PITCHING KEYS SDSU TO WINS OVER GEORGIA TECH, IOWA

Saturday, April 11

Iowa City, Iowa

11 a.m.

South Dakota State University

21-23

Georgia Tech

24-22

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
South Dakota State	1	0	0	3	0	2	0	6	7	0
Georgia Tech	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	10	2

A woman in a blue softball uniform winds up to throw a pitch on a softball diamond

Amanda Vacanti

4/11/2026 8:54:00 PM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

By: Andrew Pedersen

IOWA CITY, Iowa – South Dakota State softball received stellar performances in the circle en route to a pair of victories over Power Four opponents on Saturday at Iowa's Pearl Field. The Jackrabbits began the day with a 6-0 win against Georgia Tech, then topped host Iowa by a 3-2 score in extra innings.

Game One
A solid outing from sophomore Tayler Baker, along with two home runs, lifted the Jackrabbits to a day-opening 6-0 victory over the Yellow Jackets.

A single by Bria Riebel, along with walks drawn by Akayla Barnard and Abby Gentry, loaded the bases for Amanda Vacanti. She was walked on four pitched to give the Jackrabbits an early 1-0 after the top of the first.

Baker gave up three singles to the Georgia Tech lineup in the first, but came away unscathed in her first inning of work. The SDSU starting pitcher allowed a double in the second, then threw a 1-2-3 third inning to push the game into the fourth.

The Jacks broke the affair open in the top of the frame. Vacanti led the inning off with a solo home run. An Ella Berlage single led to a pitching change for the Yellow Jackets. Emma Vike came up next and blasted a two-run home run as the Jackrabbits jumped ahead 4-0.

South Dakota State took advantage of two errors in the sixth, along with a sacrifice fly off the bat of Emma Christensen, to extend its lead to 6-0.

Baker ran into trouble in the sixth. Georgia Tech recorded three hits to load the bases with one out. The Jackrabbit pitcher got a pop out behind the dish and a strikeout swinging to escape the jam without any damage being done. She'd allow one hit in the seventh before closing out a complete-game shutout.

The complete game was Baker's first this season, while it was her third seven-inning complete game of her college career. The shutout was the first in seven-inning fashion of her career in Yellow and Blue as well.

Baker improved to 3-2 this season as she allowed no runs on 10 hits. She didn't walk a batter while she struck out five Yellow Jackets.

SDSU's lineup produced seven hits and took advantage six walks drawn. Riebel and Vike each had two hits, while Vike and Vacanti had a team-high two RBIs apiece.

Game Two
A game-winning solo home run in the eighth inning eventually lifted the Jackrabbits to a 3-2 win over the host Hawkeyes in Saturday's nightcap.

SDSU got on the board first in the opening frame. Christensen led the game off with a double and she was plated on an RBI single by Gentry to put the Jackrabbits ahead, 1-0.

Vacanti got the nod in the circle for the Jacks and put together a strong appearance. Iowa got a runner on third base in the first, as well as runners on second and third base in the fourth, but in each instance the Jackrabbit sophomore worked herself out of the potential threats.

The Hawkeyes capitalized in the bottom of the fifth. A single and fielding error set Iowa up with another set of runners on second and third base with two outs. Nailyn Marshall delivered with a two-run single to put the home side ahead 2-1.

South Dakota State responded in the next half inning. Riebel hit a one-out double and was driven in on a two-out RBI double via Gentry to tie the score at 2-2.

Vacanti settled in and found a groove. She put the Hawkeyes down in order in each of the sixth and seventh innings to push the game to extras.

Following an out to begin the inning, Riebel came up to the plate for the Jackrabbits and belted a solo home run over the center-field fence. Her solo shot and 10th home run of the season put SDSU on top 3-2 heading to the bottom of the eighth.

Vacanti didn't let up against the Hawkeyes' lineup. She produced another 1-2-3 frame to close her complete-game performance out and provide SDSU its second win over the day.

The SDSU pitcher claimed her third complete game of the season while throwing her second longest outing of her time in Yellow and Blue. Vacanti gave up two runs (none earned) on five hits. She walked three batters while striking out another three. She improved to 3-6 on the year.

Riebel and Gentry had two hits apiece for the Jackrabbits. Vacanti and Ella Berlage also produced base hits along with Christensen's first-inning double.

NOTES

South Dakota State is now 22-23 overall. Georgia Tech (24-23) was ranked 39th in the latest RPI rankings provided by the NCAA, while Iowa (22-19) was among the top 70 teams in the nation heading into the weekend.
The Jackrabbits earned their first win over the Hawkeyes since 2020 and improved to 4-13 against Iowa all-time. SDSU picked up its first victory over a Big Ten foe since 2024.
SDSU is now 1-1 all-time against Georgia Tech. The Jackrabbits previously faced the Yellow Jackets in 2006.
SDSU improved to 2-14 against the current members of the Atlantic Coast Conference. The victory is the first for the Jackrabbits against an active member of the ACC, with SDSU's win over Stanford in the 2021 NCAA tournament coming with the Cardinal a member of the Pac-12 Conference.

UP NEXT
South Dakota State closes out its showing at the Dr. Christine Grant Classic on Sunday. The Jackrabbits are slated to face Georgia Tech (10 a.m.) and Iowa (12:30 p.m.) to complete their non-conference portion of their regular season schedule.

-GoJacks.com-