Upcoming Event: Softball versus St. Thomas on April 24, 2026 at 4 p.m.
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4 p.m.
Softball
vs St. Thomas
South Dakota State University Athletics
Friday, April 24
Brookings, S.D.
4 p.m.
South Dakota State University
vs
St. Thomas
Akayla Barnard
Photo by: Dave Eggen/Inertia
JACKRABBITS HOST TOMMIES IN PIVOTAL SERIES
4/23/2026 12:47:00 PM | Softball
| Games 51-53: South Dakota State (23-27, 5-7) vs. St. Thomas (30-14, 8-4) | |
| When | Friday, April 24Â - Sunday, April 26 |
| Location | Brookings, S.D. (Jerald T. Moriarty Field) |
| Stream | Summit League Network |
| Live Stats | GoJacksLive.com |
| South Dakota State | Game Notes |
| St. Thomas | Home Page |
South Dakota State hosts its final home series, with two weekends of scheduled regular season competition remaining, as the Jackrabbits gear up to take on St. Thomas at Jerald T. Moriarty Field in Brookings. The series will be a highly contested one as the two sides are among a contingent of conference foes jockeying to qualify for the upcoming Summit League Softball Championship tournament.Â
SDSU and St. Thomas square off in a three-game set. The Jacks and Tommies open the series at 4 p.m. on Friday as a part of SDSU's Faculty/Staff Appreciation. They face off again on Saturday at 1 p.m. with Senior Day festivities taking place pre-game. The finale is slated for a 1 p.m. first pitch on Sunday and includes Alumni Reunion recognition. Â
The Jacks are coming off a series defeat at Omaha. SDSU lost games to the current league-leading Mavs by 7-1, 7-4 and 5-1 scores. It dropped SDSU to 5-7 in conference play and fourth in the Summit standings. St. Thomas recently played a non-conference four-game set that saw the Tommies claim a doubleheader sweep at Green Bay, followed by a split at Wisconsin. The Tommies sit second place in the league with an 8-4 record.
South Dakota State and St. Thomas met in the Twin Cities for their regular season series a season ago. The Tommies came away with wins in two of the three games, earning their first-ever regular season series victory over the Jackrabbits. SDSU is 9-3 all-time against UST and 5-0 in Brookings.
St. Thomas is among the statistical leaders in several categories in The Summit League. The Tommies lead the conference in ERA with a 2.58 mark. They hold batters to a league-low .242 opposing average. At the plate, the Tommies rank first in home runs (67) and walks (194). They rank second in batting average (.309), doubles (68), RBIs (258) and slugging percentage (.559).Â
Several standouts have led the Tommies so far this season. Laken Lienhard and Avery Wukawitz rank among the conference's leaders in several areas. Lienhard has conferences highs in slugging percentage (.810) and on-base percentage (.529). Wukawitz has the league's most runs scored (53) and triples (4). Multiple pitchers sit among the best in the conference for the Tommies including Ella Cook and Ava Kleinfeldt, led by Cook who has a league-best 1.84 ERA on the season.Â
The Jackrabbits have multiple high performers in conference action through 12 games. Atop the batting average chart are Abby Gentry (.545), Emma Christensen (.400), Akayla Barnard (.351), Bria Riebel (.350) and Alli Boyle (.313). Barnard and Riebel have four home runs apiece. Riebel has an SDSU-high 11 RBIs and Barnard has scored 14 runs. Gentry has produced a Summit League-high seven doubles.Â
SDSU's pitching staff features sub-3.00 ERAs from Barnard and Amanda Vacanti. Barnard has a 2.06 ERA with two wins, including two shutouts, and a save. Vacanti has a 2.69 ERA in three appearances. Madi Mangulis has two of SDSU's victories to go along with an SDSU-high 22 2/3 innings pitched.
The Jackrabbits have already put together a strong season overall at the plate. SDSU's current .509 slugging percentage would be its fifth best in program history. The Jacks currently have their third most doubles (86) and home runs (60) in a season ever. They also have their fifth-most total bases (685) and sixth-most RBIs (252). Defensively, SDSU has its sixth most double plays (18) and has its tied for seventh fielding percentage (.967)
Coverage Information
The entire Summit League softball regular season will stream on The Summit League Network powered by Midco Sports Plus. Live stats for all three games the Jackrabbits play the Tommies are available on GoJacksLive.com. For more information about Jackrabbit softball, you can follow the team social media accounts (@GoJacksSoftball) or visit the team page at GoJacks.com.
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Players Mentioned
OF/P
/ Softball
1B/UT
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
IF/C
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
IF
/ Softball
P/OF
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