The Jackrabbits completed their first three-game sweep of the season, defeating the Oakland Grizzlies on April 12-13.

The series sweep over Oakland increased the Jacks to a 14-21 overall and 4-8 Summit League record while Oakland dropped to a 5-14 overall record and 1-7 in the Summit.

The series moved to Westgate Field in Omaha because of the recent winter storm in Brookings. 

“As long as we get the games in, we are happy,” SDSU head coach Kim Aggabao said. “Obviously we would love to play at home, we would love to play in front of our home crowd, but every time we get to put the uniform on and compete, we try to take advantage of those opportunities.”

In game one of Friday’s double-header, Oakland jumped on the Jackrabbits early with a home run, putting them up early 1-0. Marlee Petersen helped put the Jacks on top after being tied 1-1 to a 2-1 lead in the fourth on her sixth home run of the season. Emily Weber added one more with her first home run over the left field fence.

Vanessa Kellems scored an insurance run off an Allison Huffman RBI in the bottom of the sixth to extend the Jackrabbit lead to 3-1.

“I think our offensive approach has really developed over this past season,” Aggabao said. “I think if we continue to swing the bats well, our pitching and defense has played pretty well all year, I think if we score some runs … we can kind of build off that momentum.”

Kori Seidlitz earned her sixth win of the season while she gave up just one run, eight hits and seven strikeouts in a complete game win. The Jackrabbits won by a final of 4-1 in game one of the series.

 In game two of the double-header, Jennifer Sutton couldn’t have done it without a little help from Devon Reick in center field as Reick made a diving catch in the fourth with a runner on third and an assist to home plate to tag a runner out and keep the Grizzlies from scoring.

Petersen knocked in the only two runs of the game with a single up the middle. Oakland had a chance to score in the bottom of the sixth, but Sutton worked out of the jam, giving up six hits with four strikeouts. Jackrabbits won the second game 2-0.

“[Sutton] has stepped up well, being only a freshman,” Aggabao said. “She has shown a lot of toughness, and I think she has gained a lot of respect from her teammates for being able to get out of those jams. We are confident with her on the mound and we will continue to rely on her in the upcoming series.”

 In the third game of the series, despite a 1-0 Oakland lead, SDSU was able to pull across three runs in the fourth with an Alex Landon double to bring home Kelly Kleppin and Reick to put the Jacks up 2-1.

Elyse Eitel delivered a blow to the Grizzlies by slapping a single up the middle to score Kleppin and Sammy Bingham, giving SDSU a 5-1 lead. Petersen hit a sacrifice fly to center to score Alex Landon. Reick would drive in the final run as SDSU swept Oakland with a final score of 7-4.

The Jackrabbits are set to play Western Illinois in a three-game series April 20-21 in Brookings. Due to winter storms, those games may be rescheduled.