Coyote Softball Picks Up First Win of the Season
On Friday, February 16, the USD softball team competed at the Panther Invitational held in Atlanta, Georgia. The Coyotes played a total of five games for the weekend.
Friday at 12:30 p.m, USD faced Butler for the first game. The Coyotes started the weekend off great by winning 7-1.
Freshman pitcher McKenna Young made her first collegiate start in the circle. She allowed one earned run on four hits and struck out five people.
The Coyotes scored all of their seven runs in the first three innings, while only allowing Butler to score one in the fourth inning.
Senior outfielder Gabby Moser had a two-run double in the first, and sophomore inflielder Delaney White had a sacrifice fly in the second. Freshman outfielder Autumn Iversen recorded an RBI double in the third, along with a RBI groundout from senior outfielder Alecea Mendoza.
Iversen contributed two doubles to the game. Junior infielders Riley Jones and Tatum Villotta each recorded a single.
Later that evening, USD took on Georgia State for the second game of the Invitational. The Coyotes were victorious once again with a 4-0 win.
Junior pitcher Clara Edwards started on the mound and recorded her 13th career shutout while walking three and striking out five.
White drove in a two-run homer and scored Villota, who had previously singled. Sophomore outfielder Maddox Boston brought in the third run of the game off a solo homerun in the third inning.
Senior infielder Alivia Conte scored the final run of the game off of a fly ball from freshman infielder Alexis Lusk, which was dropped in right field in the sixth inning.
The Coyotes faced Butler for a second time on Saturday morning at 10, where they claimed their third victory of the weekend.
Edwards took the circle for the game and threw her 14th shoutout of her career, second for the weekend. She held Butler to six hits and struck out two people as the Coyotes won 5-0.
Lusk led the Coyotes with two hits and a RBI. Moser and White each recorded an RBI single, along with a single from Edwards in the top of the 6th.
Villotta doubled in the top of the 7th and scored on White’s RBI.
Right after playing Butler, USD faced Belmont for the fourth game of the invitational. The Coyotes claimed a 5-2 win.
Senior pitcher Kori Wedeking pitched for the match-up, only allowing three hits and striking out eight batters.
Jones scored USD’s first run with a solo homerun in the top of the third. Boston and White led the team with two hits each, including two RBIs from White.
Moser added a single in the second inning, and Iversen added a hit in the fifth. Lusk knocked a single to center field during the inning, bringing in Conte for the run.
Mendoza singled to right field in the top of the seventh and later scored off a RBI double from freshman catcher Abi Brown.
For the final game of the weekend, USD took on Belmont once again Sunday morning. USD fell short with a 1-0 final score.
Edwards recorded a season high striking out eight batters. She only allowed four hits and one earned run.
Belmont secured the lone run off a wild pitch in the sixth inning with two outs.
Jones, Moser, and Lusk each recorded a hit for the game. Iversen hit a double in the seventh, but could not get around to score.
USD will be back on the field starting Friday, Feb. 23 in Commerce, Texas, for the Commerce Tournament against three Texas teams.
