OMAHA, Neb.—South Dakota scored four runs in the top of the first inning and rode the arm of senior pitcher Gill Woodward in the circle to win 5-1 and salvage the final game of a four-game series with Omaha at Claussen Field. The Mavericks won the opening game Saturday 11-6 and took three of four in the series.
 
The result means the Coyotes (13-37, 8-12 Summit) will be the No. 5 seed at next week's Summit League Tournament. They will take on fourth-seeded Kansas City (27-24, 11-13) at 3 p.m. Wednesday in Fargo, North Dakota, in what will be the opening game of the event. The winner will advance to face top-seeded South Dakota State Thursday at noon.
 
South Dakota fifth-year senior outfielder Camille Fowler had a hit in both games Saturday and scored twice in the game four win. She moved past Julie MacRunnels for second place on the Coyotes' all-time hit list with 243. She also passed MacRunnels and moved into fourth place on the program's all-time runs scored list with 144. Fellow Omaha native Katie Dinning stands in third place with 145.
 
USD first baseman Jadyn DeWitte, who hit a go-ahead, two-run home run in the seventh inning of game two Friday, stayed hot Saturday. She was 1-for-3 in the first game and scored from second on a heady play in the second inning when home was left uncovered on an infield single from Fowler. She came back with two more hits in the nightcap including a two-run single as part of that four-run first inning.
 
Woodward, the hard-luck loser in game two Friday, allowed one run in the bottom of the first inning and nothing more to pick up her fifth win in Summit League play. She scattered seven hits, walked one and had one strikeout.
 
South Dakota scored five runs in the top of the second inning of the opening game to lead 5-1, but it was short-lived. An error in the outfield on what should have been a routine single turned into a two-run score that made it 5-3. Omaha came back with three more runs in the third to regain the lead at 6-5. A four-run fifth inning broke it open for the Mavs.
 
Omaha center fielder Izzy Eltze was 4-for-4 in the opener with two RBIs and three runs scored. She added a fifth hit in the second game. The Mavericks (18-25, 12-10) out-hit South Dakota 15-9 in the opening game.
 
DeWitte, Fowler, Lauren Eamiguel and Courtney Wilson all totaled four hits in the series. Woodward allowed four runs – three earned – in 13 2/3 innings of work in the circle.
 
South Dakota split a four-game series with Kansas City in Vermillion back on April 17-18. Eamiguel was 6-for-12 in that series with two home runs. Gabby Moser also homered twice against the Roos and drove in six.