Coyote Softball drops three games in Omaha

The South Dakota Coyotes showed up to play in Omaha, Nebraska for a three-game series over the weekend, but could not get the job done.

South Dakota Coyotes softball traveled to Omaha, Nebraska over the weekend for a three-game series against the UNO Mavericks. The Coyotes played two games on Friday, April 18 and one on Saturday, April 19.

In the first game, South Dakota was overwhelmed 9-1, with the lone run coming from a sophomore Autumn Iversen RBI single in the top of the fifth inning. The Coyotes were held to just three hits in the entire game. 

Sophomore McKenna Young started the game on the mound for South Dakota and struck out seven batters, while walking three. Senior Rylie Jones and freshman Madison Evans each collected one hit.

In the second game of Friday afternoon’s doubleheader, South Dakota jumped out to an early 4-0 lead. In the first inning, senior Clara Edwards made the score 1-0. Iversen then collected her second RBI of the weekend to double the Coyotes lead. 

In the top of the second inning, the Coyotes bats came alive again, as sophomore Abbi Brown and freshman Ella McGee each hit solo home runs to make the lead 4-0. 

Omaha fired back with three runs of their own in the bottom of the second and one in the bottom of the third to tie the ballgame 4-4. In the top of the fifth, Jones broke the deadlock with an RBI single to retake the lead. The Coyotes joy was short lived as Omaha would score twice more and hold on for a 6-5 victory.

The third game of the series was a lower scoring game. Omaha’s two-run homer in the bottom of the first was all that was needed to complete the sweep. Brown doubled in the top of the seventh inning, but the Coyotes rally fell short. Omaha was able to hold on 2-1. 

South Dakota now sits 24-20 on the season, and 4-8 in Summit League play. Next up, The Coyotes will play a three-game road series in Fargo against NDSU on April 26 and 27 with the first game slated for noon CST.