SDSU SWEEPS IOWA, SPLITS WITH GEORGIA TECH

Sunday, April 12

Iowa City, Iowa

10 a.m.

South Dakota State University

22-24

Georgia Tech

26-22

Team	1	2	3	4	5	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Georgia Tech	2	0	6	1	1	10	13	0
South Dakota State	1	0	0	0	0	1	7	2

A woman in a grey softball uniform holds a bat as she prepares for a pitch

Emma Vike

Photo by: Dave Eggen/Inertia

4/12/2026 3:12:00 PM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

By: Andrew Pedersen

IOWA CITY, Iowa – The South Dakota State softball team split its final two games on Sunday at the Dr. Christine Grant Classic hosted by Iowa. The Jackrabbits fell in five innings – 10-1 – to Georgia Tech before ending their stay at Pearl Field with a 7-4 victory over the Hawkeyes.

Game One
Georgia Tech recorded 13 hits and totaled 10 runs on its way to a run-rule victory.

The Yellow Jackets scored two runs in the first inning and six more in the third to pull away from the Jackrabbits. Alyssa Willer and Paige Vukadinovich had three hits apiece for Georgia Tech, with Willer accounting for four RBIs.

SDSU totaled seven hits in the game. Abby Gentry had a team-high two which included an RBI single in the first inning.

Game Two
South Dakota State bounced back in the doubleheader with a 7-4 win against the host Hawkeyes.

Iowa got out a 1-0 lead in the first before an RBI single by Emma Christensen tied the score in the third. The Jackrabbits got leadoff singles in the fourth from Gentry and Akayla Barnard to set up Amanda Vacanti. The SDSU sophomore belted a three-run home run over the center-field fence to push the Jackrabbits on top, 4-1.

SDSU starting pitcher Tayler Baker had a solid outing, but ran into trouble in the fifth. The Hawkeyes tied the score with three runs on four hits to make it 4-4 heading to the sixth.

The Jackrabbits went ahead for good in the top of the frame. Ella Berlage and Emma Vike registered singles to get two runners on base with no outs. After Christensen was hit by a pitch, SDSU had the bases loaded with two outs. That brought Bria Riebel to the plate who ripped a double off the center field wall. She plated two on her swing to make it 6-4 in favor of the Jacks. A wild pitch eventually scored Christensen as SDSU took a 7-4 edge into the bottom of the seventh.

Pitcher Madi Mangulis came in for the sixth inning and threw a 1-2-3 inning which included a 6-3 double play turned. Mangulis put the Hawkeyes down in order in the seventh to close out a victory for the Jackrabbits.

Baker earned a win for the Jackrabbits in the circle. She allowed four runs on seven hits across five innings of work. Baker walked just one batter as she improved to 4-2 this season. Mangulis was credited with her fourth save of the year.

South Dakota State picked up 10 hits in the win over Iowa. Vike had a team-high three hits followed by Gentry's two. Buske scored a team-high two runs.

NOTES

South Dakota State is now 23-24 overall following Sunday's results.
The Jackrabbits completed a sweep of their games versus the Hawkeyes over the weekend. It's SDSU's first weekend sweep of Iowa since 2018 which also took place in Iowa City.
Gentry had a team-high seven hits over the four-game weekend appearance in Iowa. She hit .636 and was followed by Vike (.500), Berlage (.333) and Riebel (.333). Vacanti had a team-high five RBIs. Baker pitched a team-high 12 innings and recorded a 2.33 ERA in her two showings in the circle.
SDSU is hitting .310 as a team through 47 games. Six Jackrabbits are hitting over .300 in Gentry (.378), Vacanti (.362), Christensen (.358), Riebel (.331), Vike (.321) and Barnard (.317). SDSU's rotation has a 5.00 ERA. Leading the pitching staff in ERA are Barnard (4.22), Mangulis (4.37) and Vacanti (4.85).

UP NEXT
South Dakota State returns to Summit League play next weekend. The Jackrabbits begin a three-game series at Omaha on Friday evening.

-GoJacks.com-