University of South Dakota Athletics

For the first time since 1981, the Coyotes are competing in the postseason. South Dakota faces Purdue at 10 a.m. Thursday in the opening game of an NISC regional hosted by Cyclone Sports Complex on the campus of Iowa State University in Ames.
 
This is the third year of the NISC Tournament. Seven teams, including South Dakota and Iowa State, accepted their respective conference's automatic bid to compete in the tournament. Twelve other teams accepted at-large bids. Liberty, the 2017 tournament champion, is back representing the Atlantic Sun Conference. Defending champion Loyola Marymount is an automatic qualifier from the West Coast Conference.
 
The four regional champions will advance to a final double-elimination event to take place May 24-26 at TC Colorado Field in Fort Collins, Colo. Iowa State, Nevada, Stephen F. Austin and Liberty are serving as regional hosts.
 
Free Admission: There is no cost to attend the regional in Ames. The Cyclone Sports Complex is located at 1022 Welch Ave. in Ames.
 
Free Live Streams: Cyclones.tv will provide a free live stream of every game on YouTube. They will be one-camera streams with a score bug. Commentary will be provided in games featuring the Cyclones.
Thursday: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KujH_h9V0HQ
Friday: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-4sLDRlFnM
Saturday: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J17KqT6sWdE
 
Familiar Foes: South Dakota beat Purdue 4-2 back on Feb. 23 in Florida. Coyote first baseman Jamie Holscher hit a walk-off two-run homer in the bottom of the seventh inning that day. USD has also faced Iowa State twice and South Dakota State three times this season. Should USD take on Eastern Kentucky, it would be the first meeting between the two programs since 2011.
 
The Schedule:
Thursday, May 16
GM1: 10 a.m. – South Dakota vs. Purdue - Live Stats
GM2: 1 p.m. – Eastern Kentucky vs. South Dakota State - Live Stats
GM3: 4 p.m. – Winner of GM1 vs. Iowa State - Live Stats
 
Friday, May 17
GM4: 10 a.m. – Loser of GM1 vs. Loser of GM2 - Live Stats
GM5: 1 p.m. – Winner of GM2 vs. Winner of GM3 - Live Stats
GM6: 4 p.m. – Loser of GM3 vs. Winner of GM4 - Live Stats
 
Saturday, May 18
GM7: 10 a.m. – Loser of GM5 vs. Winner of GM6 - Live Stats
GM8: 1 p.m. – Winner of GM5 vs. Winner of GM7 - Live Stats
GM9: 4 p.m. – If necessary - Live Stats
 
The Teams:
South Dakota (33-26, 12-6 Summit – 2^nd place)
The Coyotes have recorded the most wins in their Division I era (since 2009) and their third-most wins overall. One more win would equal the 1999 squad for the second-most wins. South Dakota placed eight on the all-Summit League team including its entire infield, two pitchers, a catcher and one outfielder. Holscher leads the team with a .370 average, 10 home runs and 47 RBIs. Pitchers Dustie Durham and Alexis Devers have made 34 appearances each and combined for 27 of the team's 33 wins. Durham is also one of the Coyotes' top hitters, batting .340 with six home runs and 39 RBIs.
 
Purdue (31-27, 6-17 Big Ten – 11^th place)
The Boilermakers are 2-12 in their last 14 games, but all but three of those came against teams ranked inside the top 50. Third baseman Jenny Behan earned first team all-Big Ten honors for the second year in a row after leading her team with a .365 average, 13 homers and 40 RBIs. Pitchers Kaitlynn Moody and Sydney Bates are a combined 23-18 this season after going 15-37 a year ago. Moody started and went five innings against the 'Yotes back in February, but Bates took the loss in relief.
 
South Dakota State (36-17, 11-7 Summit – 4^th place)
The Jacks accepted an at-large bid to the NISC for the second year in a row. Like USD, both of their losses in last week's Summit League Tournament came to North Dakota State. First baseman Ali Herdliska and pitcher Kendra Conard are two of five SDSU players who earned all-Summit honors. Herdliska leads the team with a .333 average, 14 home runs and 42 RBIs. Conard, who pitched all but six innings for SDSU last week in Fargo, is 17-5 with a 2.71 ERA. Three of her five losses are to NDSU.
 
Eastern Kentucky (34-20, 16-6 Ohio Valley – t-3^rd place)
The Colonels were 1-16 against teams ranked in the top 100 of the RPI and 33-4 against everyone else. Eastern Kentucky brings a top-50 offense headed by senior first-team all-OVC honoree Hannah Clark, a shortstop batting .361 with 13 home runs and 53 RBIs. Fellow senior Destinee Lizzmore has 16 homers and 47 RBIs to go with a .329 average. Sammi Miller, a sophomore transfer from Virginia Tech, leads the Colonels with a .407 average that includes 11 doubles, four triples and 18 steals. Mollie Paulick (13-7, 2.60 ERA) and Samantha Reynoso (11-2, 3.20 ERA) pace the pitching staff.
 
Iowa State (32-23, 7-11 Big 12 – 5^th place)
The Cyclones played a top-50 schedule and boast wins against Texas, Texas Tech and Colorado State. The four teams that placed higher than them in the Big 12 are each ranked in the top 20. Junior shortstop Sami Williams is a first-team all-conference honoree with a .379 average, 15 home runs and 35 RBIs. Senior catcher Kaylee Bosworth is batting .327 with eight homers and 35 driven in. Senior hurler Emma Hylen is 15-9 with a 3.03 ERA in 33 appearances and 19 starts. She has nearly 160 innings. No other Cyclone has tossed more than 92.