Aaron Lynch

With the spring season being well over halfway through, the Jacks seem to be unable to shake the monkey from their backs.

The softball team has been on a bit of a shaky streak in the past few weeks. In the past twelve days the Jacks have had to play 11 games, having only three of them on their home field. It has really been a turf war that quite possibly can only be won in the company of the home fans.

Although the Jacks have had a tough go, it looks as if they will have a chance to redeem themselves, with the bulk of their home stands coming late in the season. Of the last 14 games of the season, the women play 11 of those at home. The Jacks have a slight hold of fifth in the Summit League, but a horde of victories could propel them to the top-four spot.

Nonetheless, not all is bad news for the Jacks. The women have had some strong-goes in the past couple weeks, with conquests over UMKC and IPFW. In the win over UMKC, the team had zero errors, 10 hits and 11 runs, royally stomping the Kangaroos by a final score of 11-3.

In the game, Andrea New and Kelsey Lunn recorded home runs. New not only hit a walk-off home run to seal the win but also hit another earlier in the game, scratching the first multi-home run game since Samantha Heinzman hit two against the Huskers of Nebraska exactly two years ago to the date.

The bottom of the third inning was hot for the Jacks, scoring six runs on five hits and upping the score to 9-3 before the inning closed. New ended the game 3-for-4 with an RBI triple as her other hit to go out with five RBIs. Lunn also marked a double and was awarded a walk in a 2-for-2 day and four RBIs.

Kori Seidlitz got the win, giving up three runs on seven hits and compiling a 5-2 strikeouts-to-walks ratio. Seidlitz improved to 8-11 on the season.

In the win over IPFW, the Jacks held the very tough Mastodons from a sweep and dropped them to 12-2 in the league. In an interesting 10-9 victory for the Jackrabbit women, a team effort was the key contributing factor. More than a few Jacks made the win a reality.

Dani Broshar started the Jacks’ scoring with a double, scoring shortstop Ashley Durazo and giving Broshar an RBI. Broshar also hit another double later in the game. In the bottom of three, Tina Winter came out on top with a single, scoring three runs including Broshar, Lunn and Greta Stroh. The hit put the Jacks atop the ‘Dons 4-1.

In the top of the fifth inning, Seidlitz hit her first career home run, and the team scored six to threaten the Mastodons with the eight-run rule. IPFW ended up scoring a couple runs to prolong the game and follow the Jacks into the top of six, with the Jacks topping the ‘Dons 10-3. IPFW didn’t lose its fight in late innings, scoring six more runs in the sixth and becoming a serious danger in a must-happen win for SDSU. The game came to a close as Pam Nicholson pounded the last nail in the Mastodons’ coffin and recorded her first save in her SDSU career.

The Jacks are in town all week, starting their home stay with a double-header against rivals University of South Dakota on April 15 at 3 p.m.