University of South Dakota Athletics

VERMILLION, S.D. — Behind the 10-inning complete game and 11 strike outs from sophomore Madison Evans and the game-winning RBI walk-off single from Brooke Carey lifted South Dakota to a 5-4 victory over the Summit League regular season champion, Omaha Mavericks, on Friday evening in Vermillion.
 
PITCHING DECISIONS
Win: Madison Evans (11-13)
Loss: Maddia Groff (15-6)
 
The South Dakota bats were hot from the start, as the Yotes jumped on Omaha's starter Alexis Wiggins with three first inning runs. That was enough for Evans through six full innings, as she held the Mavericks scoreless through the first six innings.
 
It was back-to-back singles from Autumn Iversen and Ella McGee right off the bat to start the day for the Yotes. Wiggins would work two quick outs, but in stepped Delaney White. White delivered the third hit of the season to score the first run. Sara Iburg would follow suit with a single of her own to make it 3-0 off the bat.
 
After the first, all eyes were on the pitchers. No runs for either side would be scored from the second and sixth innings as South Dakota defended the 3-0 lead for Evans.
 
In the bottom of the sixth inning, Allie Cromer did what she's done the last two Summit League weekends and delivered a solo home run to make it 4-0. For Cromer, it's her fourth home run of the season – all done in the last three weekends. At the time a quality insurance run, but it proved to be the only reason South Dakota would have a chance to walk it off in the 10^th.
 
The Omaha bats woke up in the seventh. The Mavericks strung together five hits in the frame to score four runs to send it to the bottom half. It was then Omaha turned to their ace, Maddia Groff, in the bottom half of the seventh.
 
Stymied to just four hits off Groff yesterday, South Dakota put up three hits off her in 3.2 innings, including the biggest two hits in the 10^th. Come the tenth frame, Iversen led off the inning with a single, reminiscent to the start of the first inning. A sac bunt from McGee moved the winning run to second. Following a ground out, USD's leading hitter Brooke Carey delivered the biggest hit of her career with an RBI single up the middle that scored Iversen for the walk-off 5-4 victory.
 
Evans was stellar in the circle with her longest outing of her young Coyote career with the complete game 10 inning performance. She threw 213 pitches and scattered 11 Maverick hits, giving up the four runs and struck out 11 Omaha hitters on a team that averages less than four offensive strike outs per game. It's her fifth time this season reaching 10+ punch outs, doing so in back-to-back starts.
 
The victory over the Mavericks is just the second league loss for Omaha this season, joining St. Thomas as the only two Summit League teams to hand the Mavericks a league loss this season.
 
UP NEXT: The rubber match will be tomorrow on Senior Day from Nygaard Field with first pitch at 12 p.m. (noon) in Vermillion. Come out and support the three Coyote seniors: Faith Mills, Delaney White, and Brylee Hempey with the ceremony to follow the rubber match.