South Dakota and Harvard played to a 9-9 tie in a softball game that went into extra innings before being stopped by a lightning delay in the ninth inning. The game took place Saturday morning in Miami, Florida.
Harvard scored first with a run in the opening inning. South Dakota responded in the second when Iburg doubled, Kersten singled, and Brown hit a three-run home run to left field, putting the Coyotes ahead 3-1.
South Dakota increased their lead in the third inning. White was hit by a pitch, Carey singled, Johnson had an RBI single to score White, and Kersten was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, bringing in another run for a 5-2 advantage.
Harvard came back with four runs in the fifth inning to take a 6-5 lead. In the seventh, Brown singled and Iversen followed with another hit. Evans drove in Hempey with an RBI single to tie it at 6-6. White then singled to bring home Iversen, and Carey reached on an error that allowed Evans to score, making it 8-6 for South Dakota.
The Crimson tied it again with two runs in the bottom of the seventh, sending the game into extra innings.
Under international tiebreaker rules in the eighth inning, Iburg started on second base. Johnson moved her to third with a sacrifice bunt before Cromer delivered an RBI single through the right side for a 9-8 Coyotes lead.
Harvard tied it again with a sacrifice fly in their half of the eighth. The game was stopped during a lightning delay in the ninth inning and was officially recorded as a tie.
Brown led South Dakota’s offense by going 3-for-4 with three RBIs and hitting a home run. Evans contributed two hits and an RBI; Iburg and Kersten each had two hits as well. Iversen and Carey also recorded multiple hits.
German started as pitcher for South Dakota, giving up six runs over just over four innings. Evans and Lensmeyer pitched for the remaining nearly four innings.
South Dakota is scheduled to play next weekend against Northern Colorado and Colorado State on their opponents’ fields.
