The sun finally set on any ideas the SDSU softball team might have had on gaining a berth in the 2012 Summit League Tournament as the Jacks were swept by April 20-21, officially eliminating them from post-season play.

But the Jackrabbits didn’t just lose, they didn’t even score a run in the three-game debacle. The series drops SDSU to 10-25-1 (4-14), while the SUU improves to 28-19 (14-7).

“Southern Utah is a quality ball club,” said head coach Kim Aggabao. “And we just didn’t step up to the challenge. There were too many offensive struggles.”

SUU’s pitcher Heather Black slowed the Jacks, striking out 17 and walking one SDSU hitter over the weekend.

The home team wasted no time in building a two-run lead in the first inning. SUU quickly retired SDSU again and buried the Jackrabbits with seven runs and making it 9-0 after two innings. After one more run in the fourth inning, the Jacks could not start a rally, losing 10-0.

The nightcap began with a scoreless first inning thanks in part to the pitching of SDSU senior Pam Nicholson. Nicholson recorded three strikeouts, and although the Jacks were again blown out, 8-0, Aggabao felt the pitcher’s performance was not well represented by the game’s overall score.

“We had them where we wanted them in the second and third games, but [SUU] battled through it.”

The final game of the series was a much closer affair through the first four innings. Southern Utah opened up the scoring in the first, but were stymied after their initial run until later in the game. In the bottom of the fifth, SUU’s Kadi Henderson broke the offensive silence with a leadoff homerun. The Thunderbirds followed by adding five more runs that inning to bury the Jacks by seven. SDSU could not match any of those runs and the Jacks fell 7-0.

Despite being eliminated from post-season play, Coach Aggabao did not downplay the importance of finishing strong.

“We always focus on finishing everything,” Aggabao said. “We finish plays, at bats, games — this is no different. You have to finish everything if you ever want to get better.”