Upcoming Event: Softball versus Minnesota Crookston on September 28, 2025 at 1 p.m.
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1 p.m.
Softball
vs Minnesota Crookston
South Dakota State University Athletics
Tuesday, March 5
Clearwater, Fla.
10 a.m.
South Dakota State University
vs
Central Michigan
Photo by: Laura Mullen
Softball treks to Florida for spring break
3/3/2019 9:00:00 AM | Softball
| Â GAMES 15-24: South Dakota State (10-4) at USF-Clearwater Parks & Rec Showcase |
| Â When | Â Tuesday, March 5 | vs. Central Michigan (10 a.m.); vs. St. John's (12:30 p.m.) Â Wednesday, March 6 | vs. Detroit Mercy (9 a.m.); vs. Western Michigan (2:30 p.m.) Â Friday, March 8 | vs. Saint Francis (11:30 a.m.); vs. Penn State (2 p.m.) Â Saturday, March 9 | vs. Colgate (8:30 a.m.); vs. Army (1:30 p.m.) Â Sunday, March 10 | vs. Providence (8 a.m.); vs. Central Connecticut State (10:15 a.m.) |
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|  Where |  Eddie C Moore Sports Complex | Clearwater, Florida | |
| Â Live Video | Â Not Available | |
| Â Live Stats | Â To Be Determined | |
|  Game Notes |  South Dakota State | Tournament Page | |
| Â Social Media | Â Twitter | Facebook | #GRIT | |
Game Day Outlook
South Dakota State is set for a return trip to the Sunshine State next week over spring break, traveling to Clearwater, Florida for 10 games between March 5-10. The Jackrabbits will play five games in the USF-Clearwater Parks and Recreation Showcase during their stay with another five added at neutral sites.
SDSU takes on Central Michigan and St. John's on Tuesday before a pair of games with Detroit Mercy and Western Michigan Wednesday.
After a day off Thursday, the Jacks begin the showcase event Friday with matchups against Saint Francis and Penn State. Day two of the invitational (Saturday) features SDSU against Colgate and Army. The Jackrabbits have one more neutral site game against Providence Sunday morning, before the final game of the USF-hosted event that same day.
Due to game locations, live coverage of the events will be limited with live stat and video coverage to-be-determined. Follow the Jackrabbits on Twitter (@GoJacksSB), and visit SDSU softball's schedule page for game day links, should they become available.
Recapping the Weekend
The Jacks 4-0 last weekend (Feb. 24-25) at the 2019 Michelle Short Memorial Classic, after wet weather in the area forced an adjustment to SDSU's original schedule. Instead of a three-day, five-game stay at the event, the Jackrabbits picked up four wins over two days in Conway, Arkansas.
SDSU started the weekend with a 16-1 thrashing of Jackson State before a 7-4 win in extra innings against host-school Central Arkansas. Day two featured a 6-5 victory against North Alabama before another run-rule, 9-1, win over Jackson State.
Julia Andersen hit .462 (6-of-13) at the event with three doubles, two walks and four RBIs, tying the school's career doubles record over the weekend. Caelyn Christiancy continued her hot start in her freshman campaign and was 4-of-9 with a triple, double and four RBIs.
Ali Herdliska added six hits, including a home run and two doubles for the weekend, and Baily Janssen and Peyton Daugherty each had four hits and .364 averages.
Morgan DeMarais had a pair of relief wins over 11.2 innings, striking out four with two runs (one earned) allowed. Kendra Conard did not allow an earned run in a five-inning victory that saw her strike out six, and Olivia Douglas tossed a one-hitter in the weekend opener, allowing one run with two strikeouts.
Scouting the Jackrabbits
South Dakota State sits at 10-4 on the season and is off to its best start at the Division I level.
Ali Herdliska leads the Jackrabbits with a slash line of .462/.923/.571 on the season while posting a Summit League-best 1.494 OPS through three weekends. The senior has 18 hits in 39 at-bats with five home runs and 10 walks. She has driven in 19 and struck out just five times.
Baily Janssen is hitting .342 for the year with 13 hits and five RBIs, while Yanney Ponce (.289) has 13 hits, two doubles and a triple. Lyndsey Crist (.281) has hit three long balls and is second on the team with 11 runs driven in, while Mallory McQuistan (.296), Allison Beaudry (.222) and Kelsey Lenox (.500) each have a home run.
Julia Andersen (.371) has appeared in 10 of 14 games for SDSU and has seven doubles in 13 hits. She is tied with McQuistan for third in team RBIs (eight).
In the circle, Morgan DeMarais is 3-0 on the year with a 1.07 ERA, notching seven strikeouts in 19.2 innings pitched. Taylor Compton (2-3) has thrown a team-high 36.2 frames and has a 5.54 ERA with 18 strikeouts.
Olivia Douglas (2-0) boasts a sub-1.00 ERA (0.58) over 12 innings pitched, and Kendra Conard (2.03 ERA) has two wins and eight strikeouts.
Opponent Capsules
- Central Michigan (6-6) has three above the .300 mark at the plate, with Allison Curtis (.395, three doubles) and Shannon Stein (.394, three doubles) leading the way. In the circle, Samantha Howell (3.50 ERA) is 2-0 with a team-best 24 innings thrown.
- St. John's (5-6) has allowed 6.8 runs per contest, with Madison Morris throwing 41 innings in the circle with a 4.83 ERA. The Red Storm's offensive leader, Marissa Rizzi, is 11-of-28 (.393) at the plate with two doubles and three home runs for an offense averaging 3.1 runs per game.
- Detroit Mercy (6-8) is led offensively by Ellie Boteller, who is hitting .412 (14-of-34) with two doubles and a home run. Ashley Mauser (44 innings) is 3-3 on the year with a 2.39 ERA.
- Western Michigan (1-6) has a .232 team batting average, led by Mackenzie Swinehart's .435 mark. Sydney Stefanick (3.44 ERA) has appeared in five games and thrown 18.1 innings with 14 strikeouts.
- Hayley Nortan is off to a hot start for Saint Francis (8-8), posting a .521 average through 16 games with 25 hits, six home runs and 22 RBIs. Three pitchers have thrown 26 or more innings for the Red Flash: Meadow Uncapher (2.69 ERA, seven strikeouts), Christina Clark (4.79 ERA, 14 strikeouts) and Mikayla Bower (5.64 ERA, 17 strikeouts).
- Penn State (4-11) has two players above the .300 mark in Tori Dubois (.311, four doubles) and Melina Livingston (10 hits, two RBIs). Baily Parshall has thrown a team-high 45 innings with a 2.64 ERA, striking out 60.
- Colgate (5-4) is hitting .304 as a team led by Jordan Miller's three home runs, nine runs batted in and .500 average. Jessica Hay (1.96 ERA) has appeared in eight games and holds a 3-1 record with seven strikeouts. SDSU and Colgate faced off twice earlier this season in Jacksonville, with the Jackrabbits claiming 7-9 and 1-0 victories.
- Grace Mattimore is hitting .417 (10-of-24) with three doubles and three home runs for Army (5-10) while driving in 13. Jolie Duong has throw 57 innings with 23 strikeouts, posting a 3.93 ERA and a 4-5 record.
- Providence (4-6) is led offensively by Emma Lee, who has started all 10 games and has 11 hits (.314 average) with four RBIs. Daniela Alvarez (2.12 ERA) is 3-2 over six appearances, striking out 17 over 29.2 frames.
- Central Connecticut State (3-1) is hitting .306 as a team, led by Sydney Bolan's seven hits, two home runs and five RBIs. Carley Stoker has a 3.77 ERA over 13 innings pitched, striking out eight.
Jackrabbit Quick Hits
- South Dakota State worked 32 total walks in the opening weekend, averaging 6.4 per contest. The Jackrabbits have 63 total walks for the season (4.5 per contest).
- 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 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.
- The Jacks worked 10 free passes against Drake matching the second-most in a game for South Dakota State. The record of 11 walks has occurred four times in SDSU's history.
- 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.
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 112-120 record at South Dakota State and a 382-274 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.
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