Modified schedule sends Jacks to Kansas City

GAMES 25-28: South Dakota State (19-5) at Kansas City (15-7); vs. Creighton (6-7)

When	Saturday, March 16 \| vs. Creighton (noon); at Kansas City (5 p.m.) Sunday, March 17 \| vs. Creighton (11 a.m.); at Kansas City (1:30 p.m.)
Where	Urban Youth Academy \| Kansas City, Missouri
Live Video	Unavailable
Live Stats	Creighton (Sat) \| Kansas City (Sat) \| Creighton (Sun) \| Kansas City (Sun)
Game Notes	South Dakota State
Social Media	Twitter \| Facebook \| #GRIT

Game Day Outlook
Due to winter's extended stay in the Midwest, South Dakota State softball's weekend slate (March 15-17) in Omaha, Nebraska has been shifted South. The Jackrabbits will still play a pair of games against Creighton and Kansas City, but the location has been moved from the Bluejays' home field to the Urban Youth Academy in Kansas City.

SDSU will take on Creighton and Kansas City on Saturday at noon and 5 p.m., respectively. Sunday's schedule features the Jackrabbits against the Bluejays at 11 a.m. before the weekend finale against the 'Roos at 1:30 p.m.

Recapping the Week
The Jackrabbits went 9-1 over their spring break trip to Clearwater, Florida, splitting time between neutral site games and a five-game stay at the USF-Clearwater Parks and Recreation Showcase. South Dakota State started the week with five straight wins, taking down Central Michigan (6-1), St. John's (5-4), Detroit Mercy (10-7), Western Michigan (1-0) and Saint Francis (7-2).

A 5-4 walk-off loss to Penn State snapped a Division I-program record 10 game winning streak, but SDSU bounced back to close the weekend with four consecutive wins. SDSU went undefeated over its Saturday and Sunday games against Colgate (8-0), Army (5-1), Providence (4-1) and Central Connecticut State (5-1).

Ali Herdliska (.400) and Julia Andersen (.342) paced the Jackrabbit offense with 12 and 13 hits, respectively, as Herdliska had a pair of doubles, a triple, a home run and nine walks while driving in seven. Andersen had two triples, blasted four home runs and drove in a team-high 14. Mallory McQuistan was 8-for-24 (.333) over nine appearances with a trio of doubles, as she, Yanney Ponce, Lyndsey Crist and Megan Rushing (two) hit home runs.

Kendra Conard and Taylor Compton posted identical 1.05 ERAs over 20 innings for the week, as Conard with 4-0 with only two walks allowed and Compton was 2-0 with four saves, logging 12 strikeouts.

Morgan DeMarais (2-1, nine strikeouts), Emma Hardin (1.31 ERA, 1-0) and Olivia Douglas (three strikeouts started games as well for the Jacks.

Scouting the Jackrabbits
South Dakota State sits at 19-5 on the season, off to its best start in program history just ahead of 1996's 18-6 record through 24 games.

Ali Herdliska leads the Jackrabbits with a slash line of .435/.797/.557 on the season, leading the Summit League in all three categories while posting a 1.354 OPS. The senior has 30 hits in 69 at-bats, hitting six home runs, five doubles and a triple with 19 walks. She has driven in 26 and scored 15 runs.

Julia Andersen (.356) has a team-high seven doubles as part of her 26 hits, with two triples and four home runs. She sits second among Jacks with 22 runs batted in for a .671 slugging mark.
Mallory McQuistan (.314) has five doubles with two home runs, Yanney Ponce (.297) sits with a pair of doubles and triples and a home run, and Baily Janssen (.284) has two doubles. Lyndsey Crist (four home runs, three doubles), Ponce and McQuistan sit third, fourth and fifth with 15, 14 and 12 runs batted in, respectively.

In the circle, Kendra Conard is off to a 6-0 start on the year with a 1.38 ERA. She has tossed two complete games and throw 30.1 total innings, allowing just six earned runs with 11 strikeouts.

Morgan DeMarais (2.25 ERA) sits with a 5-1 record over 37.1 innings, logging 16 strikeouts with four walks allowed. Taylor Compton (4-3) has a 3.95 ERA and has thrown a team-high 56. innings, striking otu 30 while recording four saves.

Jacks Honored by Summit League
South Dakota State's Julia Andersen and Kendra Conard sweep the Summit League's Player and Pitcher of the Week awards, announced March 11.

Andersen led the Jacks with 13 hits over 10 games, racking up a pair of triples and four home runs. She accounted for 22 of South Dakota State's 55 total runs for the week, driving in 14 and scoring eight. She had a team-best four multi-hit and five multi-RBI contests. Additionally, the outfielder had nine putouts and one assist in the field and swiped two bases.

Conard went 4-0 in the circle last week, posting a 1.05 ERA over 20 total innings. She tossed one complete game and allowed just three runs while walking only two batters. The sophomore threw all seven innings in a 1-0 win over Western Michigan, scattering four hits without a walk while rolling up 16 ground outs for the Jackrabbit defense.

These are the first weekly honors for both Jackrabbits, and the first of the season for South Dakota State.

Opponent Capsules

Creighton (6-7) has been hit hard by weather this spring, having its last six scheduled games canceled due to snow in the Omaha area. The Bluejays have won three of their last five games, however, and are hitting .266 as a team with 58 runs on the year. Kiara Mills (.368) and Sam Alm (.324) lead the Creighton attack that has six above the .300 mark, as Alm has 10 runs batted in, Mills has a pair of doubles and triples and Kelli Finan leads the team with 11 RBIs. Logan Black (1-3, 3.53 ERA), Laura Roecker (3-2, 6.20 ERA) and Kiele Miller (2-2, 6.58 ERA) have split time in the circle.
Kansas City (15-7) is coming off a 2-2 weekend at the Kansas Invitational. Chyanne Onstad was named the WAC's Hitter of the Week last Monday, and is one of 10 Kangaroos hitting above .300. Onstad had four doubles, a pair of home runs and 17 runs batted in. Sydney Garcia (.400) and Maegan Rollow (.397) lead the 'Roos offense, as both have six doubles. Garcia has three home runs and 16 runs batted in and Rollow has four round-trippers with 12 RBIs. Kailyn Packard (5-1) has a 1.57 ERA over 16 appearances, striking out 57. D.J. Cannon (2.47 ERA) is 6-3 on the year and has 33 strikeouts.

Jackrabbit Quick Hits

South Dakota State has shown patience at the plate all season, working 98 total walks through 24 games at a rate of 4.1 per contest. SDSU started strong with 32 total walks in its season-opening weekend. On Feb. 9 against Drake, the Jacks worked 10 free passes against Drake to match the second-most in a game for South Dakota State. The record of 11 walks has occurred four times in SDSU's history.
SDSU swiped seven bags in a 9-7 win over Colgate (Feb. 15), tying the school's Division I single-game record. It was the sixth occurence of the record and first since the 2014 season.
Julia Andersen moved into a tie for first in SDSU's record books with 36 career doubles. She even with Shelly Brandel, who set the record between 1995-98. Ali Herdliska is second all-time with 35 two-baggers.
Ali Herdliska became the school's all-time leader in career home runs with her solo shot in the first inning against Colgate (Feb. 16). She broke a tie with Devan Larsen after drawing even with the top spot on Feb. 15. She now has 38 career bombs.
Taylor Compton took a no-hitter late into the sixth inning of the season opener against Saint Louis, striking out six in the performance and going 5.2 frames before allowing a hit.
The Jackrabbits' offense has scored five or more runs in 17 of 25 contests this season, and has broke the 10-run barrier three times.
SDSU has held opponents to three or fewer runs in 13 games, one or fewer 11 times with five shutouts. The Jacks have allowed five or more in only seven games.
South Dakota State's 152 team hits has included 68 extra base hits, with 39 doubles, seven triples and 22 home runs.
Taylor Compton moved into a tie for first in Jackrabbit history with six career saves, alongside 2018 graduate Madison Hope.
Ali Herdliska is closing in on 100 career walks (currently with 99) to sit first in the Jackrabbit record books, while Lyndsey Crist is second in SDSU history with 72 free passes.

Triple Crown Chaser
Jackrabbit senior Ali Herdliska broke the school's career home run, runs batted in and total base records during SDSU's stay in Jacksonville, Florida (Feb. 15-17). Additionally, she already held the program's career walks record and is closing in on doubles and runs scored.

Should Herdliska match her season average in hits from the last two seasons (54 in both), she would end up with 210 total hits as a Jackrabbit, placing her fourth in SDSU history.
A look at the latest Jackrabbit records to watch is on page five of the game notes.

2018 Season Recap
South Dakota State is coming off a historic season that saw the program reach the postseason for the first time in its Division I history, 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 Jackrabbits finished second in the 2018 Summit League standings and broke the 35-win mark for the second time in history and won all four of their three-game Summit League series' a year ago, splitting a two-game, weather-shortened set with NDSU.

SDSU hit .322 as a team last season and set new school records for doubles (94), runs batted in (324) and runs scored (356).

In the circle, the Jackrabbits put together a 3.89 team ERA with 194 strikeouts over 352.2 total innings.

This year's South Dakota State softball program brings a roster of nine seniors, 14 total returners and nine newcomers into the 2019 campaign with high hopes of building on the achievements.

Jacks Tabbed Second in Summit League Poll
The Jackrabbit softball program earned three first-place votes and sat second in the 2019 Summit League Softball Preseason Coaches' Poll, released Feb. 1 by the league office.

The Jackrabbits received 33 votes in the poll, just one tally behind North Dakota State, who had 34 points and four first-place votes. Western Illinois sat third in the poll with 25 points, while the next four featured South Dakota (19 points), Omaha (14), North Dakota (11) and Purdue Fort Wayne (nine).

Andersen, Compton Named to League Watch Lists
Julia Andersen and Taylor Compton were announced as a Player and Pitcher to Watch, respectively, by The Summit League for the 2019 season, announced in February alongside the coaches' poll.

A 2018 NFCA All-Midwest Region Second Team performer, Andersen is back after starting all 55 games for the Jackrabbits a year ago. She finished second on the team with a .397 average, tying the school's single-season hits (77) and doubles (19) records en route to being named an All-Summit League First Team pick.

Compton started 20 games last year and posted a 9-8 record, tossing 111.2 total innings with a 4.51 ERA. She threw six perfect innings of relief in the National Invitational Softball Championship to help the Jacks reach the title game.

Smarty Jacks
South Dakota State was one of 107 Division I softball programs to earn a spot on the 2018 Easton / National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) All-Academic Teams award list, announced this fall. The rankings recognize the academic prowess of softball teams within the NFCA.

The Jackrabbits had a 2017-18 team grade point average of 3.478 with 17 team members boasting grand point averages above the 3.00 mark, finishing 39th nationally in team GPA. Julia Andersen, Taylor Compton, Lyndsey Crist, Olivia Douglas, Ali Herdliska, Madison Hope, Mallory McQuistan, Erin Mullen, Abbey Murphy, Danielle Steffo and Kerigan Torres earned 3.50 or above GPAs and were honored as NFCA scholar-athletes in the same release. Herdliska (who was also named to the Academic All-Summit League team in 2017 and 2018), Mullen, Murphy and Steffo are repeat selections from the 2017 team.

SDSU posted a 3.44 team GPA this fall with six student-athletes achieving 4.0 GPAs, nine at or above a 3.7 and 19 with a 3.0 GPA or higher.

A Look in the Dugout
Krista Wood returns for her fifth season as head coach of the Jackrabbits alongside second-year assistant Kristi Villar, rookie assistant Kiki Stokes and volunteer coach Jeff Lewis.

Wood holds a 105-118 record at South Dakota State and a 375-272 mark in her 13th season of overall head coaching experience. She won her 100th game at SDSU during the 2018 National Invitational Softball Championship last year and is 38 victories shy of becoming the winningest coach in Jackrabbit softball history.

Villar came to SDSU in the summer of 2017 after seven years as head coach at Northern State University. In her first season as the primary hitting coach for the Jackrabbits, Villar helped the team reset season records in total bases, runs and doubles while tallying the second-highest totals in home runs, at-bats and wins. All told, Villar helped the Jacks raise their team batting average by sixty points (.322) in her first season at State.

Stokes was hired in August of 2018 after a standout career at Nebraska. The former Husker had a career .350 average, was a two-time All-American (2015, 2016) and holds the school record in runs scored (200). From Olathe, Kansas, Stokes was the No. 6 overall pick by the Houston Scrap Yard Dawgs in the 2016 National Pro Fastpitch league and led the team to its first NPF Championship in 2017. She recently completed her third season with the professional franchise.

Jeff Lewis in his second season as volunteer assistant coach for the Jackrabbit softball program, joining them in the fall of 2018. He is a member of the USA Junior Men's National Fastpitch Softball team, competing in the WBSC in 2016 and 2018 and received an invitation to try out for the USA Men's National Fastpitch Softball team in January 2019.

Six Sign NLIs with Jackrabbit Softball
South Dakota State softball coach Krista Wood announced six signees to the Jackrabbit softball program as part of November's national signing day: Jocelyn Carrillo (Palmdale, California), Lindsey Culver (Cedar Rapids, Iowa), Mia Elliot (Des Moines, Iowa), Grace Glanzer (Sioux Falls), Cyle Halvorson (Sioux Falls) and Isabel Martinez (Oak Lawn, Illinois).

All six additions will enroll at SDSU for the 2019-20 school year as incoming freshman and be eligible to play immediately for the Jacks.

-GoJacks.com-

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Players Mentioned

Julia Andersen

Taylor Compton

Kendra Conard

Lyndsey Crist

Morgan DeMarais

Olivia Douglas

Emma Hardin

Ali Herdliska

Madison Hope

Baily Janssen

Devan Larsen

Mallory McQuistan

Erin Mullen

Abbey Murphy

Yanney Ponce

Megan Rushing

Danielle Steffo

Kerigan Torres

Completed Event: Softball versus Augustana on October 5, 2025 ,

Completed Event: Softball versus Minnesota Crookston on September 28, 2025 ,

Completed Event: Softball versus Sioux Falls / Morningside on September 21, 2025 ,

Completed Event: Softball versus SMSU on September 14, 2025 ,

Completed Event: Softball versus #3 South Dakota on May 9, 2025 , Loss , 2, to, 3 , 8 Inn.

Completed Event: Softball versus #1 Omaha on May 9, 2025 , Loss , 6, to, 8 , 9 Inn.

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