Coyote softball opens season in Iowa
USD Softball picked up a pair of wins in its five-game tournament at Northern Iowa over the weekend.
The Coyotes (2-3) won their opening game in UNI’s Doc Halverson Tournament over Northern Iowa 5-3 Friday afternoon. USD dropped its second game of the day against Drake 4-0.
The Coyotes went 1-1 on Saturday, picking up a 9-8 10-inning victory over Murray State, and a 7-4 loss to DePaul. USD concluded the weekend facing Northern Iowa a second time, losing 9-4.
Coyotes 5, Panthers 3
Freshman Jordyn Pender knocked in two baserunners off three hits to lead Coyotes offense to the 5-3 victory.
UNI jumped on the board early by scoring a run in the bottom of the first inning. Pender tied the game at one in the fourth inning by hitting an RBI triple off the wall. Sydney Perryman pinch ran for Pender and scored two at-bats later on a groundball to give USD a 2-1 advantage.
Pender extended the lead to two with a single in the sixth. The Coyotes tacked on two more runs and Holly Fletcher tallied two strikeouts in her inning to seal the win.
Bulldogs 4, Coyotes 0
Drake jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning and didn’t look back as they topped the Coyotes 4-0.
The Bulldogs’ Nicole Timmons pitched a complete-game one-hitter. Timmons racked up 14 strikeouts to two walks. USD’s leadoff hitter Camille Fowler picked up the Coyotes’ only hit. Fletcher started the game for the Coyotes, pitching four innings, giving up three runs. Gill Woodward pitched two and two-thirds innings and Sarah Lisko recorded the final out for the Coyotes.
Macy Johnson drove in a run and scored two for the Bulldogs.
Coyotes 9, Racers 8
The Coyotes’ Dylan Underwood singled home a run in the tenth inning to knock off the Racers 9-8 in ten innings Saturday.
USD got on the board first with a solo home run by Aleesia Sainz in the second inning. Murray State scored three runs in the bottom of the fourth to take a 3-1 advantage. Pender doubled and Perryman scored an unearned run in the fifth to tie the game at three.
The two squads remained tied after seven innings, forcing extra innings. In the eighth inning, USD scored five runs and held an 8-3 advantage going into the bottom of the frame. Murray State kept the game with five runs of their own, including a three-run homer by Sierra Gilmore.
Underwood’s single broke the 8-8 tie in the tenth inning and Murray State was unable to answer in the bottom of the tenth to give USD the victory.
Blue Demons 7, Coyotes 4
DePaul scored four runs in the first inning run past the Coyotes 7-4 Saturday morning. The game started right after the ten inning marathon against Murray State.
Fletcher recorded one out, giving up four runs on four hits. The Coyote pitching staff walked six batters to one strikeout. Sainz continued her strong morning by hitting a two-RBI triple in the fourth inning to bring USD three runs. Lauren Wobken singled and DePaul’s lead was down to two runs (6-4).
The Blue Devils added an insurance run in the fifth and won 7-4. DePaul made the NCAA Tournament in 2019.
Panthers 9, Coyotes 4
In a rematch of Friday’s 5-3 Coyote victory over Northern Iowa, the Panthers scored in every inning to run past USD 9-4.
USD scored two unearned runs in the top of the first inning, but UNI answered with a pair of their own. The Coyotes scored again in the fifth and seventh innings, with Fowler scoring three of the four Coyote runs.
Coyote softball will hit the road again this weekend, playing six games in the Madeira Beach Invitational I Feb. 14-16 in Madeira Beach, Florida. The Madeira Beach Invitational II takes place the following weekend and the Coyotes will return to Madeira Beach for Feb. 21-23
