LOUISVILLE, Ky. – South Dakota softball team was one out away from winning twice, but instead had to settle for a split of two games on Saturday at the Cardinal Classic inside Ulmer Stadium.
 
The Coyotes plated a run in the bottom of the seventh to edged Dartmouth, 3-2, before seeing Michigan rally in the bottom of the seventh for a 4-3 win over South Dakota.
 
South Dakota closes out its pre-conference slate at 15-17 with eight losses by two runs or fewer and five by one run, with four of those coming in the opponent's final at bat.
 
SOUTH DAKOTA 3, DARTMOUTH 2
Tatum Villotta's game-winning RBI single plated Gabby Moser with the winning run in the bottom of the seventh.
 
Villotta went 2-for-3 and scored the Coyotes first run of the game in the top of the first on a Delaney White sacrifice fly.
 
Alecea Mendoza delivered an RBI triple in the fourth inning to give South Dakota a 2-1 lead.
 
Mendoza and Moser also had two hits apiece in the win for the Coyotes, who had eight hits in the contest against two Dartmouth pitchers.
 
Kori Wedeking (6-5) went the distance in the pitcher's circle allowing two earned runs on four hits with three walks and five strikeouts.
 
MICHIGAN 4, SOUTH DAKOTA 3
Three consecutive two-out hits allowed Michigan to plate four runs in the bottom of the seventh and rally past the Coyotes.
 
South Dakota took a 3-0 lead into the bottom of the seventh but saw the Wolverines load the bases with one out on a walk, catcher's interference and the first of their four hits in the inning.
 
After a strikeout for the second out, Michigan's leading hitter Maddie Erickson delivered the first of the three straight hits to cap the comeback as Keke Tholl's two-run single tied the game ahead of Lilly Vallimont's game winner.
 
The Coyotes snapped a 0-0 deadlock with two runs in the sixth and another in the seventh.
 
Mendoza's RBI single scored White with the game's first run before Villotta's fourth hit of the game made it 2-0, plating pinch-runner Brylee Hempey.
 
Moser's RBI groundout plated Autumn Iversen with the Coyotes third run of the game in the top of the seventh inning.
 
Clara Edwards (5-8) stifled the Michigan offense on only four hits through six innings, before suffering the tough luck loss.
 
South Dakota had 10 hits in the loss, reaching double figures in hits for the fifth time this season, as behind Villotta's 4-for-4 was White with a 3-for-3 game.
 
The Coyotes open Summit League play against their rivals from South Dakota State at Nygaard Field on campus next Saturday (23^rd) and Sunday (24^th).