Softball takes on Trojans in Sioux Falls

Tuesday, April 24

Sioux Falls, S.D. (Bowden Field)

11 a.m.

South Dakota State University

Dakota State

Photo by: Laura Mullen

4/23/2018 9:34:00 AM | Softball

GAMES 40-41: South Dakota State (27-12) vs Dakota State (18-23)

When	Tuesday, April 24 \| 11 a.m. & 1 p.m.
Where	Bowden Field (Augustana University) \| Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Live Stats	Game 1 (11 a.m.) \| Game 2 (1 p.m.)
Game Notes	South Dakota State
Social Media	Twitter \| Facebook \| #GRIT

Gameday Outlook
South Dakota State softball has announced more changes to its schedule as wet field conditions continue to plague Jackrabbit Softball Stadium after a snowy month of April.

The Jackrabbits and Dakota State will now meet in Sioux Falls, South Dakota at Bowden Field on Augustana University's campus, with first pitch set for 11 a.m. Admission is free for both games.

The Jacks (27-12) are off to their best start at the Division I level and have won seven of its last 10 games.

The Trojans (18-23) are coming off a 5-4 loss at Dickinson State, and are 4-6 in their last 10 games.

SDSU is 9-0 all-time against Dakota State, last playing a doubleheader in 2015 when the Jacks won a pair of run-rule contests.

About the Jacks
South Dakota State has already locked in its best non-conference record at the Division I level and sits second in Summit League play through a month of league action. The Jackrabbits are hitting .315 combined (22nd in Division I) with 64 doubles, nine triples and 31 home runs. SDSU has scored 250 runs in 39 games with 226 runs batted in. The Jacks are 10th nationally with 1.69 doubles per game and 16th in scoring (6.22 runs per contest).

In the circle, SDSU has put together a 3.97 team ERA with 143 strikeouts, allowing 144 earned runs in 253.2 innings pitched.

Individually, Abbey Murphy is hitting .414 to lead the Jacks and has four triples, 11 doubles and 26 RBIs while drawing 18 walks. She and Brittney Morse (.407) are second in team doubles behind Julia Andersen's 12 two-baggers. Morse, who is seventh in the NCAA with 1.28 RBIs per game, has a team-high 49 runs batted in and is even with Ali Herdliska (.319 average) for the team lead with seven home runs. Andersen leads SDSU with 56 hits on the year and has two triples and two home runs to go with 13 walks and 27 RBIs in addition to her doubles count. Herdliska has 23 walks and 32 RBIs, while Megan Rushing has raised her batting average to .300 over the past weekend and now has 24 hits, 18 RBIs, five doubles, two triples and three home runs over 34 games this year.

Madison Hope (3.53 ERA) is second in The Summit League with 16 wins (five losses) on the year and has tallied four saves. She broke the school's career saves record last week and now has six in a Jackrabbit uniform. Hope has tossed 11 complete games in 30 appearances and leads the team in strikeouts (84) and innings pitched (136.2) while being named The Summit League's Pitcher of the Week twice this season. Taylor Compton (7-6) has a 5.06 ERA in 22 appearances, tossing 72 innings with 34 strikeouts. Olivia Douglas (5.25 ERA) picked up her first collegiate win in March at UMKC in a complete game performance and now has 10 strikeouts over 16 innings pitched. Kendra Conard (2.66 ERA) has made 13 appearances and boasts a 3-0 record over 29 innings pitched, striking out 15.

Jackrabbits' Last Time Out
The Jackrabbit softball program swept Fort Wayne in a three-game road series last weekend, improving to 8-3 in Summit League play. SDSU won 10-3 and 5-4 in Saturday's doubleheader before closing the weekend with a dominant 11-2 run-rule victory Sunday.

South Dakota State hit .391 as a team with six players at or above the .400 mark. Megan Rushing (.600) and Julia Andersen (.462) each had six hits and Brittney Morse (.417) racked up five hits. Rushing scored four runs on the week, Andersen drove in four runs and had a double with three runs scored while Morse drove in three. Baily Janssen (3-for-6) worked two walks, Yanney Ponce (.429) had a double and a run driven in and Ali Herdliska, who hit .400, led the way with five RBIs. Lyndsey Crist showed patience at the plate all weekend, working five walks and hit a home run to close an 12-pitch at-bat in Sunday's finale.

As a pitching staff the Jacks had a 3.32 ERA with six strikeouts. Madison Hope went 2-0 with a save over 14 innings pitched, tossing two complete games while allowing five runs with five strikeouts. Kendra Conard had the other win and threw 1.2 innings with a strikeout, while Taylor Compton pitched 3.1 innings in relief and had a 4.20 ERA for the week.

Opponent Outlook
Dakota State is hitting .312 as a team with 84 doubles, six triples and 29 home runs. The Trojans have scored 211 total runs with 200 RBIs. In the circle, DSU has a 5.78 team ERA with 138 strikeouts in 268.2 innings, allowing 253 runs (222 earned).

Xitali Lopez has started all 41 games and leads the team with a .429 average, racking up 18 doubles and three home runs with 36 RBIs. Nicole Stewart (35 games) is 50-for-121 (.413) at the plate and has 15 doubles, six home runs and 33 RBIs. Peyton Brokiewicz leads the team in power numbers, hitting .368 with 10 home runs and 37 RBIs, adding 15 doubles. Jasmin Lucero has driven in 27 runs for the season and is hitting .294 with 10 doubles.

Lopez has appeared in 17 games in the circle and leads the team with a 3.41 ERA, going 8-6 on the season. She has tossed 88.1 innings and struck out 46. Stefani Gollin (5.18 ERA) is 4-4 on the season in 77 innings with 48 strikeouts, and Kelly Drake is 4-8 with a 6.93 ERA over 69.2 innings.

Jackrabbits Rake in Weekly Honors
Three Jackrabbits have combined for four Summit League Player or Pitcher of the Week honors from the league this season.

Brittney Morse was named the Player of the Week April 9. She led the Jackrabbits with a .600 average and .900 slugging percentage, helping SDSU claim its series over rival South Dakota. Morse reached safely in all three games, including two multi-hit and multi-RBI performances. She finished the week with eight runs batted in while hitting her sixth home run of the season.
Madison Hope was named the Pitcher of the Week March 26 after posting a 2-0 record with a save in three appearances. She started the week with a complete-game win at Iowa Wednesday, striking out five while allowing just one unearned run. She helped the Jacks secure their first sweep of a power five opponent at the Division I level in the doubleheader's finale, pitching the final two innings of a 5-2 win for her second save of the season in shutout fashion. Hope concluded the week with another complete-game victory, tossing all seven innings of a 6-4 win at UMKC on Friday.
Hope earned Pitcher of the Week honors March 12 after going 5-0 over seven appearances, leading the team with a 1.94 ERA and 36 innings pitched. The senior tallied 21 strikeouts on the week and pitched four complete games, earning a save in the weekend finale against Delaware State. Hope had three games with four or more strikeouts, including six against Quinnipiac Sunday. She did not allow a run against QU or Central Michigan in a pair of Jackrabbit wins.
Baily Janssen was honored as the Summit League's Softball Player of the Week, released Feb. 26. Janssen hit .500 and slugged 1.000 with a .500 on-base percentage over two starts. The Missouri Valley, Iowa went 3-for-6 at the plate with three RBIs, two walks and an inside-the-park home run.

Miss Consistent
Abbey Murphy, Julia Andersen and Brittney Morse own three of the top four spots in SDSU's Division I history for consecutive games of reaching base safely. Murphy did it in 38 straight games between the 2017 and 2018 seasons, while Andersen is in the midst of a 21-game streak and Morse has reached safely in the last 17 games.

Saving The Day
Madison Hope picked up her sixth career save April 21 at Fort Wayne, breaking the school's career saves mark previously held by Kim Westendorf (2005-07). Hope has four saves this season (also a school record).

Quick Hits

SDSU is off to its best start in program history with a 27-12 mark through 39 contests. The previous best start came in the 1996 and 1997 seasons, when the team was 26-13 at the same time. The Jacks improved to 28-13 through 41 games in 1996 and 17-14 at the same point in the 1997 season. The best season record in Jackrabbit history was 1996 when the team went 43-22 with a trip to the NCAA Tournament.
South Dakota State has put up four or more runs in an inning 22 times this year, last doing it April 22 when the Jacks had five runs in the third against Fort Wayne (after scoring four in the second).
The Jacks have scored five or more in an inning 11 times this season and have put together a double-digit run inning twice.
Abbey Murphy became the first Jackrabbit to drive in five runs in a game since Ali Herdliska did it last Feb. 26 against Alabama A&M when Murphy went for five against Austin Peay Feb. 25. Brittney Morse matched her total April 7 against South Dakota when she was 3-for-4 with a three-run home run and a two-RBI single.
SDSU's 19-12 win over Green Bay on Feb. 11 was the first time the Jacks had surpassed the 15-run mark since April 30, 2016 in a 16-2 win over Fort Wayne. The Jacks matched the 15-run total on March 11 against Delaware State.
The Jackrabbits racked up 18 hits against Delaware State, one shy of the school's record. The Jacks have tied or surpassed the 15-hit mark four times this season already and have 10 or more hits in 15 games.
Abbey Murphy has been hit by 17 pitches in her career and is alone in second place at SDSU. She trails only Jessica Markanich (2012-15), who was hit 20 times. Mallory McQuistan (13) is tied for third, Ali Herdliska (12) is fifth and Lyndsey Crist (11th) ranks sixth on the list.
Julia Andersen (3/30 at Omaha, 4/21 at Fort Wayne) and Brittney Morse (3/24 at UMKC) have tallied four-hit games for the Jackrabbits this season. Andersen also scored four runs at Omaha (3/30) when she had two home runs. That scoring total was matched by Abbey Murphy on April 21 at Fort Wayne.
The Jackrabbits are now 25-24 all-time in season openers and 6-9 at the Division I level (since 2004). State's win over UMKC was its first opening day win since 2015

Herdliska Chasing Records
In her third season as a Jackrabbit, Ali Herdliska has already moved into the top 10 of several offensive record lists. She is also fourth in defensive chances and putouts, less than 500 from each defensive record. Those lists can be found in the game notes.

Jacks Picked Fourth in Summit League Poll
South Dakota State was picked fourth in the 2018 Summit League Preseason Coaches Poll, released early February by the league office. The Jacks earned the No. 6 seed in the 2017 Summit League Championships and carry an experienced lineup into the 2018 season.

State has with 13 returners on the roster, including eight position starters and a starting pitcher. The Jacks will blend 14 upperclassman (five seniors, nine juniors) with a promising group of underclassman.

SDSU received 14 votes in the poll, three behind South Dakota, who had 17 points and one first-place vote. Atop the poll, reigning league champion North Dakota State is first with five first-place votes and 25 points, while Western Illinois garnered 20 tallies for second.

Herdliska Named a Player to Watch
For the second consecutive season, Ali Herdliska was named a Player to Watch for The Summit League, announced preseason alongside the coaches poll.

Herdliska, an All-Summit League performer from 2017, is back for her junior campaign after leading the Jackrabbits with a .338 average last year, starting all 54 games. The infielder racked up 18 doubles, six home runs and 36 RBIs while drawing 18 walks on the season.

Smarty Jacks
South Dakota State was one of 149 Division I softball programs to earn a spot on the 2017 Easton / National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) All-Academic Teams award list. The rankings recognize the academic prowess of softball teams across seven membership divisions within the NFCA.

The Jackrabbits had a 2016-17 team grade point average of 3.016 with 11 team members boasting GPAs above the 3.00 mark.

For the 2017 fall semester, State posted a 3.47 combined GPA with 18 of 20 student-athletes logging a plus-3.0 grade point average.

Nine Sign NLIs with Jackrabbit Softball
South Dakota State softball coach Krista Wood announced nine additions to the Jackrabbit softball program as part of this week's National Signing Day activities.

Olivia Douglas, part of the group, enrolled early and has joined SDSU for the upcoming season, while the other eight newcomers will come to campus fall 2018. Those signees are Caelyn Christiancy (Lincoln, Nebraska), Peyton Daugherty (Ankeny, Iowa), Morgan DeMarais (Buffalo, Minnesota), Emma Hardin (Brookings, South Dakota), Jadelyn Johnson (Battle Ground, Indiana), Kelsey Lenox (Chesterfield, Missouri), Olivia Pfeifer (Hannibal, Missouri) and Allison Yoder (Urbandale, Iowa).

-GoJacks.com-