BROOKINGS, S.D.—South Dakota and senior pitcher Gill Woodward snapped South Dakota State's school-record, 16-game winning streak in game one, only to see Jackrabbit freshman Tori Kniesche fire a five-inning no-hitter in game two to kickoff a Showdown Series softball weekend at Jackrabbit Stadium. Scores were 3-1 and 10-0.
 
Throw out the records as they say come rivalry week. SDSU entered play with a 29-4 record, an unblemished 14-0 Summit mark, and the No. 1 offense in the conference. That meant little to Woodward, who had never faced the Jacks until Saturday.
 
Woodward took a two-hit shutout into the final inning, tied her career high for strikeouts with five and held the Jackrabbits to their season-low for runs scored in a game. Cylie Halvorson hit her Summit-leading 13^th-home run of the season off Woodward to start the bottom of the seventh, and the Jacks added two more base runners before Woodward got Cheyanne Masterson to fly out to deep center to end the game.
 
"It was a great performance by Gill and a good win – her fourth win in conference," said South Dakota head coach Robert Wagner. "She kept them off balance and hit her spots. We played some really good defense behind her and had some timely hitting. The bonus run late certainly helped."
 
Lauren Wobken hit a two-run triple in the third inning and Courtney Wilson added a two-out double in the seventh to support Woodward. The defense carried all the way to the final out when center fielder Camille Fowler made a do-or-die play at the warning track to secure the win.
 
South Dakota tagged Jackrabbit starter Grace Glanzer for eight hits. Glanzer was the pitcher the last time the Jacks lost a game back on March 13. She had won all seven decisions since, and fell to 12-3 on the year. Wilson was 2-for-4 with a triple to go with her seventh-inning double.
 
Game two was all Jacks. They scored nine runs – five after an error allowed an extra out – in the second inning, leaving the only drama for the fifth inning when Kniesche flirted with a perfect game. Instead, she issued a four-pitch walk to Wobken, the first batter of the inning, and settled for the no-hitter. She got 11 of the 15 outs via the strikeout.
 
The two teams will do it again in a 2 p.m. doubleheader Sunday. The games were originally slated for a noon start, but have been delayed two hours to allow for better weather.