BROOKINGS, S.D. - Western Illinois rallied from an early deficit to take a 6-5 lead in the sixth inning, but was unable to hold off South Dakota State in a 9-7 loss on Saturday, April 30.
The Fighting Leathernecks (19-23, 14-10) were eliminated from postseason contention with the loss as the four teams at the top of The Summit League standings each punched a ticket to the league tournament with wins on Saturday.
Hailey Bickford plated Western's first run of the game with an RBI single to right field in the top of the second inning.
The Jackrabbits (10-39, 7-14) responded with three runs in the bottom half of the inning. Krista Honken's RBI double tied the game at 1-1 before Gretchen Stroh gave SDSU the lead with a two-run homer to center.
Western Illinois would come back to tie the game in the next inning when Beth Golitko drove in a run with an RBI double before a second runner scored on a throwing error.
SDSU regained the lead in the bottom of the inning on a pair of RBI singles to make it 5-3. The Leathernecks cut the deficit to one run when Ashley Campbell led off the fourth with a solo shot to center.
After a scoreless fifth inning, Nikki Marinec gave the Leathernecks the lead with a one-out, two-run blast to left that made it 6-5 in the sixth.
The Jackrabbits responded with four runs on five hits in the bottom of the sixth to take a 9-6 lead. Ashley Durazo's RBI single was followed up by a three-run homer from Allison Huffman later in the inning to cap off the scoring.
Western Illinois was able to plate a run on Golitko's double to left center and had runners on the corners with one out, but a game-ending double play ended the rally and gave SDSU the win.
Bickford (9-7) took the loss after allowing six runs on eight hits in 3.2 innings. She walked one and struck out six. Kelsey Michelini allowed three runs on six hits in 2.1 innings in relief.
Kori Seidlitz (6-18) picked up the win after allowing three runs (two earned) on four hits in 4.0 innings in relief.
Colleen Biebel led the Leathernecks with a 3-for-4 effort and scored a run. Marinec finished 2-for-4 with two RBI while Golitko also finished with two hits and knocked in a run.
Western Illinois will return to action when it travels to No. 8 Missouri for a doubleheader beginning at 3 p.m. on Wednesday.
