DES MOINES, Iowa—Aleesia Sainz homered in consecutive at bats in game one while Rylee Nicholson smacked her first collegiate homer in game two of a doubleheader split with Drake Tuesday at Buel Field. South Dakota won game one 5-3 while Drake took the nightcap 14-3 in five innings.
 
Sainz homered in consecutive at bats for the second time this season. She broke a 3-3 tie in the fifth inning of game one with her Summit-leading 10^th home run of the season. Her solo shot two innings prior was her ninth and had given the Coyotes a 3-1 lead.
 
Those two long balls accounted for half of USD's four hits in the opener but was enough to get the win. Grace Garcia and Clara Edwards combined for a six-hitter in the circle for the Coyotes (17-14). Garcia started and struck out four in four innings of work to pick up her fourth win of the season. Edwards got the final nine outs, allowed one hit and struck out three to earn her fourth save.
 
South Dakota had a 2-0 lead three batters into game two. Nicholson hit a no-doubt shot to left center field that also plated Tatum Villotta. But the Bulldogs bit back with two home runs of their own as part of a five-run first inning. Emily Valtman led off with a homer and Makayla Rice trumped that with a three-run blast later in the frame.
 
Both teams put runners on throughout the contest, but it was Drake that brought them home. South Dakota stranded two in the second and third innings and came up empty in the fourth after loading the bases with one out.
 
Valtman was 3-for-3 with a walk and five RBIs to pace Drake in game two. She reached base in all four Drake at bats. Paige Bedsworth added two hits and a walk in three plate appearances. The Bulldogs (7-16) totaled 11 hits in the nightcap.
 
It was just the third and fourth meetings between the two programs at the Division I level. South Dakota scored its first win in the series since 1980, though only four games had been played since. The Coyotes return to host South Dakota State in a three-game series this weekend at Nygaard Field.