INDIANAPOLIS – A day after South Dakota hit eight homers in a doubleheader sweep of the IUPUI softball team, the Jaguars returned the favor hitting three home runs on the day to avoid the sweep and finish off the three-game series with a 7-0 win over the Coyotes Sunday afternoon at the IUPUI Softball Complex.
Dwelling on Saturday's out of the ordinary performance could have been an option for the Jags, but behind their upperclassmen they returned to form in the circle and in the batters box to finish the series on a positive note and up their record to 19-10 overall and 3-3 in the conference. USD's loss dropped it to 10-18-1 overall and 2-1 in the league.
Brooke Boetjer, who went just 2.0 innings giving up three hits and three earned runs in Game 1 of Saturday's doubleheader, returned to form on Sunday going the distance while yielding just three hits and two walks with three punchouts.
Offensively,
Eryn Dillon got the Jaguars going in the bottom of the first with a two-run home run to left-center, her third of the season, and two innings later
Ali Mosier broke out of a slump with a big two-out, two-run double to left-center putting the Jags in front 4-0 heading into the fourth.
Boetjer held the Coyotes without a hit during the first three innings and it wasn't until the fourth when the Coyotes picked up their first base knock of the day.
With an offense as good as USD's, it was only a matter of time until it threatened and it did so in the sixth when a double and single to lead off the inning put runners on the corners with nobody out. A line drive during the ensuing at bat was caught by Mosier at second, and she quickly threw over to first to get the runner at first giving the Jags the big play they needed. After a walk, Boetjer registered a strike out to get out of the jam keeping the four-run lead intact.
IUPUI carried that momentum into its half of the sixth scoring three runs on home runs from
Megan Cory and
Sarah Lawrence. Cory hit a two-run, opposite field shot with one out in the inning to score
Taylor Chitwood, who led off the inning with a single, and then Lawrence made it back-to-back homers with a blast over the left field wall to widen the lead to 7-0.
Boetjer then completed her 13th win of the season forcing three straight ground outs to the shortstop to finish off the complete-game shutout.
The Jags close out their 11-game homestand on Wednesday, April 1, when they host a doubleheader against Valparaiso. Game 1 is set for a 3 p.m. ET first pitch.
