| Week 14: South Dakota State (28-24, 13-5) at 2025 Summit League Softball Championship | |
| When | Wednesday, May 7 – Saturday, May 10 |
| Location | Brookings, S.D. (Jerald T. Moriarty Field |
| Television | None |
| Stream | Summit League Network |
| Live Stats | GoJacksLive.com |
| South Dakota State | Home Page | Game Notes |
| Summit League Championship Central | Home Page |
South Dakota State serves as host of The Summit League Championship once again as the conference tournament began in Brookings today at Jerald T. Moriarty Field. The Jackrabbits make their debut in the double-elimination portion of the championship on Thursday at 1:30 p.m. SDSU, the No. 2 seed, awaits the winner of Wednesday’s No. 3-6 seeded meeting between South Dakota and Kansas City.
SDSU is looking to continue its recent success at the conference tournament in the 2025 edition. The Jackrabbits have advanced to the Summit League tournament title game the last four seasons. SDSU has squared off against Omaha in each championship finale. The Jackrabbits won the championship in 2021 and 2022, while the Mavericks have claimed The Summit League title in Brookings the last two seasons.
South Dakota State will get its tournament appearance started by either facing South Dakota or Kansas City. The Coyotes won the opener of a three-game series in Brookings on April 5 before the Jacks took both games of their April 6 doubleheader. SDSU began its conference schedule at Kansas City on March 29 and claimed all three meetings versus the Roos.
The Jackrabbits sealed the second seed for the tournament with a run-rule 13-4 victory at North Dakota last Friday, then narrowly won 3-1 and 2-1 in consecutive games to complete a series sweep. SDSU was boosted by the efforts of Tayler Baker who threw complete games in the circle. Her two runs allowed over the course of 14 innings earned her Kwik Star Summit League Peak Pitcher of the Week accolades.
Baker was one of eight Jackrabbits honored by The Summit League on Tuesday. Among the SDSU players that were honored include Akayla Barnard (First Team), Brooke Dumont (First Team), Abby Gentry (First Team), Mia Jarecki (First Team), Baker (Second Team), Emma Vike (Second Team), Emma Christensen (Honorable Mention) and Sylvia Shromoff (Honorable Mention).
Gentry was rewarded for her season-long success as she was named The Summit League Player of the Year. The sophomore third baseman became the fifth Jackrabbit to earn the award and the fourth Jackrabbit to be bestowed the honor in the last four seasons joining Jarecki (2024), Rozelyn Carrillo (2022) and Cylie Halvorson (2021).
Gentry has been instrumental to SDSU’s success at the plate over the 52-game schedule. She currently ranks among the top 50 players in Division I softball in batting average (.439), doubles (16) and RBIs (55). Her current season batting average and on-base percentage (.519) would at the time set new program records, while she’s seven RBIs away from setting the runs batted in mark.
Dumont and Jarecki have made their impact on the SDSU record book. Jarecki has 11 marks that rank among the top 11 in individual categories, while Dumont has top 12 marks in 10 categories. Both players topped 100 RBIs in their careers recently. Jarecki set the program runs record a week ago which now stands at 151. Dumont set the record in runners caught stealing with that mark now at 32.
SDSU’s lineup never lost a step despite its list of senior departures from a season ago. The 2025 squad has current totals that rank all-time in program history for a single season that include: Tied for 2nd in walks (213) and doubles (82); 4th in RBIs (272); 6th in OBP (.398), runs (286), home runs (48) and total bases (654); eighth in hits (410) and eighth in slugging (.479).
Coverage Information
The entire Summit League Softball Championship tournament will be broadcast on The Summit League Network Powered by Midco Sports. The doubleheader on Friday will be televised on Midco Sports. Fans can watch on summitleaguenetwork.tv or on The Midco Sports Plus app with a subscription. Live stats for all games the Jackrabbits play in are available on the South Dakota State schedule page. For more information about Jackrabbit softball, you can follow the team social media accounts (@GoJacksSB) or visit the team page at GoJacks.com.