VERMILLION, S.D.—South Dakota catcher Allie Daly hit a walk-off base hit to center field to win game one and the Coyotes made an early five-run lead stand in game two to earn two wins against former Summit League foe Kansas City Thursday at Nygaard Field. Scores went 4-3 and 7-4.
The win gets South Dakota (23-23-1) back to .500 for the first time this season. The Coyotes wrap up the regular season at home with a three-game series against South Dakota State Saturday and Sunday. Kansas City finished its regular season with a 27-26 mark. The Roos will be the No. 2 seed in the upcoming WAC Tournament.
South Dakota junior first baseman Yvon Minogue led off the bottom of the seventh inning of game one with a game-tying, solo home run to straightaway center field. It was the ninth homer of the season for Minogue, who was 3-for-4 in the opener. It was also her 80th hit of the season, breaking Kristi Gorman's USD single-season record of 79 set back in 1997.
Center fielder Katie Dinning, playing in her 200th collegiate game, followed Minogue with a base hit up the middle and moved to third on Matley Jones' double to right center field. Daly drove a 1-1 offering to the wall in center field, which scored Dinning with the winning run.
Daly drove in two runs in game one and another in game two, giving her 54 on the season. She's the second player in program history drive in that many runs in a year and she leads Jones by five for the most in the Summit League this season.
Madison Frain (11-10) pitched a complete game for the Coyotes in the opener. She allowed six hits and one earned run while striking out two.
South Dakota scored four runs in the first inning of game two and three in the second to take a 7-2 lead. Dinning singled and scored in the first and had a two-run triple and scored again in the second. Dinning extended her USD career mark for triples to 16. She also registered her 226th career hit, moving her past Gorman and Tagney Jones and into third on South Dakota's all-time list.
Megan Green (2-1) pitched 4 1/3 innings to earn her second win in as many starts this week. Rachel Cue entered with runners on second and third with one out in the fifth inning. She struck out Alex Gale for the second out and got Alexandra Friloux to ground one back to her to get out of the jam. Cue didn't allow a hit and retired seven of the eight batters she faced to net her second save of the season.
Jones finished 5-for-7 on the day with three doubles. Morgan Hancock was 4-for-6 with a home run, two doubles, two RBIs and three runs scored. South Dakota outhit Kansas City 21-15.
Game one of Saturday's doubleheader with South Dakota State will start at noon at Nygaard Field. The Coyotes will honor their four seniors – Dinning, Daly, Jones and Hancock – in between games.
