VERMILLION, S.D. — After closing out the regular season with a series against Kansas City, South Dakota softball will face the Roos to open up the Summit League Tournament Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. in Brookings, South Dakota.
The Yotes earned the No. 3 seed in the tournament after an 8-10 record during conference play and is 28-22 overall on the season.
ABOUT THE YOTES
- South Dakota had nine players represented on the All-Summit League teams Tuesday highlighted by Clara Edwards and Ella McGee being named to the first team. McKenna Young, Abi Brown, Tatum Villotta, Rylie Jones, Autumn Iversen and Madison Evans were named to the second team, while Delaney White was an honorable mention.
- The Coyotes are tied for No. 2 in the Summit League in batting percentage (.308), No. 2 in hits (418), No. 2 in triples (13) and No. 3 in stolen bases (36).
- The Yotes rank No. 2 in ERA (2.67), No.1 in shutouts (12), No. 2 in hits allowed (314), No. 3 in strikeouts (271) and No. 2 in opponents’ batting average (.254).
- Tatum Villotta is tied for second with teammate Delaney White with 63 hits carries a .387 batting average.
- Villotta has hit safely in 39 of 50 games this season and has 18 multi-hit games with six of those being three hit performances.
- Villotta tallied her 200th career hit as a Coyote in the series against South Dakota State on April 5.
- Villotta also leads the Yotes with four triples on the season, has 13 extra-base hits and is tied for fourth with 20 RBIs.
- Delaney White has a team leading .394 batting average and has a team high 11 doubles. White is the leader on the squad with 30 RBIs.
- White is tied with Villlotta for the team lead with 18 multi-hit contests. In four of those games, White tallied three this.
- In the series against North Dakota on March 22-23, White went 5-for-6 from the plate against the Fighting Hawks and had four RBIs.
- In the series finale two weekends ago against NDSU, White went 3-for-5 from the plate and scored one run.
- In Summit League play, White held the second-best batting average on the team with a .404 clip.
- McKenna Young has earned a pair of Summit League Peak Pitcher of the Week honors this season and carries the second lowest ERA in the Summit League (2.19).
- Young is No. 2 in the conference and No. 39 in the NCAA with 146 strikeouts on the season.
- She carries a 13-8 overall record in 29 appearances and 21 starts starts with 10 complete games and five shutouts.
- Clara Edwards has started in the pitcher’s circle in 23 of her 26 appearances and has a 12-11 record in 148.1 innings of work.
- Edwards is No. 2 in the conference with 14 complete games, which ranks No. 55 in the NCAA, and has struck out 88 batters.
- Edwards also holds a .255 batting average with two home runs and 21 RBIs.
- In her complete game shutout of Norfolk State, Edwards also went 2-for-3 at the plate with a double and an RBI. She followed that with a 4-for-4 game at the plate with four RBIs in the second game of the doubleheader against the Spartans.
- Edwards’ name appears often in the programs record book as she ranks inside the top-three in career wins, complete games, innings pitched, starts in the circle, strikeouts and saves. Edwards is number three all-time with 51 wins and No. 2 in games started in the circle with 114.
- Autumn Iversen is second on the team with 27 RBIs and has a .293 batting average. She has 14 extra base hits with 10 doubles, two triples and two home runs.
- Iversen has recorded an RBI in each of the last three games.
- Rylie Jones has started every game at shortstop for the Yotes and holds a .342 average at the plate. Jones is 4-for-6 on stolen base attempts and has scored 23 runs.
- Ella McGee is fourth with a .333 hitting percentage with four doubles, three triples and tallied her first inside-the-park home run against the Fighting Hawks earlier this season.
- McGee earned her first monthly award from the conference, as she was named the Kwik Star Summit League Female Newcomer of the Month for March.
- Batted .383 during the month of March, including a .429 clip in six Summit tilts
- Went 5-for-10 and scored seven runs during a series win over North Dakota
- Registered five multi-hit games and three multi-RBI games during the month
- Following strong performances against the Fighting Hawks, McKenna Young and Ella McGee swept the Kwik Star Summit League Peak Performer of the Week honors a week ago.
- McGee collected the first weekly honor of her career. Posted a .500 batting average across three games against UND.
- Scored two or more runs in all three games against the Fighting Hawks. Extended her hit streak to nine games.
- Young captured her second career weekly accolade. She earned a pair of a complete-game victories in the series win over North Dakota.
- Threw 12.0 innings in two starts while posting a 0.58 ERA with 16 strikeouts. Allowed just one earned run and seven hits.
- It’s the second time this season that the Yotes have swept the Summit League weekly awards as Clara Edwards and Tatum Villotta were named the Peak Performers of the Week on March 3.
- South Dakota was picked to finish third in the Summit League Preseason Poll, as announced by the league office.
- The Coyotes finished fifth in the Summit League a season ago with a 7-10 conference record and a 23-30 mark on the season.
- USD returns a trio of All-Summit League selections from a season ago in Tatum Villotta (second team), Clara Edwards (HM) and Delaney White (HM).
- Villotta and Edwards were named as USD’s players to watch in the conference preseason poll.
- Villotta was one of three Yotes to start in all 53 games a season ago, splitting time in both middle infield positions. She tallied a team-high 54 hits, 23 runs and a team best 10 game hitting streak during the season. Villotta had 12 multi-hit games in 2024 and has 39 multi-hit games in her career.
- Edwards made 28 starts in 29 appearances as the No. 1 pitcher in 2024 and recorded an 8-13 record, 2.76 ERA, and 121 strikeouts in 157.1 innings pitched. Edwards struck out a career-high 13 batters in a complete game shutout, one of five shutouts she had on the season, in a win over Abilene Christian.
- McKenna Young begins her sophomore season after pitching 79.0 innings in her freshman campaign, making 27 appearances and nine starts. She tallied 75 strikeouts and held opponents to a team-low .246 batting average.
- Rounding out the pitching staff is freshmen Madison Evans and Campbell German. Evans was named the South Dakota Gatorade Players of the Year last year after leading Sioux Falls Lincoln to a state title, while German was a three-time First Team All-State selection in Iowa.
- The combination of Villotta, White and Rylie Jones in the infield combined to start all but three games in 2024.
- White was tied for second on the squad in 2024 with 45 hits, second with eight doubles and drove in the second most runs (23) while holding a .278 batting average. White led the team with 13 multi-hit games and had five games with multiple RBIs.