The South Dakota State baseball team will face a challenging schedule as it looks to move up the Summit League standings during the upcoming 2026 season.
The Jackrabbits are slated to play their first 22 games on the road, starting with an eight-game road swing through Texas. A three-game series Feb. 13-15 at 2025 NCAA Super Regional qualifier UTSA serves as the season opener, with SDSU remaining in San Antonio for a two-game mid-week series Feb. 17-18 at Incarnate Word before moving on to Tarleton State for a three-game set Feb. 20-22.
To close out the first month of the season, SDSU is slated to play a four-game series at Central Arkansas Feb. 27-March 1, which will feature the lone scheduled doubleheader of the season on Feb. 28.
The majority of the nonconference schedule in March will consist of games against opponents from the Big Ten and Big 12 conferences. After playing March 4 at Nebraska, the Jackrabbits will meet two more Big Ten opponents at the Cambria Classic at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, facing Northwestern on March 6 and host Minnesota on March 7. A March 8 matchup against Southern Illinois closes out the tournament.
A single game March 11 at Kansas State and a two-game series March 17-18 at Oklahoma State will be sandwiched around the Summit League-opening series at Oral Roberts March 13-15.
SDSU's home opener is scheduled for March 20 against North Dakota State to kick off a three-game Summit League series at Erv Huether Field. The league schedule will again consist of 30 games with squads playing a double round-robin format with three-game series both home and away. Other home Summit League series are set for April 2-4 versus Omaha, April 17-19 against Oral Roberts, April 24-26 versus Northern Colorado and May 8-10 against St. Thomas.
The remainder of the Jackrabbits' 19-game home slate will be made up of four mid-week games against lower-level regional opponents: March 31 versus Briar Cliff, April 7 against Northern State, April 14 versus Northwestern (Iowa) and April 22 against Dakota Wesleyan.
Other nonconference games include a March 24 trip to Creighton and a rematch at Minnesota on April 8.
Additional Summit League road series include: March 27-29 at Northern Colorado, April 10-12 at St. Thomas, May 1-3 at North Dakota State and May 14-16 at Omaha.
The top four teams in the league standings will advance to the Summit League Baseball Championship May 20-23 in St. Paul, Minnesota. SDSU earned the No. 4 seed in the double-elimination tournament last season for the 14th time in 16 years of eligibility at the NCAA Division I level.