University of South Dakota Athletics

South Dakota softball, fresh off two consecutive weekends to the Sunshine State, visits the Grand Canyon State and Grand Canyon University this week to begin a Spring Break trip that will include 14 games over the first 10 days of March.
 
The Coyotes are 11-4 and off to their best start since 2009. An offense batting .333 as a team and scoring better than six runs per game is a big part of the story. So too is an improved defense and a pitching staff headed by sophomore Alexis Devers, who has two complete-game shutouts and flirted with two others in seven starts this season.
 
The competition beefs up this week and the Coyotes will arguably take on their toughest part of the non-conference schedule during this trip. Northern Colorado has had a tough start, but Utah and Iowa State are quality opponents and USD split a doubleheader with Grand Canyon a year ago. On the other side of the spring break trip are four 2018 NCAA Tournament teams in Tempe March 8-10.
 
Holscher heads the list
South Dakota senior Jamie Holscher has won back-to-back Summit League Player of the Week Awards and for good reason. She hit six home runs in 10 games in Florida including two walk offs. She carries a .469 batting average and a string of three straight games with a home run to Grand Canyon.
 
Five other Coyotes are batting better than .300. That list includes senior Dustie Durham, who is batting .392 with three home runs and 16 RBIs. All-conference performers and seniors Alyssa Fernandez and Jessica Rogers are batting .275 and .273, respectively, with a combined 17 RBIs and 20 runs scored.

RELATED: Fowler at the Heart of Coyotes' Fast Start
 
A full list of the schedule along with some background on the four opponents follows:
 
Friday
USD vs. Northern Colorado (3-11) | 2 p.m. (MT) | Live Stats
USD at Grand Canyon (7-7) | 6:30 p.m. (MT) | Live Stats | Watch
 
Saturday
USD vs. Utah (5-10) | 11:30 a.m. (MT) | Live Stats
USD at Grand Canyon | 4:30 p.m. (MT) | Live Stats | Watch
 
Sunday
USD vs. Iowa State | 10 a.m. (MT) | Live Stats
 
Northern Colorado (3-11)
All-Big Sky pitcher Valerie Vidal is back for the Bears, who were 28-28 a year ago and participated in the postseason NISC Tournament. But the offense is trying to replace a number of key bats and has had a steep learning curve against some tough competition. UNC has been outscored 100-24 in its 14 games and been limited to two runs or less in all but two of those. Vidal has started 10 games and has a 4.61 ERA to go with a 3-8 record. She was 18-12 last season with a 2.86 ERA. The other three pitchers have combined to allow 48 runs in 25 innings.
 
USD is 10-4 all-time against Northern Colorado, a fellow NCC member back in the Division II days. The teams last met in 2009.
 
Grand Canyon (7-7)
Like Northern Colorado, the pitching staff for Grand Canyon is back and some key hitters are missing, but offense has not been an issue thus far. Senior twin sisters – Shea and Sierra Smith – lead the team. Sierra is an all-region third baseman who is batting .354 with two homers and seven RBIs. Shea is a two-time all-WAC shortstop who is hitting .500 (22-for-44) and scored 11 runs thru 14 games. The Coyotes beat pitcher Brianna Aguilar in a 10-1 game last year, but lost 12-3 to Alexa Coons on the same weekend. They, along with Yessie Morrison, carried sub-4.00 ERAs a season ago in helping the Lopes to a 31-28 record.
 
Utah (5-10)
Don't think too much about the Utes' record. Four of their losses are against top-25 teams and others are against Missouri, North Carolina, Northwestern, Ohio State and Duke. That said, Utah has lost nine of 10 and are replacing its top two pitchers and top hitter from last year's 20-30 squad. Freshman Sydney Sandez has pitched in 12 of 15 games and made five starts. She's got a 3.22 ERA in 45 innings of work. Speedy Julia Noskin leads the team with a .396 average. Utah is batting .263 overall with six home runs.
 
Utah topped South Dakota 8-4 in the team's only meeting back in 2013.
 
Iowa State (6-6)
USD and Iowa State are meeting for the first time since 2016. The Cyclones have won five of six following an opening weekend that included two games against top-ranked Florida State. The team has played mainly low-scoring affairs with ISU batting .208 as a team, but opponents just a tick better at .214. Two of Iowa State's top three pitchers are back including senior Emma Hylen who is 3-2 with a 2.22 ERA in four starts. All-region shortstop Sami Williams is off to a slow start by her standards. After hitting .388 with 12 home runs last season, she has hit .231 with five RBIs thru 12 games. Kaylee Bosworth and Logan Schaben, two other big bats last year, are hitting just .125 and .208, respectively, with eight combined hits.
 
South Dakota is 1-6 all-time against Iowa State with the win occurring in Ames in 2014.