CONWAY, Ark.—A pair of dominant pitching performances and a timely home run from South Dakota catcher
Bela Goerke led to a pair of wins Saturday on the final day of the Shamrock Classic hosted by Central Arkansas.
The Coyotes beat Alcorn State 9-1 in six innings and avenged Friday's 2-0 loss to Central Arkansas with a 1-0 win over the Bears Saturday. Goerke hit a solo home run in the top of the seventh inning against Central Arkansas and Coyote pitcher
Clara Edwards completed the shutout.
South Dakota went 3-1 at the tournament and improved to 8-9 overall. Central Arkansas (13-4) lost for just the fourth time this season and two of those losses were against a nationally ranked LSU squad.
Goerke drove an 0-1 fastball over the wall in center field for her third home run of the season. She hit it off Kayla Beaver, a 21-game winner last year who was 8-1 entering play Saturday. It was the first home run hit off Beaver in 68 innings this season.
Edwards (4-4) allowed five hits and struck out five while throwing her first shutout of the season and seventh of her career. She retired nine of the final 10 batters of the game and all five hits allowed were singles.
Kori Wedeking (3-4) tossed a four-hitter for South Dakota in the first game Saturday against Alcorn State and struck out a season-high seven. An unearned run in the fourth was all the Lady Braves (3-10) could muster offensively.
The Coyotes led 2-0 after their first three batters.
Tatum Villotta singled and scored on a triple by
Alecea Mendoza.
Courtney Wilson scored Mendoza with a ground ball to first.
Aleesia Sainz gave South Dakota some breathing room in the bottom of the fourth with a two-out single that scored pinch runner
Alivia Conte that made it 3-1. Conte was running for Goerke who doubled earlier in the frame.
USD produced three runs all with two outs in the fifth and walked it off with three more in the sixth. Sainz hit her third home run of the season in the sixth.
Kynlee Marquez had an RBI single in her first at bat of the season and Edwards walked and came around to score the winning run.
Villotta and Goerke both totaled three hits Saturday. Villotta and Wilson had six hits in four games in Arkansas. Batters hit .212 during the tournament against Edwards and Wedeking.
South Dakota spends the next two weeks in California before starting Summit League play at home against North Dakota on March 25. The Coyotes will play five games in a tournament hosted by Cal State Fullerton next Friday thru Sunday.
