MACOMB, Ill.—South Dakota clinched a spot in the Summit League Tournament and moved into third place in the standings with a doubleheader sweep of Western Illinois Saturday at McKee Stadium. Scores were 9-0 (5 inn.) and 8-7.
 
Coyote pitcher Clara Edwards tossed her second consecutive two-hit shutout, which highlighted game one, and got the final three outs of game two to earn her program record fifth save of the season.
 
Offensively, it was the South Dakota trio of Jordyn Pender, Tatum Villotta and Bela Goerke who led the way. Villotta was 4-for-4 in game one – her second four-hit game of the season – and totaled five hits in all. Pender was 3-for-3 in game one, 2-for-3 in game two and it was her solo shot in the top of the seventh inning that proved to be the difference. Goerke hit a three-run homer in game one and a two-run bomb in game two as part of a four-hit performance.
 
South Dakota needed 75 minutes to score the win in game one. Game two proved to be a back-and-forth affair, though the Coyotes never trailed. Starter Grace Garcia pitched into the fifth inning and earned her seventh win of the season. Macy Schroedermeier relieved Garcia and retired six of the seven batters she faced to hand off to Edwards. Georgia Rea solved Edwards and delivered a two-run homer in the bottom of the seventh to make it 8-7 before Edwards closed it out.
 
Western Illinois (8-32, 4-13) got three home runs from the middle of its order to keep game two close. Bella Alvarez went deep for the first time this season and Savannah Rodriguez notched her second of the year. Both Rodriguez and Rea had two hits in game two.
 
The two teams met for the first time in three years. The third and final game of the series is 11 a.m. Sunday.