The South Dakota softball team is set for a busy stretch, playing four games in four days beginning April 18. The Coyotes will face North Dakota in a three-game Summit League series from Saturday through Monday, followed by a non-conference matchup against Drake on Tuesday.
This sequence marks the start of seven games over nine days for South Dakota, who currently holds a record of 10-29-1 overall and 2-7 in the Summit League. The upcoming contests are important as the team seeks to improve its standing both within the league and ahead of postseason play.
Junior Brooke Carey leads the Coyotes offensively with a .374 batting average, ranking among the top ten hitters in the Summit League. Sara Iburg has contributed a team-best 20 runs batted in and five home runs this season. Madison Evans has been reliable on the mound, leading both her team and conference with over 120 innings pitched and tallying 113 strikeouts.
North Dakota enters its first home conference series after posting a strong non-conference record but struggling recently within league play at 1-5. Key players include Jaedyn Valdez and Camryn Lasota, who have batting averages above .300. Pitcher Tegan Livesay leads North Dakota’s staff with a 2.86 earned run average across more than ninety innings pitched.
Drake arrives at Nygaard Field on Tuesday holding an overall record of 10-30 this season and having split their most recent Missouri Valley Conference doubleheader with Northern Iowa. Senior outfielder Tatum Aragon leads Drake’s offense with five home runs and thirty RBIs while Peyton Driscoll anchors their pitching staff.
South Dakota leads its all-time series against North Dakota, winning eighteen of twenty-one meetings since 2019, including two consecutive victories last year. Against Drake, however, South Dakota trails historically but has split recent matchups evenly since the start of this decade.