Photo Gallery (4-12-15)FARGO, N.D.--
Krista Menke threw her second one-hitter of the weekend and
Alyssa Reina hit a pair of home runs to lead North Dakota State University to a 9-0 shutout of South Dakota State University to complete the Summit League softball series sweep on Sunday, April 12, before 108 spectators at the Ellig Sports Complex.
NDSU (32-7, 10-2 Summit League) is scheduled to play at Fort Wayne (3-33, 2-10 Summit League) in a three-game series April 18 and April 19.
Menke, a 5-foot-11 senior from Friend, Neb., carried a perfect game into the fifth inning. She retired the first batter and then surrendered a single down the right field line to Alyssa D'Agostino. Menke retired the final two batters to record her second one-hitter on the weekend, fourth this season and eighth of her career.
It was Menke's eighth shutout this season and 29th of her career. She struck out six and issued no walks on Sunday. On the weekend, Menke allowed only two hits over 12 innings pitched with 20 strikeouts.
While Menke was silencing South Dakota State (12-18, 3-6 Summit League), the offense revved up and picked up where it left off in the fifth inning Saturday.
Cheyenne Garcia and
Logan Moreland both opened with singles, and were promptly sent home on
Amanda Grable's line drive double off the fence in left. Reina then drilled a two-run home run to left center to put the Bison ahead 4-0 in the bottom of the first.
It was the first of two home runs for Reina, a 5-7 redshirt sophomore catcher from Auburn, Calif., who tied a school single-game record with the performance. Her second home run, a solo shot to center, was part of a four-run second inning.
Katie Shoultz reached on an infield single, stole second and sped home on Garcia's double to left center. Garcia moved to third on a ground out and scored on Grable's squeeze bunt.
Alex Sobrero followed Reina's home run with single and scored on
Jackie Stifter's double to right center to extend the NDSU lead to 8-0.
North Dakota State closed out the scoring with a run in the third. Moreland reached on a bunt single, stole second and scored on an error.
Garcia, Moreland, Reina and Stifter each had two hits for NDSU. Stifter finished the weekend 5-for-8 -- all doubles. The Bison hit .431 during the weekend with 13 extra base hits and 28 runs scored.
Bryana Clark (4-9) and Ashlyn Bender pitched for South Dakota State with Clark picking up the loss. Bender struck out three and walked one.