Dumont then drove in one on an RBI double to extend the lead to 7-0. Jocelyn Carrillo followed with a single, then Alli Boyle smacked an RBI single up the middle to end the game by the run-rule margin.

Lasey registered another complete-game performance for the Jackrabbits. She gave up four hits and three walks while avoiding giving up a run. Lasey struck out two Tommies while improving her overall record to 10-8 on the season.

SDSU had 10 hits in the meeting. Multiple Jackrabbits had two hits apiece in Osmundson, Culver, Dumont and Jocelyn Carrillo . Dumont had four RBIs and Osmundson had two. Scoring two runs apiece were Osmundson and Culver.

Notes

• South Dakota State improved to 30-18 overall on the season. The Jackrabbits remain the lone team undefeated in conference play with a 13-0 record in Summit League action. St. Thomas, played its last series of the 2024 season, is 16-34 overall and 8-9 in conference play.
• SDSU has reached the 30-win plateau for the sixth consecutive season. That is the longest stretch of 30-win seasons in program history.
• The Jackrabbits have now won 17 consecutive games. They also have won 46 straight conference meetings which is the longest streak in Division I softball.
• Lindsey Culver set a new program record for games played at the start of the doubleheader with her start in left field. She now is the SDSU record holder with 229 games played.
• Culver also improved her batting average during the day to a team-best .399 on the season. She also has SDSU’s best average during conference play of .436.
• Jarecki is second in batting average during the season and conference play with averages of .393 and .429, respectively. She paces the team in total hits (59) and runs scored (44).
• Osmundson jumped into the team lead in runs batted in with 44 during Saturday’s doubleheader. Dumont went over .300 hitting for the first time this season with her performance on Saturday. She’s hitting .400 during Summit League action in 13 games played.
• Kniesche is 8-0 in eight starts in conference play to go along with a 0.40 ERA. Lasey improved to 4-0 against Summit foes with a 0.90 ERA.

Up Next
South Dakota State’s series finale versus St. Thomas is currently to be determined due to forecasted weather. The game will be expected to be played in Brookings on Sunday.

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