Softball earns tournament bid with split

Saturday, May 8

Jackrabbit SB Stadium

2 p.m.

South Dakota State University

North Dakota State

5/8/2010 9:00:00 PM | Softball

By: SDSU Sports Info

The South Dakota State softball team earned a berth in next week's Summit League Tournament in Fargo, N.D., by splitting a doubleheader with North Dakota State on Saturday at Jackrabbit Softball Stadium. The Bison won the opener 6-2, but the Jackrabbits bounced back to win the nightcap 6-3, thus edging UMKC in the standings for the fourth and final spot in the tournament.

The Jackrabbits end the regular season with a 19-30 overall record, 11-9 in The Summit League. The defending league champion Bison, who enter the tournament at the No. 3 seed, finish the regular season with a 30-23 overall record, 14-8 in league play.

The Jackrabbits jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the opener with a sacrifice fly from Kelsey Lunn and a two RBI double by Krista Honken, but the Bison scored four runs in the third and added two more in the seventh to take the 6-3 win.

The Jacks started the second game just like the first, with three runs in the bottom of the first, but this time those runs held up, as SDSU starter Kori Seidlitz allowed just one earned run on six hits in a complete game win.

Marlee Petersen came up with the hit of the game in the fifth with the bases loaded, two out and the Jacks clinging to a 3-2 lead, when she smacked a double to the gap in right center that scored three runs and gave the Jacks a 6-3 lead.

Honken led the Jacks on the day with a 4-for-5 effort at the plate, with two doubles and three RBI. Lunn, who along with Dani Broshar played her final game at home, went 3-for-6 on the day with two RBI, while Petersen went 2-for-4 with a double and three RBI.

The Jackrabbits meet the regular season champion Western Illinois Fighting Leathernecks in the first round of The Summit League Tournament on Friday at 10 a.m. at the Ellig Sports Complex in Fargo.

The Jacks and Leathernecks did not meet during the regular season, as snow in Macomb, Ill, forced the cancellation of the March 20-21 series.

NDSU and No. 2 see IPFW meet on Friday at 12:30 p.m. The losers of Game 1 and Game 2 meet at 3 p.m., while the winners play at 5:30 p.m.

CLICK HERE for information on the 2010 Summit League Softball Championship