USD softball, men’s golf team in action on the road this week
Softball
After closing their spring break tournament on a five-game win streak, the University of South Dakota women’s softball team is now on a 10-game losing streak.
The Coyotes traveled to Texas last week to compete in the Great West
Conference Games. There, the team played North Dakota, Utah Valley and Houston Baptist, all in double-headers.
Friday, the Coyotes faced rival UND in their first GWC matches of the year. It was a close game, but USD fell 4-3 to the Sioux.
Junior center fielder Stephanie Hall earned two hits and scored two runs out of her three at-bats. Senior pitcher Mel Johnson pitched the entire game and allowed only six hits. The Coyotes earned 10 hits off UND pitching.
The Coyotes fell hard again in the second game, losing 3-2 to the Sioux. Hall and junior first-baseman Alexa Rudeen each scored a run for USD. Sophomore pitcher Erica Denney allowed only five hits while the Coyotes earned six.
Saturday, the team faced Utah Valley in their second double-header of the
weekend. USD’s offense was stifled by the Wolverines, as they fell 4-0 in the opening game.
Junior Bre Zmolek was the only Coyote to earn a hit. Sophomore pitcher Missy Blackburn gave up nine hits in the loss. The Coyotes fought back in the second game, but came up short once again, losing 2-1 to UVU.
Rudeen had one hit that allowed Hall to score the lone run for USD. Freshman pitcher Paige Policky allowed seven hits and two runs in seven innings.
On the final day of the games, USD faced HBU. The Coyotes were held scoreless once again as the Huskies dominated 10-0 in the first matchup.
Freshman Lindsey Boyd and sophomore Kassie Loe each earned a hit but were unable to score. Denney gave up six hits and four runs through the first two innings, while Policky went on to allow four hits and six runs to close the game.
In the final game, the Coyotes showed signs of life, but the Huskies were too much to handle as USD fell 7-3.
Johnson earned two hits and scored two runs while Rudeen followed with one of each. Blackburn pitched all seven innings, allowing nine hits and seven runs.
The Coyotes continue their season by hosting Jamestown today at 3 p.m.
Men’s Golf
The University of South Dakota men’s golf team traveled to Macomb, Ill. during the weekend to participate in the Beu/Mussato Invitational. At the event, composed of 16 teams and 89 golfers, USD competed against teams such as South Dakota State University, North Dakota State, Western Illinois and Wisconsin-Green Bay.
After the first day of play Monday, USD was tied for 11th place and senior Kyle Scanlon led the team, shooting a 75 in the first round, tieing for 14th in individual results. The Coyotes were just 10-shots out of eighth place with a score of 319. Freshman Nolan Schmidt followed Scanlon with a 78 and tied for 32nd. The first round was suspended early because of darkness and finished Tuesday morning.
Following the completion of the first round Tuesday, the teams continued on to the second round. Because of weather conditions, the second round was deemed the final round, as well.
The Coyotes came out strong in the second round and were able to move up two positions in the standings, finishing in ninth overall. Scanlon cut two strokes from his first round, shooting a 73 and ending the tournament tied for ninth with 148. Schmidt shot a 79 in the second round to finish with 157 and sophomore Ty Munneke improved 10-strokes in the second round to finish at 160.
Western Illinois took first, followed by SDSU in second. Wisconsin-Green Bay finished in third and North Dakota State earned a fourth place finish.
The team travels to Hollister, Mo. Monday to compete in the Branson Creek Invitational.
