GRAND FORKS, N.D. -- The University of North Dakota softball team dropped a pair of contests to South Dakota State on Saturday afternoon from Apollo Park in Grand Forks to begin a four-game series against the top team in the league.
G1: South Dakota State 7, North Dakota 1
South Dakota State scattered four runs over the first six innings before adding a trio of insurance scores in the top of the seventh to pick up a 7-1 victory over the Fighting Hawks in the opener of the weekend series.
Nikki Pica did a good job of limiting the damage in the early going, allowing just three runs over her first five frames, but ran into trouble over the final two innings to fall to 1-8 on the season. The graduate student allowed 11 hits and six earned runs while striking out five and walking three.
Three Fighting Hawks picked up hits in the opener, with
Alexys Campos,
Jocelyn Kirk and
Caitlyn Shumaker each picking up a knock. Campos provided the only run of the game for the hosts when she came around to score on a sacrifice fly by
Jailene Carpio in the bottom of the sixth.
G2 (5): South Dakota State 13, North Dakota 0
The Jackrabbits struck for five runs in the first and plated eight more in the third to jump out to an early lead and never look back in a 13-0 win over UND in the day's finale.
Lauren Feld, who entered the game as one of the top pitchers during league play, struggled against the league's top offense. SDSU scored those 13 runs, seven earned, over three innings of works while also picking up 10 hits and drawing five walks. The UND defense also committed three errors over those first three innings that allowed the visitors to build their lead.
Adrianna Dilal closed the final two frames out in relief, allowing only just two hits and striking out a pair to finish with a scoreless performance.
North Dakota came up with only two hits in the contest, with
Ashlynn Uvila and
Izzy Haslett each providing a hit while Carpio drew a pair of walks in her two plate appearances.
UND and SDSU close out the weekend series tomorrow afternoon beginning at noon from Apollo Park. Fans can catch all the action on MidcoSN or UND Insider.