BROOKINGS, S.D. – Third-seeded South Dakota avoided elimination in the Summit League Softball Championship with a 6-5 extra-inning victory over No. 4 North Dakota in Game No. 5 Thursday evening at Jerald T. Moriarty Softball Field. After falling 6-5 in extra innings earlier in the day to second-seeded SDSU, the Coyotes were on the right side of this one as they staged a rally from a 5-0 deficit to keep their season alive.
After a scoreless first inning, the Fighting Hawks pushed across two runs in the second on a series of walks, including a bases-loaded one drawn by Hailey Bethune to open the scoring. Quincie Chunestudey then added an RBI single to push UND's lead to 2-0.
In the fourth, Callie Honig cleared the bases with a three-run triple to deep right center, stretching the Fighting Hawks' lead to 5-0. Madison Evans got the final out of the frame for the Coyotes and would yield only one hit over 4.1 scoreless innings of relief, allowing South Dakota's offense to chip away at the deficit.
The Coyotes started that process quickly in their next at-bat, finally getting to UND starter Jackie Albrecht, who had held the Coyotes hitless through the first three innings. After Madison Evans singled with one out, Albrecht walked a pair of Coyotes to load the bases for Rylie Jones, who promptly lined an RBI single to left.
Autumn Iversen followed with a fielder’s choice that plated another run to trim the deficit to 5-2. Makaela Carr replaced Albrecht with the bases loaded and stopped the rally by getting Ella McGree to ground out to end the rally.
Down three entering their last at-bat, South Dakota’s comeback came to life in the seventh. McGee tripled to start the inning and would score on a single by Tatum Villotta to make it a 5-3 contest. The Coyotes would pull even following back-to-back, two-out RBI singles from Brooke Carey and Jones to force their second extra-inning game of the day.
UND threatened in the eighth after putting its first two runners on after a walk and hit by pitch but Evans was able to escape the jam, ending it with her fifth strikeout of the game and setting the stage for the Coyotes' turn at some walk-off heroics.
South Dakota opened the frame with back-to-back singles and after Carr recorded the next two outs, Evans used her bat to complete the rally she helped preserve, lining a single to right to bring Abi Brown home for the walk-off win.
Pitcher of Record
Win – Madison Evans (2-3): 4.1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 5 K
Loss – Makaela Carr (9-9): 4.0 IP, 10 H, 4 ER, 0 BB, 4 K
Notables
- South Dakota’s Evans went 3-for-5 with the game-winning RBI while also picking up the win in relief.
- Jones went 2-for-4 with 2 RBIs, including the game-tying hit in the seventh.
- North Dakota’s Honig notched a game-high 3 RBIs with her bases-clearing triple in the fourth. It was her seventh time this season finishing with three or more RBIs in a game.
- The Coyotes outhit the Fighting Hawks 12-4 and stranded nine runners.
Up Next
South Dakota advances to face the loser of the winner's bracket matchup between Omaha-South Dakota State. The first pitch between the Coyotes and the Game No. 6 loser is scheduled to be thrown at 3:30 p.m. CT.
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