St. Thomas
SDSU’s next series will be on the road against the Tommies in St. Paul. Ranked third in the Summit League behind Omaha, the Tommies have won four of their last six conference games. St. Thomas will be coming off a doubleheader against Wisconsin before they host SDSU.
Laken Lienhard leads the Tommies in batting average with a .363 average. The senior shortstop from Cresco, Iowa has 33 hits in 91 at-bats in all games this season with a team-high slugging percentage of .626. Lienhard shares the team lead in home runs with Cassidy Carby, batting .324 on the season.
The Tommies are tied for third-best batting average in the Summit League with Omaha at a .283. The team has the second most strikeouts in the conference, only behind North Dakota.
“They’re a solid ball club,” McSweeney said. “It’s gonna take our best version to be able to do what we need to do to be in the position that we want to be in. We’ve got them in our sights, they’ve got us in our sights, and they’ve played well.”
SDSU plays the Tommies this weekend with a doubleheader at noon and 2:30 p.m. Saturday, and an 11 a.m. Sunday game. The series will be streamed on the Summit League Network through Midco Sports Plus.
South Dakota State capped off their three-game series against South Dakota with a walk-off winner.
Game one (USD 9, SDSU 5)
In SDSU’s home opener at the newly dedicated Jerald T. Moriarty Field, USD set the tone early. A two-run home run by Clara Edwards put the Coyotes up 4-0 in the first. SDSU responded with three runs in the third inning, but that was the closest they got, as another home run in the seventh for USD stretched their lead further out.
“We were punched in the mouth, that’s the nicest way to put it,” head coach Kristina McSweeney said of the first game. “[We] had our backs against the wall and had to figure it out.”
Game two (SDSU 8, USD 5)
SDSU rebounded for game two. Both teams scored in the third inning as USD’s Delaney White and Emma Vike each had an RBI single. A three run RBI double by Abby Gentry gave SDSU the lead in the next inning. Madi Mangulis held off a Coyote charge in the sixth inning to tie the series.
Game three (SDSU 4, USD 3)
In the final game, SDSU opened the scoring with an RBI double by Gentry, followed by an RBI single by Vike. Edwards tied the game for the Coyotes in the third inning and took the lead in the sixth before an Alli Boyle RBI single tied the game again. SDSU walked it off as Madi Conklin hit an RBI single, allowing Cece Hanson to score from second base.
SDSU moves to 5-1 in the Summit League, remaining in first place.
