HUNTSVILLE, Texas—The local kid, Jadyn DeWitte, cracked a three-run home run in the bottom of the sixth inning and the freshman pitcher from Kansas, Clara Edwards, slammed the door in the seventh to complete South Dakota's 3-0 shutout of No. 25 Wichita State Sunday at Bearkat SB Complex on the campus of Sam Houston State University.
 
South Dakota beat UT-San Antonio 4-3 earlier in the day and finished its opening weekend with a tournament-best 4-1 record.
 
Edwards and fellow Coyote newcomer Bela Goerke were the talk of the tournament. Edwards didn't allow an earned run in 19 1/3 innings of work. She was 2-1 with a save, struck out 15, walked five and opponents hit .174 against her.
 
Wichita State (3-1) was shut out just three times during a 41-win, conference championship season a year ago. The Shockers feature National Player of the Year candidate Sydney McKinney and 22-home run hitter Addison Barnard at the top of their order. Those two were 1-for-6 with a single against Edwards.
 
"Clara went out there and executed a game plan that got us a lot of ground balls," said USD head coach Robert Wagner, who also scored his 100^th win as the Coyotes' skipper. "A lot of their (Wichita State's) offense is home runs, and Clara did a good job of keeping it on the dirt and the infield did a good job of making the plays."
 
Indeed, the Coyotes turned two double plays during the game and Goerke erased Barnard on the bases in the third. It was the first time in eight tries Barnard had been thrown out stealing this season.
 
DeWitte grew up less than an hour away in Spring, Texas. The home run was the fourth of her collegiate career.
 
"She was so excited I think she broke my hand rounding third," joked Wagner. "Her family was here and it was really exciting for her to come through in that situation as a senior playing at home for the first time in college. It was a lot of fun."
 
Goerke, who played last year at Grand Canyon, was 7-for-18 with three home runs and 10 RBIs during the tournament. She hit a three-run homer against UT-San Antonio that gave USD a 3-0 lead Sunday. When the Roadrunners tied it with a home run of their own in the fifth, it was Aleesia Sainz who plated Gabby Moser with the go-ahead run in the bottom half of the inning. Edwards relieved winning pitcher Grace Garcia and got five of the final six outs with strikeouts.
 
"Bela was our MVP," said Wagner. "As a transfer, I think she was excited to come out and prove what she can do. To see things that she's worked on hard in practice and finally get a chance to come in here as a starter, it couldn't have been a better debut for her here."
 
South Dakota opened 4-1 for the first time since 2019. The Coyotes travel to Greenville, South Carolina, next weekend for the Furman Classic.