UND Softball Loses Early Lead to South Dakota in Eventual Loss
USD Beat UND 7-4
VERMILLION, S.D. – (UND Athletics) South Dakota plated a trio of runs in the top half of the seventh inning to break at 4-4 tie and push the league-leading Coyotes to a 7-4 victory over North Dakota on Sunday morning in Vermillion, S.D.
UND, serving as the home team for the entire series, built a 4-2 lead after three innings of play, but saw the Coyotes rally with five consecutive runs over the final three frames to complete the weekend sweep and drop the Fighting Hawks to 4-5 in Summit League play.
While the Fighting Hawks were held to only four hits, the green and white needed only a pair of swings to plate all four runs on the day as Lexi Mayhood and Marina Marzolino each belted home runs to pace the offensive attack. Ashlynn Uvila finished with a hit and a pair of walks to reach base in all three plate appearances while Angel Love slashed a double for the third extra base hit in the contest for UND.
Emily Rosas earned the start in the circle for the Fighting Hawks and was strong in her outing, firing five innings of eight-hit, four-run ball while striking out a pair and not allowing a walk. Jannay Jones entered in relief and allowed three runs (one earned) in her two innings of work to be saddled with her 11th loss of the season.
Much like the finale of yesterday’s contest, South Dakota struck in the top of the first inning as the Coyotes built a 2-0 lead with a pair of runs, but Rosas was able to keep the deficit at just a pair by stranding the bases loaded with a strikeout and fly out.
Trailing by two entering the bottom of the second, UND struck back in a big way to take the lead. After Love led off the inning with a double, Uvila moved her to third with a two-out single to place runners on the corner for Mayhood. There, Mayhood launched a 1-0 pitch over the fence in left field to bring home everyone and give the Hawks a 3-2 lead.
Following a strong shutdown inning by Rosas, Marzolino doubled the advantage for the green and white with a solo shot to right center, again with two outs, to stretch the lead to 4-2 heading to the fourth inning.
UND maintained its lead until the fifth inning when the Coyotes tied the contest at four, but the Hawks did a strong job of limiting the damage to just a pair of runs; however, South Dakota exploded for a trio of runs in the top of the seventh to complete the rally for a 7-4 victory.
North Dakota returns home next weekend for a three-game series vs. Western Illinois beginning on Friday night at 7 p.m. from the Alerus Center.
