JACKRABBITS TO FACE COMPETITIVE 2024 SCHEDULE

The 2024 season schedule for the South Dakota State softball team will be as challenging as ever as head coach Kristina McSweeney announced the Jackrabbits' slate for this upcoming spring on Tuesday. SDSU's 2024 campaign will feature contests against nine NCAA Tournament teams last year, including doubleheaders against two reigning Women's College World Series participants, as well as a variety of teams that claimed conference titles or contended for them a season ago.

"I wanted to put us back out there to begin this season against the best of the best," McSweeney said. "Having a veteran group, I feel like it's important for us to get games in against teams that hopefully we'll see down the road in an NCAA Tournament regional.

"Putting the schedule together, we wanted to challenge our upperclassmen and see what they're about. We made some noise last year and I'm excited about what we can do this year."

South Dakota State opens 2024 on Feb. 8 participating in a tournament held at Fresno State. The Jacks will take on the host Bulldogs, Santa Clara and CSU Bakersfield in their first five games of the year.

The second weekend of play sees SDSU head to Denton, Texas, to play in North Texas' home tournament. That event will feature a round robin format which leads to a tournament winner. The field includes the Mean Green – which fell in the Conference USA championship – as well as NCAA Tournament participant Missouri and Texas A&M Commerce.

The Jackrabbits return to Conway, Ark., for a second straight season to play at Central Arkansas during the third weekend of action. SDSU and Central Arkansas split a pair of matchups a year ago. The Bears were the Atlantic Sun champions, advanced to the NCAA Tournament and were ranked in the national polls throughout the 2023 season. Central Arkansas' home tournament will also feature Purdue and Southern Illinois, the 2023 Missouri Valley Conference tournament champion.

A return trip to Stillwater, Okla., is also on the docket for the Jackrabbits in 2024. A year after facing No. 3 Oklahoma State twice on the Cowgirls' home field, SDSU again will compete in a doubleheader versus Oklahoma State on Feb. 27. The Cowgirls were one of the last four teams remaining at last year's Women's College World Series.

SDSU heads back to Arkansas for another six contests. The Jacks play Arkansas in Fayetteville on Feb. 29 to face a Razorback squad that hosted an NCAA regional last season. They then participate in a tournament hosted by the Hogs that runs into March. That event will also consist of Florida Atlantic as well as Southeast Missouri which was the Ohio Valley Conference regular season champion last year.

South Dakota State's next two opponents were the Atlantic Coast Conference's top two programs in 2023. The Jackrabbits will take on Duke in Durham as the foes play a three-game set from March 8-9. The Blue Devils were a top 10 team in the polls, finished as the ACC runner-up and advanced to the NCAA Super Regionals.

It only gets tougher for the Jacks on March 12 as they play a doubleheader at Florida State. The Seminoles were the ACC champions and fell in three games in the 2023 NCAA Championship series to the now three-time national champion Oklahoma Sooners.

The Jackrabbits close out the main portion of the non-conference schedule by participating in Kentucky's March 15-17 home tournament. The Wildcats were ranked in the top 25 throughout 2023 and were an NCAA Tournament team. Also included in the field are Ohio State and Columbia.

"I think putting our team in new places and seeing different competition is about growth," McSweeney said. "The atmospheres we'll be walking into to compete in will make us better. There will certainly be pressure, but it'll teach us how to handle it early.

"It's time for us to understand when we get into big moments against a caliber of team we haven't faced yet like Duke, Florida State or Kentucky, that we need to be ready."

The Summit League schedule begins on March 23 in Vermillion versus South Dakota. The Jackrabbits are set to make their home debut with a three-game series on March 29 against North Dakota. SDSU hosts back-to-back weekends with Kansas City paying a visit to Brookings from April 6-7.

SDSU will head to Fargo to face NDSU the following weekend. The Jackrabbits then participate in three more scheduled non-conference matchups as they travel to compete at Wisconsin (April 23) in a doubleheader and against Minnesota (April 24) in a single game.

The conference slate closes out the 2024 regular season. SDSU will host St. Thomas (April 27-28) before traveling to go head-to-head versus Omaha (May 2-3).

"Mental toughness, the ability to make adjustments, and honestly a killer instinct is what we're working towards when we get into playing our conference schedule," McSweeney said. "Last year, we were incredible through the Summit, then we got complacent. It didn't work out the way we wanted in the postseason.

"I'm looking forward to this non-conference schedule as an opportunity for us to grow, as a chance to get better and see the best of the best, then hopefully be at our peak when we face the Summit League."

South Dakota State is again the host of the 2024 Summit League Softball Championship. The tournament is scheduled to take place from May 8-11 at Jackrabbit Softball Stadium in Brookings.

-GoJacks.com-

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Completed Event: Softball versus #1 Omaha on May 8, 2026 , Loss , 0, to, 8 , 5 Inn.

Completed Event: Softball versus #4 South Dakota on May 8, 2026 , Loss , 0, to, 2

Completed Event: Softball at #2 St. Thomas on May 7, 2026 , Win , 7, to, 5

Completed Event: Softball versus #3 North Dakota State on May 6, 2026 , Win , 14, to, 2 , 5 Inn.

Completed Event: Softball at North Dakota State on May 2, 2026 , Loss , 2, to, 15 , 5 Inn.

Completed Event: Softball at North Dakota State on May 1, 2026 , Loss , 4, to, 13 , 5 Inn.

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JACKRABBITS TO FACE COMPETITIVE 2024 SCHEDULE

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