NOTE: The schedule has changed since this story was originally posted. Instead of facing Seattle Saturday afternoon, the Coyotes will take on UNLV at 6 p.m. (PST).
The bright lights of Las Vegas will shine on the South Dakota softball team this weekend when the Coyotes compete in five games in three days starting Friday at UNLV's Marucci Desert Classic. USD and four of its five opponents opened the 2018 season last weekend in Tempe, Arizona. The opening game against San Jose State is a rematch from last week, but the four other foes are new and include CSUN, New Mexico, UNLV and UTEP.
The power was there for South Dakota last week as evidenced by 10 home runs and seven other extra-base hits, but the pitching and defense were not. The Coyotes allowed 63 runs in 35-plus innings of work, and the 20 errors were the most by any team in week one.
Growing pains were expected with a pitching staff that hadn't thrown a pitch at the Division I level until last weekend, but alas, Coach Wagner expects more from his young squad all around this weekend.
The veterans led in Arizona as senior
Taylor Steinfeldt batted .500 (10-for-20) with a home run and two triples. Just 12 players nationally had more hits than her. Senior
Emily Winckler and junior
Jamie Holscher combined for 11 hits and five home runs. Junior
Jessica Rogers had four hits and drew three walks.
Junior transfer
Alyssa Fernandez, who played second base, introduced herself by belting four home runs, driving in eight runs and scoring eight times in week one. The performance earned her Summit Player of the Week nods. Freshman
Lauren Eamiguel hit .375 (6-for-16) with three doubles while starting at third base.
Freshmen
Dylan Underwood and
Lauren Wobken remain in competition at short and Wagner even placed Holscher there to start a game in Tempe. Holscher and Steinfeldt earned starts at first base. USD pinch hitters were hitless (0-for-9) last weekend.
Homecoming (part 2):
Nearly one third of the Coyotes' roster hails from in or around the Tempe area. This weekend, it's Underwood and pitcher
Breanna Alvarez who return home. Both grew up in nearby Henderson. Alvarez attended Liberty High School while Underwood attended Coronado.
Here is a look at this week's opponents:
San Jose State (37-19, 16-8 Mountain West; 2017 RPI: 53)
The Spartans beat the Coyotes 16-12 last week in Tempe en route to a 4-1 weekend that included wins against Purdue, Indiana and UTEP with a loss to nationally-ranked Tennessee. Like USD, San Jose State is working in a new pitching staff. Outside of the 12 runs surrendered to the Yotes, the Spartans were solid, allowing just nine runs total in their other four games. Offensively, the Spartans hit eight home runs and scored at least six runs in all but one game. Sophomore Kaelin Amrein was 5-for-8 with two home runs and six walks in the five games.
CSUN (31-22, 11-10 Big West; 2017 RPI: 69)
CSUN's 1-4 record in Tempe includes blowout losses to No. 3 Oregon, Missouri and Nebraska and a 6-4 loss to Seattle, which USD will face on Saturday. Its win was a 9-8 decision over Stanford. The Matadors return just three starters and seven letterwinners from last year's 31-win team, but look out for three-time all-Big West shortstop Savannah Horvath. She was 7-for-13 with three home runs, three doubles and five walks last weekend in Tempe. Opponents scored 57 runs and hit .405 off the Matadors' staff on opening weekend.
New Mexico (20-30, 6-18 Mountain West; 2017 RPI: 168)
The Lobos were outscored 53-6 last weekend while facing top-25 foes Utah, Oklahoma State, Oregon and Arizona. New Mexico beat its lone unranked team, Saint Mary's, 4-1. UNM is under new coach Paula Congleton, an alumna who spent 19 years at Santa Barbara City College. Congleton returns three starters and three pitchers from last year's team. Senior Chelsea Johnson has 25 collegiate home runs to go with a .340 career average. Freshman Alexis Ruel pitched 15 of the Lobos' 25 innings in Tempe.
UNLV (25-27, 8-16 Mountain West; 2017 RPI: 122)
UNLV, under new coach Kristie Fox, improved to 6-1 Friday following wins against Idaho State (5-3) and Buffalo (6-5). The team's lone loss was a 3-0 decision to nationally-ranked Minnesota at home last weekend. The Rebels also topped North Dakota State 3-2 in nine innings last weekend. Defense has keyed UNLV's early success. The team has committed just two errors in seven games and the staff includes Janine Petmecky, a senior who hasn't allowed a run in 13 innings of work after playing exclusively in the outfield last year. Offensively, the team has just six extra-base hits. Junior catcher Myranda Bueno is batting .500 (10-for-20) with nine singles and a double.
UTEP (12-36, 6-18 Conference USA; 2017 RPI: 240)
The Miners were 1-4 in Tempe and outscored 40-11. They were blanked against Missouri, Oregon and San Jose State and lost 12-4 to UC Davis. The Miners beat Saint Mary's 7-0. UTEP is led by junior all-conference third baseman Cortney Smith, who was 4-for-12 with a home run and four RBIs last weekend. The pitching staff features transfers Julia Wright (Ranger College) and Kira McKechnie (Fresno State). Those two combined for 21 innings last week. Wright logged 14 innings and posted an ERA of 4.40.
Marucci Desert Classic
Friday (Feb. 16)
USD vs. San Jose State – 11:15 a.m. (PST) | Eller Media Stadium |
Watch |
Live Stats
USD vs. CSUN – 6 p.m. (PST) | Eller Media Stadium |
Watch |
Live Stats
Saturday (Feb. 17)
USD vs. New Mexico – 1:30 p.m. (PST) | Craig Park Field 3 |
Live Stats
USD vs. UNLV – 6 p.m. (PST) | Eller Media Stadium |
Watch | Live Stats
**NEW as of Feb. 15**
Sunday (Feb. 18)
USD vs. UTEP – 9 a.m. (PST) | Craig Park Field 3
