Toby Uecker

The South Dakota State University softball team improved its season record to 6-9, winning three of four games in their trip to the Twin Cities Friday and Saturday.

Participating in the Concordia University-St. Paul Dome Tournament, the Jacks defeated host team Concordia-St. Paul and North Dakota opponents Jamestown College and the University of Mary but fell to Bemidji State.

A strong weekend for pitcher Melissa Alleven took the Jackrabbits much of the way through the successful weekend. Alleven gave up only six hits in Friday’s two games, including pitching a one-hitter against Concordia-St. Paul. She then recorded six and eight strike-outs against Bemidji and Mary, respectively, on Saturday.

Alleven takes the place of injury-plagued starter Steph Harms, who this weekend pitched only two-plus innings in the Bemidji game.

In the tournament opener, the Jacks allowed Jamestown a first-inning run, but Steph Kimes evened the score on a base hit by Emily Haywood. A three-run sixth inning, ending with a double steal, cemented the 4-1 win for the Jackrabbits.

Sherri Brende got hits at both at-bats, and Kimes was 2-for-3 at the plate.

The first inning of the Concordia-St. Paul game also started with a run but this time for the Jacks’ Mandi Geis. Geis hit a single, advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by Brende and was brought home by Jill Hlavacek’s base hit.

The Jacks continued their shut-out with two unearned runs in the fourth and a single homer by Hlavacek in the fifth. Hlavacek, Brende, Geis and Ashley Kalina

each had two hits on the game.

Becky Fitzgerald garnered Concordia’s sole hit in the sixth inning, as SDSU defeated Concordia-St. Paul 4-0.

SDSU wound up on the other end of a shut-out in Saturday’s opener, losing 3-0 to Bemidji State.

The Beavers got off to a quick start with an unearned run in the first and two more trips around the bases in the third. Starting for her only game of the tournament, Harms gave up two runs, two hits and two walks in her time on the mound.

After giving up a run in the third inning, Alleven struck out six batters to hold off Bemidji the rest of the way.

Bemidji State’s offense was led by Megan Bray’s 3-for-3 showing at the plate.

SDSU finished the tournament with a 3-2 win over the University of Mary. In a game that remained scoreless through four innings, Brende broke out with the first run with the help of a steal and a Mary error.

A wild pitch by Alleven set up Cassie Smith for a two-run single in Mary’s next at-bat, giving them the lead.

Geis finished the game for the Jackrabbits by providing a run-scoring double and then scoring herself in the bottom of the fifth on a double steal.

The Jackrabbits now look ahead to another full weekend, playing five games in Vermillion Friday and Saturday in the DakotaDome Invitational.