AMES, Iowa - The South Dakota State softball team remains winless on the young season after dropping a pair of games on Saturday at the Cyclone Invitational in Ames, Iowa. The Jackrabbits opened the day with a 4-0 loss to Northern Colorado, and then fell by an 11-4 score to host Iowa State later in the afternoon.
The loss to the Bears came, in large part, on the arm of UNC pitcher Kelci Cheny. The sophomore tossed to a complete game, three-hit, 10 strikeout game in the win over SDSU.
Just like in the opener on Friday, senior Devon Reick opened the game with a single, and eventually made her way to third with the aid of an illegal pitch and an Emily Weber ground out, but the Jacks could not push the run across.
Northern Colorado scored the game's first run in the top of the fourth inning and added a pair of runs in the fifth to take 3-0 lead, more than enough for Cheney, who fended off a Jackrabbit rally in the sixth to secure the win.
Alex Landon took the loss for the Jacks in the circle, giving up three runs on six hits with five walks and three strikeouts over 4.1 innings before giving way to Jennifer Sutton, who made her SDSU debut in pitching the final 2.2 innings. Sutton gave up one run on two hits, with three walks and a strikeout.
Make it three games and three leadoff his for Reick, who singled and scored in the first inning against Iowa State on an Emily Weber single down the line to give the Jacks a short-lived 1-0 lead.
The Cyclones answered with five runs on three hits in their half of the first to take the commanding 5-1 lead.
SDSU got back in the game with three runs in the top of the third inning, thanks to an unearned run and an Elyse Eitel two-RBI single to cut the lead to 5-4.
The scored stayed 5-4, until ISU scored two in the fifth to go up 7-4 before putting the game on ice the with a four-run sixth inning.
Reick continues her hot hitting, and finished the game 3-for-3 with a pair of runs scored. Eitel went 2-for-3 at the plate with the two RBI in the loss.
The Jackrabbits close the opening weekend of the season on Sunday, with rematches against Northern Colorado at 9 a.m., and against North Dakota at 11 a.m.
