Upcoming Event: Softball versus Minnesota Crookston on September 28, 2025 at 1 p.m.
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1 p.m.
Softball
vs Minnesota Crookston
South Dakota State University Athletics
Staff Directory
McSweeney, Kristina
Kristina McSweeney
- Title:
- Head Coach
- Email:
Kristina McSweeney enters her fourth season in charge of the South Dakota State softball program ahead of the upcoming academic year and 2026 season.Â
The Jackrabbits have continued to be one of the top programs in The Summit League under McSweeney's guidance. During her time as head coach, McSweeney has accumulated a 101-67 record (.601 win percentage). That record includes a myriad of challenging schedules over the three-year stretch. It also features SDSU's most recent 2025 campaign that boasted one of the youngest rosters in the country. The Jacks featured the third most amount of freshmen on a roster in Division I softball as well as one of the five most amount of underclassmen.
Her three years guiding the Yellow and Blue has seen SDSU rewarded with two Summit League Players of the Year (Mia Jarecki - 2024 & Abby Gentry 2025) and a Pitcher of the Year (Tori Kniesche - 2023). The Jacks claimed back-to-back Summit League regular season championships in 2023 and 2024 extending a conference title streak to four straight seasons. The 2023 title came behind a 17-0 undefeated regular season record, the seventh ever perfect regular season in conference history, that led to McSweeney earning The Summit League Coach of the Year award. McSweeney's tenure has seen SDSU garnered with 14 All-Summit League First Team selections and eight Academic All-Summit League honorees. The Jacks have extended their streak of consecutive winning seasons to seven, the longest stretch in program history, while they also qualified for the 2023 National Invitational Softball Championship in Fort Collins.Â
McSweeney's teams have been at the forefront of mid-major squads playing top-tier competition at the Division I level. SDSU earned its first-ever victory over a ranked team as the Jacks defeated Baylor in Waco, 5-2, on March 15, 2023. The next season saw the Jackrabbits beat their highest ranked opponent in school history by taking down No. 15 Arkansas in Fayetteville, 7-4. The 2023 season saw SDSU play in Norman against Oklahoma against a Sooner squad that eventually won its third straight national championship. The 2024 ledger had State play six ranked opponents and two World Series participants. The latest 2025 campaign featured four ranked foes as SDSU pushed two games to extra innings.
McSweeney came to SDSU from Arkansas Tech, where she spent 10 seasons guiding the Golden Suns to a 356-184 overall record. Under McSweeney's direction, ATU won two Great American Conference regular season titles and four GAC tournament crowns. The Suns qualified for the NCAA Division II Regional Tournament six of her last seven seasons at Arkansas Tech and advanced to the Super Regional in 2016.
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McSweeney was tabbed the GAC Coach of the Year in 2016 and 2022. She coached six All-Americans, 13 all-region selections and 51 all-conference players over the last 10 seasons, including ATU's first All-America first-team pick in Megan Goodnight in 2018.
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The current SDSU coach has continued to lead programs that succeed in the classroom. Her teams have held over 3.5 cumulative GPAs in every semester under her watch, while the Suns and her Jackrabbits have been among their peer teams in their departments to lead in community service hours achieved.
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Before her time at Arkansas Tech, McSweeney spent four seasons as the head coach and two as an assistant at Seminole State College in Seminole, Oklahoma. The Trojans went 180-71 in her four years at the helm and finished in the top-five at the NJCAA National Tournament in 2009 and 2010. McSweeney coached eight All-Americans and four Academic All-Americans at SSC.
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A native of Miami, Florida, McSweeney played two seasons at Barry University, where she was a two-time NFCA All-America Scholar-Athlete and part of two NCAA Tournament teams. She also spent two seasons at Seminole Junior College and earned NJCAA All-America and Scholar-Athlete All-America honors. McSweeney and her husband have four children and reside in Brookiings.
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The Jackrabbits have continued to be one of the top programs in The Summit League under McSweeney's guidance. During her time as head coach, McSweeney has accumulated a 101-67 record (.601 win percentage). That record includes a myriad of challenging schedules over the three-year stretch. It also features SDSU's most recent 2025 campaign that boasted one of the youngest rosters in the country. The Jacks featured the third most amount of freshmen on a roster in Division I softball as well as one of the five most amount of underclassmen.
Her three years guiding the Yellow and Blue has seen SDSU rewarded with two Summit League Players of the Year (Mia Jarecki - 2024 & Abby Gentry 2025) and a Pitcher of the Year (Tori Kniesche - 2023). The Jacks claimed back-to-back Summit League regular season championships in 2023 and 2024 extending a conference title streak to four straight seasons. The 2023 title came behind a 17-0 undefeated regular season record, the seventh ever perfect regular season in conference history, that led to McSweeney earning The Summit League Coach of the Year award. McSweeney's tenure has seen SDSU garnered with 14 All-Summit League First Team selections and eight Academic All-Summit League honorees. The Jacks have extended their streak of consecutive winning seasons to seven, the longest stretch in program history, while they also qualified for the 2023 National Invitational Softball Championship in Fort Collins.Â
McSweeney's teams have been at the forefront of mid-major squads playing top-tier competition at the Division I level. SDSU earned its first-ever victory over a ranked team as the Jacks defeated Baylor in Waco, 5-2, on March 15, 2023. The next season saw the Jackrabbits beat their highest ranked opponent in school history by taking down No. 15 Arkansas in Fayetteville, 7-4. The 2023 season saw SDSU play in Norman against Oklahoma against a Sooner squad that eventually won its third straight national championship. The 2024 ledger had State play six ranked opponents and two World Series participants. The latest 2025 campaign featured four ranked foes as SDSU pushed two games to extra innings.
McSweeney came to SDSU from Arkansas Tech, where she spent 10 seasons guiding the Golden Suns to a 356-184 overall record. Under McSweeney's direction, ATU won two Great American Conference regular season titles and four GAC tournament crowns. The Suns qualified for the NCAA Division II Regional Tournament six of her last seven seasons at Arkansas Tech and advanced to the Super Regional in 2016.
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McSweeney was tabbed the GAC Coach of the Year in 2016 and 2022. She coached six All-Americans, 13 all-region selections and 51 all-conference players over the last 10 seasons, including ATU's first All-America first-team pick in Megan Goodnight in 2018.
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The current SDSU coach has continued to lead programs that succeed in the classroom. Her teams have held over 3.5 cumulative GPAs in every semester under her watch, while the Suns and her Jackrabbits have been among their peer teams in their departments to lead in community service hours achieved.
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Before her time at Arkansas Tech, McSweeney spent four seasons as the head coach and two as an assistant at Seminole State College in Seminole, Oklahoma. The Trojans went 180-71 in her four years at the helm and finished in the top-five at the NJCAA National Tournament in 2009 and 2010. McSweeney coached eight All-Americans and four Academic All-Americans at SSC.
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A native of Miami, Florida, McSweeney played two seasons at Barry University, where she was a two-time NFCA All-America Scholar-Athlete and part of two NCAA Tournament teams. She also spent two seasons at Seminole Junior College and earned NJCAA All-America and Scholar-Athlete All-America honors. McSweeney and her husband have four children and reside in Brookiings.
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