Softball falls twice at Oakland

Friday, April 23

Rochester, Mich.

1 p.m. ET

South Dakota State University

Oakland

4/23/2010 6:00:00 PM | Softball

By: SDSU Sports Info

ROCHESTER, Mich. - The South Dakota State softball team started its final road trip of the season on Friday with a pair of losses at Oakland, falling 9-1 and 9-7 at OU Softball Field in Rochester, Mich.

The Golden Grizzlies sweep drops the Jackrabbits to 14-29 on the season overall and 6-8 in The Summit League. Oakland improves to 15-26 overall and an even 7-7 in league play, heading into Saturday's series finale.

The Jacks scored first with a run on three hits, an error and a hit batter in the top of the first, but OU responded with three runs in its half of the first to go up 3-1.

Neither team scored again until the bottom of the fourth, when the Golden Grizzlies plated six runs on four hits and one SDSU error to take a commanding 9-1 lead.

The Jacks tried to mound a game-extending rally in the top of the fifth with two on and one out, but OU starter Marisa Everitt stranded both runners on base to secure the Oakland win.

After getting just one run on four hits in the opener, the Jackrabbit bats came alive for seven runs on 14 hits in the nightcap, but they also committed three errors, which made the difference in the 9-7 SDSU loss.

Ashley Durazo, Dani Broshar and Morgan McCabe all finished the game with two hits, including a double and a triple for Durazo, while Broshar doubled and smacked her team-leading sixth homerun.

Oakland jumped out to the early lead with three runs on four hits in the bottom of the second, and then took a commanding 7-0 lead with four runs on four hits and one SDSU error in the bottom of the third.

The Jacks answered with three runs on four hits in the top of the fourth, including Broshar's solo homerun to left center, to cut the deficit to 7-3.

Oakland score two more runs on two hits and an error in the fifth go up 9-3, runs that the Jacks got back in the sixth on an RBI infield single by Greta Stroh and a Marlee Petersen groundout.

Down 9-5 heading into the seventh, the Jacks opened the frame with singles from Kelsey Waltz and Durazo, which set the table for Broshar, who brought them both home with a one-out double through the left side to get the Jacks within two at 9-7.

The next two Jacks went down in order though, securing the Oakland sweep.

The Jackrabbits and Golden Grizzlies close out the three game series on Saturday at noon ET, 11 a.m. CT.