DAVIS, Calif.—South Dakota fell to New Mexico 3-2 and lost to Iowa State 6-3 on day one of the Aggie Invitational hosted by UC Davis Friday at La Rue Field. The Coyotes (1-11) are scheduled to play two games Saturday and another Sunday before returning to Vermillion.
New Mexico (6-5) scored twice in the bottom of the sixth inning to steal game one. Cheyenne Smith led off with a base hit and was sacrificed to second. The top of the order then drew three walks and had a hit batter in the mix to plate the tying and winning runs.
The Coyotes got a two-run homer from freshman
Jessica Rogers in the top of the first inning, but went 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position from then on and had a runner thrown out at the plate to end the fifth inning. New Mexico's first run scored when two Coyote fielders collided tracking down a fly ball behind second base.
Rachel Cue (0-6) allowed just six hits and had eight strikeouts, but walked seven and hit two more. Krissy Fortner (1-1) got the win in relief for New Mexico.
Iowa State (8-4) scored three runs in both the first and second innings and rode a complete-game performance from pitcher Emma Hylen (3-2) in game two. Rachel Hartman had a two-run double and came around to score on a base hit by Nychole Antillon in the first inning. Aly Cappaert had an RBI single and scored in the second. Cappaert was 3-for-4 and scored twice against the 'Yotes. The Cyclones' top four hitters combined for eight of the team's nine hits.
Morgan Vasa singled and scored in the fourth inning for the Coyotes and
Taylor Steinfeldt had an RBI triple in the fifth. Steinfeldt scored on a base hit by
Katie Cochran two batters later that made it 6-3.
Hylen allowed eight hits, struck out six and walked nobody to get the win. The Cyclones turned two double plays defensively.
Cochran and
Yvon Minogue were both 3-for-7 on the day while Steinfeldt and
Shelby Keil finished 2-for-5. Rogers' home run was her second this season.
South Dakota takes on Idaho State and UC Davis in back-to-back games Saturday starting at 3:15 p.m. (CST).