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VERMILLION, S.D. – Entering the day one game behind South Dakota for third place in the Summit League standings, the IUPUI softball team concluded the first day of its three-game set against the Coyotes in the same position following a doubleheader split at Nygaard Field.

The split kept the Jags overall record at .500 (17-17) and their Summit League mark also remained even at 5-5. South Dakota upped its record to 24-15 overall and 6-4 in the conference.

South Dakota used three big innings in the opener to pull away for a decisive 13-5 win, but a five-run third inning in Game 2 proved to be the difference for the Jags in an 8-7 win.

The Jaguars top two hitters in conference play helped them get off to a fast start in the opening half inning. Ali Mosier led off the game with a double to left-center field to immediately put a runner in scoring position, and two batters later a Taylor Chitwood single plated Mosier to put the Jags in front, 1-0.

The IUPUI lead doubled in the second on a Lindsey Richards RBI double that plated Angela Bartucci, but four runs on four hits by the Coyotes in the bottom of the second propelled them in front, 4-2.

USD put another four runs on the board in the bottom of the third courtesy of a grand slam, but the Jags were able to chip away at that six-run deficit in the fourth when Richards blasted a solo home run to cut the IUPUI deficit to 8-3.

The Jags continued to fight back in the fifth and it all started with a Morgan Schlobohm walk. Immediately following the walk, Roni Patterson delivered a two-run blast to left-center to trim the deficit to three, 8-5. The threat continued when Chitwood added a single and the Jags eventually loaded the bases only to have South Dakota escape the inning without giving up any additional runs.

In the bottom of the fifth, two errors came back to hurt IUPUI and helped USD score five runs to finish off a 13-5, five-inning victory.

The Coyotes entered the second game with all the momentum and they jumped in front in the second inning scoring two runs on one hit and one IUPUI error to take a 2-0 advantage.

Despite the deficit, IUPUI scored five runs in its half of the third inning – all of which coming with two outs. Mosier delivered the first blow with a two-run homer to left field to tie the score at two, and following back-to-back singles from Schlobohm and Patterson, Chitwood hit a three-run shot to right-center field to catapult the Jags in front, 5-2.

The home runs continued in the bottom of the third as USD used back-to-back solo homers to close within one run, 5-4, before it added another run in the fourth to even things up at 5-5.
Thanks in part to a Coyotes fielding error, the Jags regained a one-run lead in the fifth only to see that lead grow to three, 8-5, on a two-RBI single from Patterson in the sixth.

The back-and-forth affair continued with South Dakota scoring two runs of its own in the bottom of the sixth, but Cassie Vodde managed to set down USD in order in the seventh to preserve the 8-7 victory for the Jags.

Patterson led the Jags at the plate with four hits on the day and managed to drive in four runs combined. Vodde pitched five innings of relief in Game 2 resulting in her earning her eighth victory of the season.

The series between the Coyotes and Jaguars concludes on Saturday, April 19, at 1 p.m. ET.