University of South Dakota Athletics

South Dakota softball is back! The Coyotes are in Charleston, South Carolina, with a practice in the books ahead of the Willie Jewell Invitational hosted by the Charleston Southern Buccaneers at the CSU Softball Field. USD is scheduled to play two games on both Friday and Saturday with the final game set for Sunday. In addition to playing the host Buccaneers twice, the Coyotes are taking on Dayton twice and Maryland Eastern Shore once.
 
Below are five things to know before Friday's first pitch set for 11:30 a.m. (EST).
 
1. The Coyotes return four (five) all-Summit players
South Dakota led The Summit League in home runs (53) and had the second-best batting average (.283) in 2018. The Coyotes' top-five hitters in terms of average are back and each are all-Summit performers:
     Sr. | C | Jessica Rogers – .376 BA, 15 HRs (led Summit), 45 RBIs (2^nd in Summit)
     Jr. | CF | Camille Fowler – .326 BA, 57 hits (4^th in Summit), 12 SBs (4^th in Summit)
     So. | SS | Lauren Eamiguel – .313 BA, 4 HRs, 22 RBIs (only freshman on all-Summit teams)
     Sr. | 2B | Alyssa Fernandez – .306 BA, 6 HRs, 31 BBs (led Summit), .452 OB% (5^th in Summit)
     Sr. | UT | Dustie Durham* – .292 BA, 2 HRs, 21 RBIs (hit .390 in Summit play)
 
*= Okay, so Durham technically wasn't on the all-Summit team. The Summit removed the utility player from it's all-conference team in 2015. Suffice to say, she was the top pitcher/position player in the Summit.
 
2. The Coyotes are older, but still relatively young
South Dakota entered 2018 with 15 new players on its roster including 12 freshmen. The team carried six pitchers, none of which had ever thrown a pitch at the Division I level. There were three seniors.
In 2019, there remain just seven upperclassmen on the roster, but instead of 15 newcomers there are 15 returners.
 
Coach Robert Wagner:
"With five seniors and two juniors, that leaves a lot of freshmen and sophomores that we are expecting to contribute. We need to see what those young people can do. There may be some who didn't perform at a really high level last year, but they need an opportunity to see where they are now. We have six tournaments to play in before we try to get a core group of players ready for conference play. Ultimately, it is about preparing yourself for conference."
 
3. Resources have been put into pitching and defense
A team ERA of 5.79 with 96 errors will not cut it if the Coyotes hope to achieve the goals they have set for this season. Understandably, a new set of pitchers with a new infield contributed heavily to those numbers a year ago, but those same players are back to turn the page in 2019.
 
One of Wagner's most noticeable moves in the offseason was bringing in assistant coach Nicole Steinbach, a two-time all-region pitcher at Ball State University who has coached at Bethel College the last two years. In Steinbach, the Coyotes' staff has someone dedicated to their craft. Tack on a full year of experience for the pitchers, who learned, grew and got a little more mentally tough as last year played out and the goal is that the Coyotes will see big improvement in that area.
 
There is also more stability in USD's defense heading into tomorrow's opening game. Most likely, Lauren Wobken will be at third, Eamiguel at short, Fernandez at second and Jamie Holscher at first. A year ago, Wobken was in a backup role at short and Eamiguel was playing third.
 
4. Competition is wide open for the corner outfield positions
Fowler, a two-time all-Summit performer, is in center, but the spots next to her are unknown. Senior Ashtyn Blakeman was a defensive specialist a year ago and logged 37 at bats. Newcomer Alexis Egan earned NJCAA All-America honors at Iowa Central last year where she led the nation with 74 stolen bases. The freshmen include Gabbi Holbert and Courtney Wilson.
 
But Wagner will trade offense for defense throughout the games, meaning infielders Holscher, Durham and sophomore Dylan Underwood could make cameos alongside Fowler as well. Durham will hit when she pitches, but will likely remain in the batting order when she doesn't. Durham earned starts at first base and at third last season.
 
5. This team is excited to get outside and play ball!
The DakotaDome is nice, but you can't simulate fielding ground balls in the dirt or pitching on dirt. A weekend of nice weather not too long ago allowed the team to get out onto its field and begin breaking in new cleats at least a little bit. The high in Charleston looks like 75 degrees on Friday before dipping into the 50s for the weekend.
 
Coach Wagner:
"We are ready to play some opponents and see where we are at. This weekend will be a litmus test for us to see how far we've come and where we need to go for the following week.
 
"These opponents will be good tests. Dayton and Charleston Southern finished in the top half of all NCAA teams a year ago so we will learn a lot from playing them."