JACKRABBITS TAKE WIN STREAK TO WESTERN

Friday, April 2

Macomb, Ill.

noon

South Dakota State University

Western Illinois

Photo by: Mark Kuhlmann

4/1/2021 9:08:00 AM | Softball

Games 24-27: South Dakota State (19-4, 4-0 Summit) at Western Illinois (11-15, 2-2)

When	Friday and Saturday, April 2 and 3 Friday doubleheader at noon Saturday doubleheader at 11 a.m.
Where	Mary Ellen McKee Stadium \| Macomb, Illinois
TV	GoLeathernecks.com/watch (Game 1 Friday only)
Radio	None
Live Stats	GoLeathernecks.com
Game Notes	South Dakota State \| Western Illinois \| The Summit League
Social Media	Twitter \| Instagram \| #GRIT

Looking to build off a successful opening weekend of Summit League play, the South Dakota State University softball team travels to Western Illinois for a four-game weekend series.

The series begins Friday with a doubleheader starting at noon at Mary Ellen McKee Stadium on the WIU campus in Macomb, Illinois. The four-game set concludes with another twinbill Saturday, with first pitch slated for 11 a.m.

SDSU enters the weekend atop the league standings at 4-0 after recording a road sweep at Kansas City last weekend. The Jackrabbits have won six games in a row and are 19-4 overall, giving them an NCAA RPI of 37 (as of March 28) to also pace Summit League squads.

The host Leathernecks have compiled an 11-15 overall record thus far in 2021 and are 2-2 in league play after splitting a four-game home series versus North Dakota State last weekend.

THE SERIES: Friday's opener will mark the 38th meeting between South Dakota State and Western Illinois on the softball diamond. The Fighting Leathernecks lead the all-time series, which dates back to 2008, by a 25-12 count.

The two squads last played in 2019, with Western Illinois winning two of three games in a series split between Sioux Falls and Brookings. The Leathernecks won the April 7 opener, 7-2, in Sioux Falls, and the two squads split an April 8 twinbill at Jackrabbit Softball Stadium. SDSU took the opener of the doubleheader, 7-2, behind a two-home run performance by Ali Herdliska, while Western scored a 5-3 victory in Game 2 to take the series.

Kendra Conard struck out nine in a complete-game effort for the Jackrabbits in their lone victory.

SHORT HOPS: Following are some quick notes regarding the South Dakota State softball team so far this season:

The Jackrabbits have hit 24 home runs as a team in 23 games, including a streak of six consecutive games with a homer from March 5-9;
SDSU has yet to lose back-to-back games this season;
Kansas City scored runs in seven separate innings during the four-game series March 27-28, but the Jackrabbits answered with at least one run of their own in the next half-inning five times;
Allison Beaudry and Tori Tollefson became the ninth and 10th SDSU players, respectively, to hit a home run this season, joining the home run club last weekend in the series at Kansas City;
Cylie Halvorson leads the team with eight home runs and hit a homer in each of the Jackrabbits three games against Kansas March 10-11;
Halvorson has two separate three-game home run streaks this season;
With an average of 6.39 runs scored per game, the Jackrabbits rank 29th among Division I squads;
SDSU is 4-0 in one-run games this season, winning the first three of those games in its last at-bat;
The Jackrabbits put together a streak of nine consecutive errorless games from March 6-12 and rank 18th nationally with a .979 team fielding percentage;
SDSU has outscored the opposition by a combined 84-25 in the first three innings of games this season, including 12-4 in last weekend's four-game set at Kansas City;
The Jackrabbits are 16-0 this season when leading after four innings.

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: Several Jackrabbit players have earned Summit League Player/ Pitcher of the Week honors so far during the 2021 season.

Outfielder Emma Osmundson was the most recent as she was named Summit League Player of the Week on March 15 after helping lead the Jackrabbit softball team to another successful week.

A freshman from Sioux Falls, Osmundson batted .545 (12-for-22) with three runs batted in, eight runs scored and a .727 slugging percentage over seven games. She posted four multi-hit games, including a trio of three-hit efforts, and also tallied two doubles and a triple, and stole three bases.

In her final three-hit performance, Osmundson drove in the game-winning run with a double in the top of the seventh inning against Northern Iowa on March 12 as the Jackrabbits prevailed, 2-1. SDSU finished the week with a 4-3 record, winning two of three games at Kansas, while splitting two-game sets against Wichita State and UNI.

For the season, Osmundson ranks 22nd among NCAA Division I players with a .481 batting average.

Osmundson was the second Jackrabbit in as many weeks to earn the award, joining fellow freshman Rozelyn Carrillo. SDSU also has had two Summit League Pitchers of the Week so far in 2021 with Tori Kniesche (Feb. 15) and Grace Glanzer (March 8) receiving the honor.

PRESEASON POLL: South Dakota State has been picked to finish second in the upcoming Summit League softball race, according to a preseason poll conducted among the league's seven head coaches that was announced in mid-February.

North Dakota State, which has won the last six Summit League championships, claimed the top spot with six first-place votes and 36 points. The Jackrabbits claimed the other first-place vote to finish second with 31 points. South Dakota was third with 25 points, followed by Omaha with 19 points.

Rounding out the preseason poll were Kansas City (16), North Dakota (12) and Western Illinois (8).

The Jackrabbits compiled a 15-8 record in an abbreviated 2020 season that was canceled before the start of league play and return a solid nucleus led by Summit League Players to Watch Grace Glanzer and Cylie Halvorson.

A native of Sioux Falls, Glanzer burst onto the scene as a freshman in 2020, leading the league with 74 strikeouts and a 12-2 record. She finished with a 1.73 earned run average and held opponents to a .215 batting average.

Halvorson, also a Sioux Falls native, paced the Summit League with seven doubles while hitting .406 with 19 runs batted in in 22 games. She notched eight multi-hit games and recorded a .641 slugging percentage in 2020.

Summit League play for the Jackrabbits begins March 27 at Kansas City, with the four-team Summit League Softball Championship scheduled for May 12-15 in Fargo, North Dakota.

Teams will now play four-game series in league play, consisting of back-to-back doubleheaders. Game times are set for noon and 2 p.m. for Jackrabbit home contests.

NO-HITTER HISTORY: Grace Glanzer's no-hitter against Oregon State on March 5 in Greeley, Colorado, marked the second year in a row a Jackrabbit pitcher accomplished the feat.

Morgan DeMarais hurled a no-hitter March 8, 2020, against Merrimack, in a game played in Madeira Beach, Florida. DeMarais struck out seven and did not walk a batter, missing out on a perfect game due to two hit batters and a Jackrabbit error.

Glanzer's no-hitter is the sixth on record in program history; the others:

Jessica Jones, April 24, 1990, versus Nebraska-Omaha (W, 1-0);
Melissa Alleven, March 29, 2002, versus Northern State (W, 17-1; 5 inn.);
Meggan Staton, March 3, 2003, vs. Rollins (W, 1-0; 8 inn.);
Meggan Staton, March 6, 2003, vs. Lynn (W, 5-0);
Morgan DeMarais, March 8, 2020, vs. Merrimack (W, 12-0).

A returning freshman from Sioux Falls, Glanzer nearly duplicated her feat March 19 against Northern Colorado, taking a no-hit bid into the fifth — and final — inning. She allowed a one-out infield single in the fifth and ended with a one-hit shutout as the Jackrabbits posted an 11-0 victory.

Glanzer has posted a complete game in 10 of her 11 starts this season with three shutouts.

KNIESCHE OFF TO QUICK START: South Dakota State freshman Tori Kniesche was honored as Summit League Pitcher of the Week Feb. 15 following an impressive opening weekend on the softball diamond.

A right-hander from Wayne, Nebraska, Kniesche posted a 2-0 record with a 1.00 earned run average and 23 strikeouts in a pair of seven-inning complete-game efforts for the Jackrabbits at the Doc Halverson UNI-Dome Classic in Cedar Falls, Iowa.

In her collegiate debut against Drake on Feb. 12, Kniesche struck out 12 and walked four, allowing one run on three hits. The next day, Kniesche fanned 11 Northern Iowa hitters, once again giving up only one run and three hits.

For the season, Kniesche is 9-1 with a 1.94 ERA and 66 strikeouts in 54 innings.

DAUGHERTY SETS THE TABLE: Jackrabbit outfielder Peyton Daugherty has paced the SDSU offense throughout the season and reached a pair of milestones during the four-game sweep of Kansas City March 27-28.

A junior from Ankeny, Iowa, Daugherty played in her 100th career game in the first game of the March 28 doubleheader and also recorded her 100th career hit in the same contest. She also has moved into seventh place in career stolen bases at SDSU with 38 after tallying four steals in the weekend series.

For her career, Daugherty is 38-of-40 in stolen-base attempts, including a team-best 12-for-13 in that department so far this season.

Daugherty currently leads the team with 32 hits and 24 runs scored. She has notched a team-best 11 multi-hit games and ranks second on the squad with a .376 batting average.

GOOD THINGS HAPPEN IN THREES: South Dakota State accomplished a rare feat in the sixth inning of its Feb. 12 season opener against Iowa State — hitting three triples in the same inning. Jocelyn Carrillo started the parade of three-baggers with a leadoff triple and pinch-hitter Emma Osmundson followed two batters later with a triple in her first collegiate at-bat. Peyton Daugherty then stepped to the plate and made it three triples in four at-bats in the inning, lining one to the right-center gap to plate Osmundson with what was then the tying run.

Osmundson has taken over the team lead with four triples to ranked eighth nationally in that category.

As a team, the Jackrabbits have combined for 13 triples so far this year and rank second among Division I programs with an average of .57 triples per game.

SISTER ACT: Sisters and Palmdale, California, natives Rozelyn and Jocelyn Carrillo have both put up impressive numbers so far this season to solidify spots in the Jackrabbit starting lineup.

Jocelyn, the team's starting center fielder, is batting .339 and has driven in 11 runs. Six of her 19 hits so far this season have gone for extra bases, including the go-ahead home run in the top of the 10th inning of the Jackrabbits' 15-11 victory at Kansas on March 10.

Rozelyn ranks second on the squad with four home runs and is hitting at a .297 clip, while ranking second on the team with 17 runs batted in. She also has performed well at the shortstop position, committing only two errors in 71 total chances.

BEAUDRY GIVES A BOOST: Senior Allison Beaudry has maximized her production in limited opportunities the last two weekends.

Beaudry entered the March 19-20 series against Northern Colorado hitless in five at-bats all season, but recorded hits in three of her four at-bats over the two games, collecting three runs batted in and scoring four times. She tripled in each of the games.

Last weekend against Kansas City, Beaudry homered in both games of the March 27 doubleheader, upping her season slugging percentage to 1.071.

Beaudry batted .273 with a home run, five doubles and eight RBIs during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.

COACH WOOD: Krista Wood begins her seventh season as head coach at South Dakota State in 2021.

Already the program's winningest coach with a 173-147 record after being hired to lead the program in August of 2014, Wood boasts a 443-301 overall career record after eight successful seasons at Wayne State College.

She has coached five NFCA All-Midwest Region selections (the first four in SDSU's Division I era) and 18 All-Summit League selections in her time at SDSU, including the 2016 Summit League Freshman of the Year (Ali Herdliska) and 2018 Player of the Year (Brittney Morse). Herdliska is the only Jackrabbit to earn All-Summit League honors four times in her career, and twice picked up an NFCA All-Midwest Region nod.

The Jackrabbits have won 20 or more games four times under coach Wood, and prior to the cancellation of the 2020 Summit League Championships had reached the league's year-end tournament in each of her first five seasons, including a championship series run in 2018.

SDSU won 37 games in back-to-back 2018 and 2019 seasons, earning berths in the National Invitational Softball Championship both seasons. Wood was named the Summit League's Coach of the Year in 2018 while guiding her team to a program-record .673 winning percentage, breaking the 35-win mark for the second time in history.

Her 2020 squad won 15 games and posted a Summit League-best.652 winning percentage before COVID-19 precautions ended the NCAA's Division I softball season nationwide.

Wood put together a 270-154 mark at Wayne State, turning the Wildcat program into a winner after inheriting a 10-win squad when she was hired before the 2007 season. She brought WSC to three consecutive NCAA Division II National Tournaments between 2009-11, including a 2010 NCAA Central Region crown. The Wildcats won a school-record 43 games during that season and claimed the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference tournament title.

Wood coached internationally during the summer of 2009, leading a United States team (sponsored by USA Athletes International) at the Oldenzaal Invitational in Holland.

A native of Missouri Valley, Iowa, Wood spent two seasons as an assistant coach at St. Cloud State University after a stellar playing career at Nebraska-Omaha from 1999-2003. She helped the Mavericks to the NCAA Division II national championship in 2001 as a sophomore and finished her career as the all-time winningest pitcher in Maverick softball history with 106 wins and 530 career strikeouts.

Wood was named to Omaha's athletic hall of fame in 2020.

In the 2001 national championship game, Wood tossed a two-hit shutout with five strikeouts in a 4-0 win over Lewis University. She also ranks second in career shutouts at UNO with 43, and earned numerous honors as a player at UNO, earning First Team All-NCC honors three times, while also collecting three All-NCC Academic Team awards. She earned NFCA All- Region First Team honors in 2002 and a Second Team All-Region selection in 2001. Wood also earned North Central Conference Freshman of the Year in 2000.

Wood also coached at the high school level, serving as the pitching coach at Omaha Gross High School in the fall of 2003 and at state-qualifying Omaha Westside High School in 2004.

Wood earned a Bachelor of Science degree in physical education K-12 with an endorsement in coaching from the University of Nebraska-Omaha in 2004 and received a master's degree in sport management in 2006 from St. Cloud State University.

THE ROSTER: The 2021 SDSU softball roster features 24 players from six different states and one foreign country. Of the 24 players, eight are from South Dakota, four hail from Iowa and California and three are Nebraska natives. Two players call Minnesota and Missouri home. The international player hails from Italy.

By class, three are seniors, six are juniors, five are sophomores and 10 are freshmen.

A LOOK AHEAD: Instead of playing a doubleheader Tuesday (April 6) at Creighton, the two teams are now slated to play a single game Wednesday (April 7), starting at 3 p.m.

The Jackrabbits will then return to Brookings to open the home schedule with a four-game series against Omaha April 9-10 at Jackrabbit Softball Stadium.

-GoJacks.com-