Jacks, Coyotes renew rivalry this weekend

GAMES 47-49: South Dakota State (32-14, 9-6) vs. South Dakota (30-22, 11-4)

When	Friday, May 3 \| noon & 2 p.m. \| Cubby's Feed the Fans Day Saturday, May 4 \| 11 a.m. \| Alumni Day
Where	Jackrabbit Softball Stadium \| Brookings, S.D.
Live Video	Jackrabbit All-Access
Live Stats	GoJacksLive.com
Game Notes	South Dakota State
Social Media	Twitter \| Facebook \| #GRIT

Weekly Outlook
South Dakota State wraps up the 2019 regular season this weekend at home, hosting the South Dakota Coyotes in a three-game series with postseason implications. The Jackrabbits and 'Yotes are set for a Friday doubleheader at noon before wrapping up the series Saturday with an 11 a.m. scheduled first pitch.

SDSU sits two games back of USD in the Summit League standings, still in the hunt for the second-seed in next week's league championship.

Friday's doubleheader is the annual Cubby's Feed the Fans day, where Cubby's Sports Bar and Grill will grill burgers for fans prior to game one. Saturday is also Alumni Day at Jackrabbit Softball Stadiums, where former Jackrabbits will be recognized on the field before first pitch.

The Jackrabbits are 78-62 all-time against South Dakota with a 32-14 mark in Brookings. Since Krista Wood's arrival in 20-15, SDSU holds a 5-9 mark against the Coyotes, but last year picked up two wins in a neutral site series.

A Look Ahead
South Dakota State is two games out of second-place in the Summit League standings entering the final week of the regular season. The top six teams in the league qualify for the Summit League Championship in Fargo, North Dakota next month, and five teams have already clinched their spot in the event.

North Dakota State has locked in the top seed, and South Dakota sits second. A win for the Coyotes this weekend would give them the No. 2 spot.

The Jackrabbits are tied with Western Illinois and two games back of South Dakota. Should the Jackrabbits sweep USD and Western Illinois loses one of their three games at Omaha, SDSU will be the No. 2 seed. Western Illinois currently holds the tie-breaker over South Dakota State after taking two of three against the Jackrabbits earlier this year.

SDSU could also end up as the third, fourth or fifth seed based on this weekend's outcome. The Jacks are the No. 3 seed if they win the USD series and Western loses its series at Omaha. SDSU is No. 4 seed if Western sweeps Omaha, or the Jacks win the same amount of games as the Leathernecks. SDSU will drop to the No. 5 seed if they are swept and North Dakota sweeps the Bison.

Purdue Fort Wayne has completed its league portion of the regular season, and at 3-15 is holding on to the final spot. The Mastodons hold the tiebreaker over Omaha, meaning the Mavericks would need to sweep Western Illinois to clinch a spot in the Summit League Tournament.

The top two seeds earn a first-round bye into Thursday, where double-elimination play begins. Seeds 3-6 play Wednesday in Fargo, North Dakota in single-elimination contests.

Recapping the Weekend
South Dakota State dropped two of three games last weekend at North Dakota, snapping a seven-game winning streak in the process. SDSU started the series with a 2-1 victory over the Fighting Hawks, but fell 3-1 and 7-1 in the final two games of the weekend.

The Jackrabbits were led by Megan Rushing, Ali Herdliska and Julia Andersen, who all had three hits for the squad, while Lyndsey Crist and Peyton Daugherty added two hit each. Andersen and Herdliska had SDSU's lone extra base hits (doubles), while the Jacks combined for a .203 average and .294/.230 on-base and slugging percentages, respectively.

SDSU's pitching staff had a 4.05 ERA over the weekend, throwing 19 total innings with 11 runs (all earned) allowed. The Jacks logged 15 strikeouts, led by Kendra Conard's eight K's. Conard went 1-1 on the weekend over two appearances, earning a win in game one. Morgan DeMarais, Jadelyn Johnson, Taylor Compton and Emma Hardin also threw in the weekend.

Scouting the Jackrabbits
South Dakota State sits at 32-14 on the season, two games better than last year's record through 46 games (its best season at the Division I level) and four ahead of the 1996 team's (which finished with a program-record 43 wins) mark through the same amount of games.

The Jacks reached the 20-win mark on March 16, marking the earliest they've done it (date-wise) in program history. SDSU has now won 25 games in back-to-back seasons for just the fourth time in school history.

SDSU reached the 30-win plateau for the second year in a row on April 23, accomplishing the feat in back-to-back seasons for the second time in program history.

The Jackrabbit offense is hitting .277/.379/.435 on the year with an OPS of .814. SDSU has outscored opponents by 88 total runs this season (1.9 per game) and have 116 extra base hits. The Jacks have worked 183 walks (four shy of the school's free pass record) and have nine players with 10 or more walks on the year.

Ali Herdliska leads the Jackrabbits with a slash line of .377/.529/.737, pacing the Summit League in on-base and slugging percentages while posting a 1.217 OPS (more than 100 points better than the next highest league-wide).

The senior has a team-high 47 hits in 130 at-bats, racking up 12 home runs, seven doubles and a triple with a single-season record 39 walks. She has driven in 37 and scored 28 runs.

Yanney Ponce has been hot in Summit League play, raising her season average to .310 while sitting second in team hits (44). She is hitting .326 in 15 Summit League games with four doubles, two triples, a home run and 13 runs batted in. For the year, Ponce has seven doubles, four triples and two home runs, driving in 30 while working 10 walks.

Baily Janssen (.296) is 34-of-115 with four doubles, 16 RBIs and 16 walks, Lyndsey Crist (.279, 21 walks) has eight home runs, five doubles, two triples and 27 runs batted in and Mallory McQuistan (.273) has seven doubles and 20 RBIs with 15 walks.

Julia Andersen leads the team with 13 doubles, posting a .265 average on the season with 39 hits and 30 RBIs.

Megan Rushing leads the team with a .341 average (15 hits) in league play, hitting five doubles with seven doubles, while Herdliska is tied with Janssen for second in average (.333). Janssen has 10 hits in league play and Herdliska has 14, including two doubles and four home runs with 13 walks.

The Jackrabbit pitching staff has a 3.32 combined ERA over 305.1 total innings, allowing 163 runs (145 earned) on the season with 156 strikeouts.

Kendra Conard (13-3) has tossed eight complete games in 17 starts (20 appearances), striking out a team-best 47 with 28 earned runs allowed. She has a 1.26 WHIP on the season and has allowed only two home run (as part of 12 extra-base hits allowed).

Morgan DeMarais (6-4, 1.43 WHIP) has made 17 appearances with 11 starts in her freshman campaign. She has tossed 74 total innings with 35 strikeouts, walking only nine batters.

Taylor Compton (8-4, five saves) has transitioned into a relief role this season, holding opponents to a .244 batting average against over 24 appearances (eight starts). Compton's 1.44 WHIP is third-best among Jackrabbits, as she has tossed 82.2 innings with 43 strikeouts.

Jacks Honored by Summit League
South Dakota State has claimed three Summit League weekly awards in the 2019 campaign.

Yanney Ponce earned her first-ever weekly recognition April 22. She hit .583 over four games with a double, two triples and eight runs batted in between the series finale with North Dakota State (where she went 1-for-2 with a walk) and a three-game set against Purdue Fort Wayne. In the weekend series with the Mastodons, Ponce led the team with a 6-of-10 effort at the plate, tallying eight RBIs alongside three extra-base hits. She slugged 1.100 for the weekend and had the game-winning RBIs in the first two games of the series.
Julia Andersen was selected as Player of the Week March 11. She 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.
Kendra Conard earned Pitcher of the Week honors March 11 as SDSU swept the weekly honors. She 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.

Scouting the Coyotes
Creighton (30-22, 11-4 Summit League) has dropped four straight contests, but prior to that won 11 of 12, including series sweeps of Purdue Fort Wayne, Omaha and North Dakota. The Coyotes lost 9-2 to Nebraska in a midweek series last week after being swept by North Dakota State at home.

USD is hitting .283 as a team with 241 runs, averaging 4.6 per game. The Coyotes have hit 55 doubles, 35 home runs and 12 triples, posting a .761 team OPS.

Jamie Holscher (.386/.438/.665) leads the team with 61 hits, including 10 home runs and 12 doubles. Holscher has driven in 46 and worked 14 walks. Lauren Eamiguel (.346), Dustie Durham (.326) and Alyssa Fernandez (.322) round out the top hitters for USD, as Durham has 11 doubles and five home runs, Fernandez has walked 24 times (with eight doubles) and Eamiguel has 14 walks and gone 12-for-14 on stolen base attempts.

In the circle, the 'Yotes hold a 3.64 team ERA with a .281 batting average against. Durham (12-8, 3.28 ERA) has thrown 113 innings with 61 strikeouts and Alexis Devers (12-12, 3.35 ERA) leads the way with 142 total innings, tallying 77 strikeouts. Durham has thrown 10 complete games in 30 appearances (and 20 starts), while Devers (29 appearances) has 27 starts and eight complete games. Sarah Lisko (3.81 ERA, 5-1) has appeared in 28 games and thrown 68 innings.

Walk This Way
South Dakota State has shown patience at the plate all season, working 183 total walks through 46 games at a rate of 3.9 per contest.

SDSU started strong with 32 total walks in its season-opening weekend, and in the Purdue Fort Wayne series had 24 walks over three games.

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.

The Jacks' walk total is already only four shy of the school's team season record mark (187), set last year.

Jackrabbit Quick Hits

A look at the Jackrabbit offense has provided the clearest picture of SDSU's outcome throughout the season, as the Jacks are 25-1 while matching or out-hitting opponents, and 7-13 when trailing in hits. Additionally, when the Jacks strike first, SDSU is 23-7 and 9-7 in games when opponents score first.
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 occurrence of the record and first since the 2014 season. SDSU has stolen two or more bags in eight games this year.
Julia Andersen became the school's all-time leader in doubles (and currently has 42) on March 16, breaking a tie with previous record-holder Shelly Brandel, who originally set the record between 1995-98. Ali Herdliska is second all-time with 37 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 44 career bombs (second-most in Summit League history). Lyndsey Crist is fourth at SDSU with 22.
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 27 of 46 contests this season, and has broken the 10-run barrier six times.
SDSU has held opponents to three or fewer runs in 23 games, and one or fewer 16 times with seven shutouts. The Jacks have allowed five or more in only 16 games.
South Dakota State's 345 team hits has included 116 extra base hits, with 70 doubles, 11 triples and 35 home runs.
Taylor Compton became the school's all-time saves leader (seven) on April 20, 2019, breaking a tie with 2018 graduate Madison Hope.
Ali Herdliska has 119 career walks to sit first in the Jackrabbit and Summit League record books. Lyndsey Crist is second in SDSU history with 83 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 fifth in SDSU history. She is currently fifth on the list, though, ahead of that pace with 47 hits on the year and 203 for her career.

A look at the latest Jackrabbit records to watch is on page six 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 had a 105-118 record at South Dakota State and a 375-272 mark entering 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

Peyton Daugherty

Morgan DeMarais

Olivia Douglas

Emma Hardin

Ali Herdliska

Madison Hope

Baily Janssen

Jadelyn Johnson

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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