South Dakota State claims fourth straight Summit League softball title

OMAHA — The Jackrabbits are Summit League softball champions again, clinching the conference regular season title on the same day they suffered their first loss in league play.

The Jacks dropped the opener 2-0, their first Summit League loss of the season, but fought back for a 6-4 win in the nightcap that moved them to 14-1 in the conference and secured the title. The Jacks had won 17 in a row entering the day, and 46 straight regular season conference games.

The Jacks will be the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament, which they will host in Brookings next weekend.

SDSU ace pitcher Tori Kniesche took a rare loss in the opener, getting outdueled by Omaha’s Kameryn Meyer, but they rallied from down 4-2 to win in the second game, getting a two-run double from Emma Osmundson to tie the score and a two-run triple from Mia Jarecki to take the lead and the win.

Akayla Barnard (5-2) worked 3 1/3 scoreless innings in relief of Shannon Lasey to earn the win for the Jacks.

Jarecki and Osmundson each had two hits and Alli Boyle had two RBI.

Matt Zimmer is a Sioux Falls native and longtime sports writer. He graduated from Washington High School where he played football, legion baseball and developed his lifelong love of the Minnesota Twins and Vikings. After graduating from St. Cloud State University, he returned to Sioux Falls, and began a long career in amateur baseball and sports reporting. Email Matt at mzimmer@siouxfallslive.com.