FARGO, N.D.—South Dakota catcher
Skylar Arellano had big hits in the first and final innings to lead the Coyotes to a 6-5 win in the fourth and final game of a weekend series with North Dakota State at Tharaldson Park.
NDSU (12-20, 7-5 Summit) won the first game of Sunday's doubleheader 3-1 and took three of four contests during the weekend. South Dakota (9-28, 4-4) stands in third place in the Summit League standings and returns home to host Kansas City (18-15, 2-6) next weekend.
Arellano's RBI single capped a three-run first inning for the Coyotes in the nightcap.
Gabby Moser and
Jadyn DeWitte also drove in runs during the rally. USD totaled four hits in the opening frame off Bison starter Kara O'Byrne.
North Dakota State cut the deficit to 3-2 in the third, and got a three-run homer from its catcher, Avery Wynsong, in the fifth that put the defending champs ahead 5-3.
But the Coyotes weren't done. Game three starter Paige Vargas relieved O'Byrne to start the top of the sixth and
Lauren Wobken and
Gabby Moser greeted Vargas with a single and a double to put two on. DeWitte scored Wobken with a ground ball to second and a throwing error moved DeWitte to second while Moser stopped at third. Arellano laced a single down the left field line that scored both runs and put USD back in front 6-5.
From there, USD rode the arm of
Gill Woodward. The senior from Canada worked around two two-out singles to get out of the sixth, and shrugged off a two-out error in the field to get revenge on Wysong in the seventh. Wysong, who had homered in her prior at bat, hit the first pitch she saw to third and
Aleesia Sainz made the play to end the game.
It was the first collegiate win for Woodward, who struck out two in four innings of work. Arellano, Wobken and
Camille Fowler each had three hits in game two. Wobken came around to score twice.
Three home runs – two from the Bison – accounted for all the scoring in Sunday's opener. Dez Cardenas hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the second inning for the Bison and Montana DeCamp added a solo shot in the third.
Courtney Wilson put the Coyotes on the board in the sixth with her first collegiate home run. It was the only run allowed by Vargas, who scattered four hits and struck out four in her complete-game effort.
Wilson, who had a team-high eight hits in last weekend's series against North Dakota, had a team-high five hits in this series against NDSU. She's batting .481 to start conference play. Wilson tied Arellano for the most RBIs during the series with four. Wobken and
Lauren Eamiguel both notched five hits during the series.
