Softball opens league championship Wednesday

Summit League Championships: #4 South Dakota State (34-15) vs. #5 North Dakota (22-33)

When	Wednesday, May 8 \| 3 p.m.
Where	Tharaldson Park \| Fargo, North Dakota
Live Video	TheSummitLeague.org
Live Stats	GoJacksLive.com
Game Notes	South Dakota State \| Championship Page
Social Media	Twitter \| Facebook \| #GRIT

Weekly Outlook
The Jackrabbit softball team heads for Fargo, North Dakota this week for the 2019 Summit League Softball Championships, May 8-11. South Dakota State earned the No. 4 seed and opens the tournament Wednesday against fifth-seeded North Dakota. First pitch is set for 3 p.m., with the winner advancing to face top-seeded North Dakota State Thursday.

The six-team tournament will be played May 8-11 at Tharaldson Park at the Ellig Sports Complex on NDSU's campus. First round games will be played on Wednesday as single elimination contests. The remainder of the championship will be double elimination with the championship game being held on Saturday.

Thursday's semifinal games will begin at noon (CT), with the two victorious schools advancing to Friday's winner's bracket contest. The two losing schools will play at approximately 5 p.m. Thursday in a win or go home game. Friday's winner's bracket game will be played at 1 p.m. with the loser having to play at approximately 3:30 p.m. to earn a spot in Saturday's championship.

First pitch for Saturday's championship game will be at 1 p.m. (CT) with an if-necessary game at approximately 3:30 p.m. (CT). The Summit League Champion will earn the League's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

All games will be streamed live on thesummitleague.org with the championship game being broadcast live by Midco and streamed on ESPN+.

A complete bracket can be found on page five of the game notes.

SDSU is 3-7 all-time at the Summit League Championships and reached the league title game last year. The Jacks are making their sixth appearance in the event since joining the league in 2008, as Krista Wood has led the team to the tournament in all five years of her tenure as head coach.

Recapping the Weekend
South Dakota State closed the regular season with a series victory over South Dakota, taking the opener and finale of a three-game set with the in-state rivals. The Jackrabbits claimed a 6-5 comeback victory in game one, fell 11-2 in the second game of Friday's doubleheader before bouncing back in a 14-2 rout of the Coyotes Saturday.

SDSU's offense hit .329 in the series and scored 22 total runs, racking up 25 hits and 10 walks. Yanney Ponce (5-of-9) led the way with a .556 average, driving in a team-high six with a home run. Ponce was 2-for-3 in the first game of the weekend, and in the finale had three hits and drove in a career-high five, including a three-run blast.

Peyton Daugherty (.500), Julia Andersen (.455) and Mallory McQuistan (.429) were above the .400 mark for the weekend, as Andersen had five hits (with a double and a home run), and McQuistan has a pair of doubles. Daugherty scored four runs and went 2-for-2 on stolen bases. Lyndsey Crist added three walks, and Ali Herdliska added a three-run home run.

Kendra Conard went 2-0 in the circle with a 4.08 ERA, tossing a pair of complete games and 12 total innings. She allowed seven runs and struck out four. Morgan DeMarais tossed 6.1 innings of relief in game two and had a pair of strikeouts, while Emma Hardin and Olivia Douglas also appeared for the Jacks.

Scouting the Jackrabbits
South Dakota State enters postseason play with a 34-15 mark, going 11-7 in Summit League play. The Jackrabbits are three wins shy of matching their most victories in the Division I era, posting its best regular-season record in program history. SDSU was 32-14 entering the league tournament last year (and 34-15 through 49 games), and in 1996 sat at 33-17 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 .280/.381/.438 on the year with an OPS of .819. SDSU has outscored opponents by 92 total runs this season (1.8 per game) and have 123 extra base hits. The Jacks have worked 193 walks (a program-best single-season mark) and have nine players with 10 or more walks on the year.

Ali Herdliska leads the Jackrabbits with a slash line of .345/.492/.691, pacing the Summit League in on-base and slugging percentages while posting a 1.183 OPS (more than 100 points better than the next highest league-wide).

The senior has 48 hits in 139 at-bats, blasting 13 home runs, seven doubles and a triple with a single-season record 40 walks. She has driven in 40 and scored 29 runs.

Yanney Ponce has been on a tear throughout Summit League play, raising her season average to .345 with a team-high 49 hits. She is hitting .364 against league opponents, with four doubles, two triples, two home runs and 19 runs batted in. For the year, Ponce has seven two-baggers, four triples and three home runs with 36 RBIs.

Baily Janssen (.287) had 35 hits, 16 runs batted in and 18 walks, Mallory McQuistan (.282) has nine doubles, three home runs and 22 runs batted in, and Julia Andersen's 14 doubles leads the Jacks alongside her .278 average, two triples and six home runs.

Lyndsey Crist (29 RBIs) has added eight home runs and 24 walks, while Megan Rushing is hitting .308 against Summit League opponents with five doubles, eight walks and 10 RBIs.

Five of Herdliska's home runs (and 14 of her walks) have come against league opponents, and Janssen is just shy of the .300 mark in Summit League games with a 11-for-37 effort (and 10 walks).

The Jackrabbit pitching staff has a 3.52 combined ERA over 324.1 total innings, allowing 181 runs (163 earned) on the season with 163 strikeouts.

Kendra Conard (15-3) has tossed 10 complete games in 19 starts (22 appearances), striking out a team-best 51 with 35 earned runs allowed. She has a 1.29 WHIP on the season and has allowed only two home runs (and 12 extra base hits) in 98.2 innings.

Morgan DeMarais (6-4, 1.46 WHIP) has made 18 appearances with 11 starts in her freshman campaign. She has tossed 80.1 total innings with 37 strikeouts, walking only 10 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.

Walk This Way
South Dakota State has shown patience at the plate all season, working 193 total walks through 49 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 has already passed the school's previous team single-season 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 26-1 while matching or out-hitting opponents, and 8-14 when trailing in hits. Additionally, when the Jacks strike first, SDSU is 24-7 and 10-8 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 43) 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 45 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 29 of 49 contests this season, and has broken the 10-run barrier seven times.
SDSU has held opponents to three or fewer runs in 24 games, and one or fewer 16 times with seven shutouts. The Jacks have allowed five or more in only 18 games.
South Dakota State's 370 team hits has included 123 extra base hits, with 74 doubles, 11 triples and 38 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 120 career walks to sit first in the Jackrabbit and Summit League record books. Lyndsey Crist is second in SDSU history with 86 free passes.

Triple Crown Chaser
Jackrabbit senior Ali Herdliska is listed in the top 10 of every offensive category at South Dakota State, except stolen bases. She broke the school's career home run, runs batted in, total bases and runs scored record during the 2019 season, and last year set the program's all-time mark in walks. Additionally, she is second in career doubles behind teammate Julia Andersen.

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 currently has 204 hits (48 this year) and sits in fifth.

A look at the latest Jackrabbit records to watch is on page seven 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), Cylie 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

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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