VERMILLION, S.D.—Western Illinois third baseman Kelsey Marlow and first baseman Hailey Duwa combined for eight hits and 10 RBIs in leading the Leathernecks to a 20-12 win against South Dakota in the final game of a three-game series Saturday at Nygaard Field.
 
In addition to each other, the two teams battled a 20-mile per hour wind and a wind chill in the teens. The game was delayed by weather for 2 ½ hours. The two teams then combined for 40 hits in a game that lasted just shy of three hours.
 
South Dakota (13-24, 3-3 Summit) took a 12-10 lead with a seven-run fourth inning that chased reigning Summit League Pitcher of the Year Emily Ira. Breanna Alvarez's pinch-hit homer served as the catalyst. Jessica Rogers and Emily Winckler each had two-run doubles. Alvarez hit again and laced an RBI single before the third out was recorded.
 
Western Illinois (10-22, 3-0) responded with a run in the fifth and took the lead for good with a five-run sixth. Marlow had a two-run double and Sydney Hollings laced a two-run single. Hollings, in her first at bats of the season, was 6-for-9 in her two games with a home run, a triple, and two doubles. She drove in six.
 
South Dakota hit nine home runs in the three-game series, but came away with no wins. In addition to Alvarez's first collegiate homer, Taylor Steinfeldt hit her eighth homer of the season and Christy Warnock blasted her third. Warnock was 5-for-11 in the series with two doubles and the homer. Rogers finished 4-for-10 with three home runs, a double, six RBIs and four runs scored.
 
The Coyotes return to the field Wednesday for a 4 p.m. tilt with Creighton in Omaha, Nebraska.