Recapping softball's historic season

The 2018 Jackrabbit softball season was one for the history books, as the program reset the bar on success at South Dakota State and laid the groundwork for years to come. To help understand what was accomplished this season, GoJacks.com made a list of the highlights, awards and memorable moments:

Highlights

South Dakota State advanced to postseason action for the first time in its Division I era, earning an automatic bid to the 2018 National Invitational Softball Championship, where the team reached the championship round and forced a winner-take-all at the regional in Greeley, Colorado. The other postseason appearance for a Jackrabbit squad came in the 1996 NCAA Division II Central Regional.
The Jackrabbits finished 2018 with the program's highest-ever winning percentage (.673), claiming 18 more wins than last season while going 37-18.
SDSU broke the 35-mark win for the second time in history (the 1996 team went 43-22) and matched or surpassed the 30-win plateau for the fourth time ever. The last time it happened was in 2005, when the team went 30-29 during its first season of transitioning to Division I athletics.
The Jacks won all four of their three-game Summit League series' this year, including a sweep of Fort Wayne. SDSU split a weather-shortened set with North Dakota State mid-April with an 11-3 run-rule victory in game two.
State posted a 3.47 combined grade-point average in the fall an followed it up with a 3.49 combined GPA in the spring.
The Jackrabbits won 13 games by run-rule in 2018, including a run of four straight run-rule victories against Fort Wayne, Dakota State (twice) and Western Illinois.
SDSU scored five or more runs in an inning 21 times.

Awards

Four Jackrabbits were named to the NFCA All-Midwest Region team May 17, as Brittney Morse and Ali Herdliska picked up first team honors and Abbey Murphy and Julia Andersen were voted to the second team. The Jacks had never seen a student-athlete selected as all-region performers at the Division I level.
Jackrabbit senior Brittney Morse was named the Summit League's Player of the Year after a stellar regular season that saw her lead the conference in batting average (.418) and runs batted in (58), resetting the school's single-season record in RBIs.
Morse headlined a program-best six All-Summit League selections, joining Madison Hope and Julia Andersen on the league's first team. Abbey Murphy, Ali Herdliska and Megan Rushing were picked to the second team.
Head Coach Krista Wood earned Summit League Coach of the Year honors for the first time in her career.
SDSU saw four student-athletes pick up weekly awards from The Summit League, as Megan Rushing (April 30), Brittney Morse (April 9), Madison Hope (March 12 and 29) and Baily Janssen (Feb. 26) were recognized for standout performances throughout the year.
South Dakota State was one of 149 Division I softball programs to earn a spot on the 2017 Easton / National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) All-Academic Teams award list. The rankings recognize the academic prowess of softball teams across seven membership divisions within the NFCA.

Memorable Moments

With a 6-5 mark through 11 games of the campaign, South Dakota State pulled far ahead of .500 for good with an 8-2 record during a 10-game road trip in Clearwater, Florida March 6-11.
South Dakota State picked up its first doubleheader sweep of a Power Five opponent in team history March 21 when the Jacks took down Iowa in Iowa City, 4-1 and 5-2.
Five seniors - Abbey Murphy, Madison Hope, Dana Chavez, Danielle Steffo and Brittney Morse - graduated on May 5.
With the Jackrabbits trailing Omaha by two in a Summit League Championship elimination game May 11, Abbey Murphy hit a three-run home run in the top of the seventh (her first home run of the season) to push State towards a 4-3 victory that earned the team a berth in the title game.
Coach Wood earned her 100th victory at South Dakota State May 16 against Colorado State in the National Invitational Softball Championship.
Taylor Compton tossed six perfect innings in relief May 17 at the NISC against Colorado State, retired 18 consecutive batters faced with five strikeouts.

Records Chased and Broken (Top 5)

Individual Career Records				Individual Season Records
Slugging Percentage				Batting Average
Rk	Pct	Name	Years	Rk	Avg	Name	Season
1	.611	Ali Herdliska	2016-pres.	1	.461	Donna Hansen	1995
2	.577	Devan Larsen	2013-16	2	.415	Abbey Murphy	2018
3	.550	Mandi Geis	2002-03	3	.403	Megan Johnson	2001
4	.548	Brittney Morse	2017-18	4	.397	Julia Andersen	2018
5	.536	Alyssa D'Agostino	2014-15	5	.396	Brittney Morse	2018

On-Base Percentage				Slugging Percentage
Rk	OBP	Name	Years	Rk	Pct	Name	Season
1	.432	Ali Herdliska	2016-pres.	1	.725	Ali Herdliska	2016
2	.429	Donna Hansen	1994-97	2	.691	Devan Larsen	2015
3	.407	Mandi Geis	2002-03	3	.678	Alyssa D'Agostino	2015
4	.402	Abbey Murphy	2016-18	4	.652	Donna Hansen	1995
5	.390	Lyndsey Crist	2016-pres.	5	.636	Brittney Morse	2018

Runs Scored				On-Base Percentage
Rk	Runs	Name	Years	Rk	OBP	Name	Season
1	135	Angie Friberg	1994-97	1	.500	Abbey Murphy	2018
2	127	Ashley Kalina	2002-05	2	.496	Donna Hansen	1995
3	121	Stacey Warner	1995-98	3	.473	Shari Moore	1985
4	112	Donna Hansen	1994-97	4	.461	Ali Herdliska	2016
5	109	Ali Herdliska	2016-pres.	5	.453	Julia Andersen	2018

Home Runs				At Bats
Rk	HR	Name	Years	Rk	AB	Name	Season
1	35	Devan Larsen	2013-16	1	207	Donna Hansen	1996
2	32	Ali Herdliska	2016-pres.	2	194	Julia Andersen	2018
3	25	Steph Kuhl	2004-07	3	191	Ashley Kalina	2003
4	20	Ashley Kalina	2002-05		191	Megan Johnson	2001
5	19	Shelly Brandel	1995-98		191	Jill Schumacher	1996

Runs Batted In				Runs Scored
Rk	RBI	Name	Years	Rk	Runs	Name	Season
1	131	Steph Kuhl	2004-07	1	53	Abbey Murphy	2018
2	122	Ali Herdliska	2016-pres.	2	51	Julia Andersen	2018
3	121	Shelly Brandel	1995-98	3	45	Ali Herdliska	2018
4	111	Ashley Kalina	2002-05		45	Donna Hansen	1996
5	105	Devan Larsen	2013-16	5	43	Devan Larsen	2015

Total Bases				Hits
Rk	Bases	Name	Years	Rk	Hits	Name	Season
1	312	Ashley Kalina	2002-05	1	77	Julia Andersen	2018
2	305	Shelly Brandel	1995-98		77	Megan Johnson	2001
3	293	Steph Kuhl	2004-07	3	76	Abbey Murphy	2018
4	292	Ali Herdliska	2016-pres.	4	74	Brittney Morse	2018
5	287	Ashley Durazo	2008-11		74	Donna Hansen	1996

Walks				Doubles
Rk	BB	Name	Years	Rk	2B	Name	Season
1	80	Ali Herdliska	2016-pres.	1	19	Julia Andersen	2018
2	71	Stacey Warner	1995-98		19	Elyse Eitel	2015
3	68	Lindsay Distel	2001-03	3	18	Ali Herdliska	2017
4	65	Stacey Evans	2005-06, 08-09	4	17	Angie Friberg	1995
	65	Devan Larsen	2013-16	5	15	Brittney Morse	2018
					15	Lauren Chirnside	2016
Hit By Pitch
Rk	HBP	Name	Years	Home Runs
1	20	Jessica Markanich	2012-15	Rk	HR	Name	Season
2	19	Abbey Murphy	2016-18	1	16	Ali Herdliska	2016
3	13	Ali Herdliska	2016-pres.		16	Devan Larsen	2015
	13	Lindsay Reiter	2004-05	3	12	Devan Larsen	2016
	13	Mallory McQuistan	2016-pres.	4	11	Alyssa D'Agostino	2015
				5	10	Steph Kuhl	2006
Saves					10	Brittney Morse	2018
Rk	Saves	Name	Years		10	Ali Herdliska	2018
1	6	Madison Hope	2017-18
2	5	Kim Westendorf	2005-07	Runs Batted In
3	3	Five tied		Rk	RBI	Name	Season
				1	61	Brittney Morse	2018
Defensive Chances				2	50	Alyssa D'Agostino	2015
Rk	Chances	Name	Years	3	45	Ali Herdliska	2016
1	1509	Kiley Schwedhelm	2005-08	4	41	Ali Herdliska	2018
2	1245	Jen Lewis	1996-99	5	40	Devan Larsen	2015
3	1175	Ali Herdliska	2016-pres.		40	Lauren Chirnside	2016
4	1125	Lindsay Distel	2001-03
5	951	Ali Adair	2003-05	Total Bases
				Rk	Bases	Name	Season
Putouts				1	119	Brittney Morse	2018
Rk	PO	Name	Years	2	114	Julia Andersen	2018
1	1379	Kiley Schwedhelm	2005-08	3	108	Ali Herdliska	2016
2	1134	Jen Lewis	1996-99	4	105	Devan Larsen	2015
3	1096	Ali Herdliska	2016-pres.	5	104	Abbey Murphy	2018
4	1021	Lindsay Distel	2001-03
5	787	Dani Broshar	2007-10	Walks
				Rk	BB	Name	Season
				1	34	Ali Herdliska	2016
				2	29	Lindsay Distel	2003
				3	28	Ali Herdliska	2018
				4	27	Abbey Murphy	2018
					27	Sammy Bingham	2013

				Wins
				Rk	Wins	Name	Season
				1	23	Madison Hope	2018
				2	22	Melissa Peter	1996
				3	19	Allison Sempsis	2001
				4	18	Melissa Peter	1997
					18	Jaime Dofner	1998

				Saves
				Rk	Saves	Name	Season
				1	4	Madison Hope	2018
				2	3	Lisa Cox	1987
				3	2	Eight tied

Team Season Records

Batting Average			Home Runs
Rk	Avg.	Season	Rk	HR	Season
1	.380	1975	1	53	2016
2	.360	1974	2	49	2018
3	.327	1973		49	2015
4	.322	2018	4	34	2003
5	.321	1977	5	32	2017

Slugging Percentage			Runs Batted In
Rk	Pct.	Season	Rk	RBI	Season
1	.541	1974	1	324	2018
2	.529	1973	2	248	2015
3	.499	1975		248	1995
4	.494	2018	4	241	2016
5	.480	2015	5	239	1996

On-Base Percentage			Total Bases
Rk	OBP	Season	Rk	Bases	Season
1	.473	1975	1	754	2018
2	.454	1974	2	663	1996
3	.438	1977	3	644	2015
4	.408	1973	4	639	2016
5	.402	2018	5	589	2003

At Bats			Walks
Rk	AB	Season	Rk	BB	Season
1	1805	1996	1	187	2018
2	1527	2018	2	169	2016
3	1526	2003	3	162	2004
4	1510	2004	4	160	2005
5	1507	1994	5	158	1995

Runs			Hit By Pitch
Rk	Runs	Season	Rk	HBP	Season
1	356	2018	1	41	2015
2	324	1996	2	38	2017
3	285	1995	3	30	2016
4	277	2015	4	29	2003
5	259	2016	5	27	2018

Hits			Wins
Rk	Hits	Season	Rk	Wins	Season
1	524	1996	1	43	1996
2	492	2018	2	37	2018
3	428	2001	3	31	1997
4	415	1994	4	30	2005
5	413	2003	5	26	1998, 2001, 03

Doubles			Saves
Rk	2B	Season	Rk	Saves	Season
1	93	2018	1	6	2018
2	80	2015		3	1996
3	71	2004		3	2005
	71	2017		3	2017
5	69	2016		3	1987

Fielding Percentage			Double Plays Turned
Rk	Pct	Season	Rk	DP	Season
1	.970	2018	1	22	2006
2	.961	1994	2	17	2011, 2015
3	.960	2011	4	16	2018
4	.959	2016	5	15	2016, 2017
5	.959	2010

-GoJacks.com-

Calendar

Upcoming Events

Recent Results

Players Mentioned

Julia Andersen

Dana Chavez

Taylor Compton

Lyndsey Crist

Ali Herdliska

Madison Hope

Baily Janssen

Mallory McQuistan

Brittney Morse

Abbey Murphy

Megan Rushing

Danielle Steffo

Upcoming Event: Softball versus Georgia Tech on April 11, 2026 at 10 a.m.

Upcoming Event: Softball at Iowa on April 11, 2026 at 4 p.m.

Upcoming Event: Softball versus Georgia Tech on April 12, 2026 at 10 a.m.

Upcoming Event: Softball at Iowa on April 12, 2026 at 12:30 p.m.

Upcoming Event: Softball at Omaha on April 17, 2026 at 6 p.m.

Upcoming Event: Softball at Omaha on April 18, 2026 at 6 p.m.

Completed Event: Softball at Kansas City on April 3, 2026 , Loss , 2, to, 4

Completed Event: Softball at Kansas City on April 2, 2026 , Loss , 5, to, 7

Completed Event: Softball at Kansas City on April 2, 2026 , Loss , 4, to, 10

Completed Event: Softball versus North Dakota on March 30, 2026 , Win , 4, to, 1

Completed Event: Softball versus North Dakota on March 29, 2026 , Win , 8, to, 0 , 5 Inn.

Completed Event: Softball versus North Dakota on March 28, 2026 , Win , 14, to, 6

South Dakota State University Athletics