The SDSU softball team finished 3-2 in the Michelle Short Memorial Classic over the weekend with a win over Purdue, a loss to Southern Illinois and trading games with Central Arkansas.

The Jackrabbits move to 8-7 on the season with conference play closing in on less than a month away.

Game 1: Purdue- 5-1 (W)

Friday’s matchup saw South Dakota State face off against their second power five opponent of the season in Purdue. 

Tori Kniesche took the mound in game one for the Jacks and allowed three hits and one run scored against the Boilermakers. The senior pitched all seven innings and struck 13 batters out.

The Jacks were up 3-0 in the sixth inning before Purdue finally got a runner home. Though their last chance efforts proved to be in vein as the Jacks added two more runs in the seventh while the Boilermakers couldn’t add to their total.

Mia Jarecki went 2-4 in the game with a triple and two runs scored. The junior also finished with two outs to her name. Outfielder Emma Osmundson also went 2-4 on the day with the game-high of two RBIs.

Game 2: Southern Illinois- 3-4 (L)

The Jackrabbits let a close one against Southern Illinois slip away as they led the Salukis 3-2 till the bottom of the seventh inning before giving up a 2-rume homer.

The bats were hot in the first inning with Lindsey Culver sending one over the fence for the Jacks. Two more scores from both teams had the score up to 3-2 and wouldn’t change till the final inning. 

Batting died down for the Jacks as they only connected on three hits compared to SIU’s six on the night.

Both Shannon Lasey and Alexa Williams saw mound time in this matchup with Lasey pitching for four innings and struck out three batters.

Osmundson added two more hits in this game at three plate visits with one run scored. Culver finished 1-3 and led the team with two RBIs.

Game 3: Central Arkansas 8-1 (W)

A fiery fourth inning of four runs scored brought the Jacks back on top of the weekend in their 8-1 victory over Central Arkansas.

Kniesche earned her second victory of the tournament from the mound where she pitched all seven innings once again and tallied nine strikeouts.

Though held scoreless through two innings, the Jacks managed to even the scoreboard at one-all in the third inning with Jarecki who brought in Kaylee Kardash on an RBI single. SDSU added four more runs to the board in the fourth inning.

Jocelyn Carrillo sent one over the fence which brought Osmundson and Culver home. Jocelyn’s sister Rozelyn Carrillo would follow suit sending Emma Christensen to the plate from second.

SDSU scored three more times, once in the fifth and twice in the seventh as Kniesche kept the Bears off the board for the rest of the game.

Osmundson three hits was the game high as she also scored three times. Jocelyn Carrillo batted .500 and added four RBIs to her stat sheet.

Game 4: Purdue- 7-6 (W)

Game four saw a closer matchup than its predecessor with Purdue nearly coming back from behind in the top of the third. 

Down 3-6 in the last inning, the boilermakers nearly made a comeback, putting up three runs in the seventh, one short of forcing the Jacks to play the bottom half of the inning.

Akayla Barnard showed her strength on the mound, pitching four innings and pulling three strikeouts while also going 2-4 from the plate, scoring a run and driving in an RBI.

The freshman from Arkansas earned her second win of the year from the mound.

Both Culver and Osmundson went .500 from the plate, with both players scoring a run and Osmundson driving in a run.

A five-run fourth inning gave the Jacks the bump they needed to complete the Purdue sweep. A solo shot over the fence from Osmundson led the inning. Rozelyn Carrillo brought in Culver and Jocelyn Carrillo with a 3-run homer before two more hits brought the Jacks up big.

Game 5: Central Arkansas 4-6 (L)

Though outhitting the Bears, SDSU fell 4-6 to Central Arkansas to wrap up the tournament. 

Two three run innings dropped the Jacks to 8-7 on the season with Barnard losing her first game on the mound.

25% of SDSU’s eights hits came from Jarecki who finish the game 2-4 with a run scored. Both Barnard and Osmundson went .250 with a hit and a run scored a piece.

Lasey and Kniesche threw three strikeouts each with Barnard unable to add any of her own.

SDSU jumped out to 3-0 early on with a Jocelyn Carrillo RBI in the first inning and a Culver two-run in the third.

Williams brought in the final point of the day for the Jacks with a homerun in the seventh.