HAMPTON, Va. — South Dakota softball picked up its fifth and sixth straight wins with a doubleheader sweep of Hampton Friday. After a defensive battle in the first game which saw the Yotes win 4-2, the Coyote bats erupted for 12 runs in a game two win.
 
Game 1 vs Hampton – W, 4-2
 
It was a pitcher's duel in the series opener between Clara Edwards and the Pirates' Jada Evans. It was Edwards who would add another win on her season record with a two-run complete game win where she struck out five.
 
Both pitchers held their opponents scoreless through the first 5.0 innings of play, before six combined runs were scored in the sixth.
 
While the Yotes found base runners through the first five innings, it wasn't until a leadoff single from Alyssa Thorson in the sixth that the Yotes had recorded a hit. Delaney White promptly moved Thorson into scoring position with a SAC bunt, and the bases were be juiced after Edwards reached on a fielder's choice and Madison Evans drew a walk. Abi Brown put the ball in play to the shortstop, whose throw was late to home plate, and Thorson tallied the first run of the game.
 
Brooke Carey added to the Yotes momentum with a single through the left side, scoring Edwards from third. USD added another run on a Pirate wild pitch, and Tatum Villotta put the Coyotes up 4-0 with a single to left field.
 
Hampton would cut the USD lead in half in the bottom half of the inning with a two-out, two-RBI double, but Edwards would retire four of the next five batters to secure the 4-2 win for the Yotes.
 
Game 2 vs Hampton – W, 12-0
After a strong end to game one, the Coyotes went right back to work to kick off game two of the doubleheader. Villotta extended her hit streak to 13 games with a leadoff single and would later score on a Pirate error to score the first run of the contest. McKenna Young made quick work of the Pirates in the bottom half of the inning, surrendering one hit, but struck out the other three batters.
 
With a pair of runners on, a fly ball to center field from Villotta was lost by the Pirates in the sun and found its way to outfield fence. Both runners scored on the play and Villotta took advantage, rounding the bases for her first inside the park home run of the season.
 
After a three up, three down inning from Young, South Dakota added five more to its lead in the third. Carey drove in a pair of runs, while Ella McGee's double put the Yotes up 7-0. Villotta continued her tear at the plate with a triple to left center and would later score on a wild pitch to give the Yotes a nine-run lead.
 
USD tacked on three more runs across the fourth and fifth innings on a pair of bases loaded walks and once on a Pirate fielding error. Hampton found two runners on base in the bottom of the fifth, but three straight outs from Campbell German closed out the 12-0 five-inning win for USD.
 
Villotta had a stellar game at the plate going 3-for-4 with three runs, four RBIs and two extra base hits. Edwards, Carey and McGee also tallied extra base hits in the win.
 
Young improved to 5-0 in the circle and struck out eight in 4.0 innings of work.
 
The Coyotes are back in action tomorrow in Norfolk, Virginia for a doubleheader against Norfolk State on day two of the Pirate-Spartan Challenge.