| Summit League Softball Championship: #6 South Dakota State (23-32, 5-12) vs. #3 North Dakota State (27-22, 11-7) | |
| When | Wednesday, May 6 – 4 PM |
| Location | Minneapolis, Minn. (Jane Sage Cowles Stadium) |
| Stream | Summit League Network |
| Live Stats | TommieSports.com |
| South Dakota State | Game Notes |
| Summit League Tournament | Championship Central | North Dakota State |
South Dakota State enters postseason competition as the sixth seed in The Summit League Softball Championship. The Jackrabbits will take on the third-seeded North Dakota State Bison in the single-elimination portion of the tournament. The Jacks and Bison square off at 4 p.m. on Wednesday at Jane Sage Cowles Stadium in Minneapolis, Minn.
SDSU has qualified for 12 consecutive Summit League tournaments. The stretch comes folowing a three-year span in which the Jacks were unable to qualify for the conference tournament from 2011-13. The Jackrabbits’ first year of qualification came in 2010 after their first year of eligibility in 2009.
The Jackrabbits made four consecutive Summit League championship game appearances, including winning the 2021 and 2022 tournament titles, before falling a game short of a fifth straight showing last year. SDSU has won two titles all-time and will face The Summit League’s leader in tournament championships. NDSU historically leads the conference with 10 tournament championships (all won from 2009-2019). Three-time reigning champs Omaha are the No. 1 seed in the tournament while host St. Thomas is the No. 2 seed.
SDSU closed its regular season last weekend against NDSU. The Bison swept the series earning an eight-inning 13-12 dramatic win, as well as five-inning victories by 13-4 and 15-2 scores.
The opener between the the two sides set multiple benchmarks in their all-time series history. The 25 runs scored between the two were the most ever in a game. The win for NDSU halted SDSU’s 18-game winning streak over the Bison. It was the first series win in the series for NDSU since 2019, as well as the first sweep for the Bison over the Jackrabbits since 2017.
Several players stood out with their performances. The opener was carried by the effort at the plate from Amanda Vacanti. She hit three home runs tying the program record held by Ashley Durazo who did so in 2011. Vacanti’s seven RBIs also tied a record held by teammate Kendall Daniel set this year and Rozelyn Carrillo who achieved the feat in 2022.
Akayla Barnard scored four runs in the game. It tied the program record for most runs in a single game, which had previously been done 10 times.
SDSU heads into the tournament with several award winners that were highlighted for their play during the 2026 Summit League schedule. Bria Riebel was chosen as the Freshman of the Year. She was the third ever Jackrabbit to earn the honor and first since 2021. Abby Gentry claimed back-to-back First Team All-Summit accolades. Barnard, Emma Christensen and Emma Vike were chosen to the Second Team. Vacanti also claimed honorable mention recognition.
The Jacks’ strong season at the plate has been evident as the squad enters game 56. The team’s .304 batting average is the third best in its Division I era trailing 2018 (.322) and 2021 (.317). SDSU’s 92 doubles sit one off a season-record of 93 set in 2018. The Jacks’ 67 home runs and 758 total bases each rank third all-time, .511 slugging percentage sits fourth, while their RBIs (275) and runs scored (293) ranks fifth and sixth, respectively.
The Jackrabbits are 23-32 overall. SDSU went 5-17 in Summit League play. The Jacks qualified for the conference tournament behind a regular season sweep over North Dakota, which also finished 5-17 in the league standings.
Coverage Information
The entire Summit League Softball Championship will stream on The Summit League Network powered by Midco Sports Plus. Live stats for every game is available on TommieSports.com. For more information about The tournament, visit the championship central page.