VERMILLION, S.D.—First baseman Yvon Minogue set the Summit League's single-season hit mark, South Dakota broke the Summit's home run mark and the Coyotes completed a three-game sweep of South Dakota State 12-4 in five innings Sunday at Nygaard Field.
Minogue was 3-for-3 with three RBIs and two runs scored. She registered her 87th hit of the season, which broke a 20-year old Summit record held by Troy alumna Sandy Atkins. Minogue also added to her national lead in doubles with her 26th of the year. She finishes the season with a .481 average, one of the best in the nation. She hit .542 (32-for-59) in 17 Summit League games.
It was also a big day for Coyote left fielder Katie Cochran, who had three hits including a home run in the third inning and a game-winning double in the fifth. Cochran's sixth homer of the season moved South Dakota's season mark to 69 which is a Summit League record.
Katie Dinning had a two-run triple in the third inning to give South Dakota an 8-4 lead. Dinning, the Coyotes' all-time leader in triples, has 17 in her career.
Coyote catcher Allie Daly led off the fourth inning with a double to extend her hitting streak to 17 games. Morgan Hancock followed with another double to make it 9-4 and scored on a two-run single by Minogue that made it 11-4.
Rachel Cue (11-12) pitched three scoreless innings of relief in place of starter Madison Frain to get the win. Cue allowed two hits and struck out one. She was 6-2 in Summit play with a 2.74 ERA, fourth-best in the league.
South Dakota (26-23-1, 13-4 Summit) outscored South Dakota State (22-27, 7-11) 33-9 in the series and hit .464 with five home runs as a team. Minogue was 7-for-11 in the series with five RBIs. Daly was 6-for-11 with a home run and three RBIs.
The Coyotes finished 10-0 at Nygaard Field where the team batted .473 with 26 home runs. South Dakota averaged 10.4 runs per game at home and outscored its opponents 104-28.
South Dakota will enter the Summit League Tournament having won 14 of its last 16. The Coyotes averaged 8.5 runs per game and hit .397 as a team during that stretch. South Dakota will be the No. 2 seed and will take on the winner of No. 3 IUPUI and No. 6 Fort Wayne at 2:30 p.m. Thursday in Fargo, N.D.