Home: where the hits are

Aaron Lynch

Aaron Lynch

The women’s softball team put on a show April 15 as they scuffled against rival in-state school, the University of South Dakota.

The contests were the first games played between the Jacks and Coyotes in almost six years. SDSU did not disappoint, as the Jacks won two close games with scores of 5-2 in the first game and 2-1 in eight innings in the second game.

Starting out even keel, the Jacks and Coyotes each scored a couple of early inning runs. SDSU scored its first run from a double off the bat of Kelsey Lunn, managing to score Devon Reick. Mel Johnson, USD’s pitcher, made the most of Pam Nicholson’s pitch to tie the game as she hit a solo home run to right-center.

The women made a two-out dash to add another run in the bottom of the second, as Andrea New singled, Nicholson singled advancing New to second, Ashley Durazo had an infield single and Devon Reick then walked, bringing home New.

Jacks fans were granted an exciting inning in the bottom of the sixth as the Jacks racked up three more runs that the ‘Yotes would not be able to come back from.

Leading off the inning, Nicholson slapped a single up the middle. Durazo’s single put Nicholson on third. After a left-field fly-out from Reick, Dani Broshar made things interesting with a walk that loaded the bases for the Jackrabbits. Lunn reached first on an error and two runs resulted, putting the game at a score of 4-2. Krista Honken completed the Jacks’ scorecard as she placed a hard-hit single and recorded an RBI as Broshar crossed the plate. Nicholson put the game away in the top of the seventh with three strikeouts.

Game two would be a bit more of a defensive game. Errors gave each team an early run. The game was closed out when Broshar hit a grounder to third with the bases loaded, leaving Nicholson to safely clear home on a catcher’s error. Kori Seidlitz got another win with the victory.

“Kori and Pam both have shown improvement the last week,” said head coach Joanna Lane. “They have delivered in key situations; however, we still have things to work on.