MIAMI, Fla. — South Dakota softball battled Harvard to a 9-9 tie Saturday morning in a game that stretched into extra innings and was halted following a lightning delay in the ninth.
South Dakota finished with 16 hits in the contest, matching a season high offensive output.

Harvard struck first with a run in the opening inning, but the Coyotes answered in the second. Iburg doubled down the left field line and Kersten followed with a single before Brown launched a three-run home run to left field, giving South Dakota a 3-1 advantage.

After Harvard trimmed the lead to 3-2, South Dakota added two more in the third. White was hit by a pitch and Carey singled to put two aboard. Johnson delivered an RBI single to score White, and Kersten was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to force in another run, pushing the lead to 5-2.

Harvard responded with a four-run fifth inning to take a 6-5 lead, but the Coyotes answered again in the seventh. Brown singled to start the frame and Iversen followed with a base hit. Evans drove in Hempey with an RBI single to tie the game at 6-6. White then singled to score Iversen, and Carey reached on an error that allowed Evans to score, giving South Dakota an 8-6 lead.

The Crimson plated two runs in the bottom half of the seventh to even the score at 8-8 and force extra innings.

Under the international tiebreaker rule in the eighth, Iburg was placed on second to begin the inning. Johnson laid down a sacrifice bunt to move her to third before Cromer delivered an RBI single through the right side to give South Dakota a 9-8 lead.

Harvard answered with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the eighth to tie the game at 9-9. The contest was halted during a lightning delay in the ninth inning and officially recorded as a tie.

Brown led the Coyotes offensively, going 3-for-4 with three RBIs including the second-inning home run. Evans added two hits and an RBI, while Iburg and Kersten each recorded two hits. Iversen and Carey also contributed multi-hit efforts.

German started in the circle, allowing six runs over 4.1 innings. Evans and Lensmeyer combined for the final 3.2 innings of work.

Up Next
South Dakota will travel to Colorado to take on Northern Colorado and Colorado State on their home fields next weekend.