Finally, after 36 games and seven consecutive weekends on the road, the Coyotes are ready to make their home debut. South Dakota hosts Purdue Fort Wayne in a noon doubleheader Saturday at Nygaard Field. The third and final game of the series is Sunday at 11 a.m.
 
For the Yotes, the weekend series represents another opportunity to prove they are improved from last season. Head Coach Robert Wagner's squad sits at 19-17 overall, two wins more than they produced all last season. They have beat quality teams in Michigan, Purdue and Grand Canyon, and last week took two out of three from Western Illinois, a Summit team that swept them in Vermillion a year ago.
 
Now the challenge is Purdue Fort Wayne (5-21), a 5-win team up to this point but still one that managed to steal a game from South Dakota a year ago. If the Coyotes want to keep pace with favorites North Dakota State and South Dakota State in the Summit race, they will need to take care of business at home in these next two weekends.
 
Catching Holscher
 
No Coyote has stolen more headlines this season than senior Jamie Holscher who is certainly the front-runner for MVP honors but with an entire month left to play. Holscher was the Summit's February Athlete of the Month, she has earned three weekly awards, and frankly is piecing together one of the more impressive seasons in program history.
 
Holscher leads the Summit and is amongst the national leaders in a number of statistical categories. Her 10 home runs are three more than she hit in her first three years combined, and she has a nifty .404 batting average to display with that power. She has been clutch, hitting three game-winning homers. She has been consistent – she enters the weekend with five straight games of two hits. She has been resourceful, playing every position around the infield except shortstop and even starting six games in right field.
 
We caught up with Jamie ahead of this week's series:
 
How would you sum up the season up to this point?
JH: It is certainly going better than last year. We are winning games that we are supposed to win, but we are also winning games that people don't expect us to like Michigan and some of the bigger schools. I think a lot of people have underestimated us and we have begun to prove them wrong. We still have a lot more room to grow as a team, we are still getting better and we are still working towards our overall goals. Ultimately, we want to win conference, we want to win the tournament. All of these highlights are leading up to what we came here to do.
 
Was last weekend any different with it being the start of conference play?
JH: For me, there were a few more nerves just because conference is a completely different season – the stakes are higher. Every game throughout the year counts, but these mean more. Sometimes, our seeding in the conference tournament can come down to one game. Some of our younger players may not have realized that until they got to the games because that's how I was my freshman year. I didn't know how important conference games were.
 
Is there any one thing that you would attribute to some of the individual successes you have enjoyed up to this point?
JH: I have focused a lot more on my hitting. I wasn't great in conference last year and that sticks with you. So I've been hitting early every day with a coach or on my own. I've put a lot of work into hitting and making sure I'm growing as a player to help my team and making sure that others around me are getting better as well. Like helping the freshman with new fundamentals of the swing or things they haven't done before. I've made it a mission that this year was going to be completely different.
 
How has film study improved your game?
JH: A new thing this year is that we've been getting our film from coach (Schneid), so I can look and we can slow it down. Sometimes she will give us information too. So I take advantage of the film that we get of our at bats from our previous game and use that to get better. She emails it to us so we can view our own film anytime. Before, we would watch games as a team, but I like being able to watch it whenever I want. I think it's a good key to seeing how good or bad we are doing.
 
What are you studying?
JH: Health Services Administration. I will be certified when I graduate, but I plan on getting my master's which will afford me a better opportunity to get a higher level position. I have applied to get it online, and if I am accepted, I can start as early as this summer.