University of South Dakota Athletics

Second-seeded South Dakota opens play at the Summit League Tournament Thursday at 2:30 p.m. at the Ellig Sports Complex on the campus of North Dakota State. The Coyotes are competing against sixth-seeded Purdue Fort Wayne, who shocked third-seeded Western Illinois Wednesday in extra innings 7-5. South Dakota State topped North Dakota 4-2 in the other elimination game. The Jacks face top-seeded NDSU at noon Thursday.
 
All four remaining teams compete in a double elimination tournament with the winner securing the Summit's automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament. The full schedule is below:
 
Thursday, May 9
GM3:  Noon – No. 4 South Dakota State (35-15) at No. 1 North Dakota State (38-13)
GM4:  2:30 p.m. – No. 6 Purdue Fort Wayne (10-37) at No. 2 South Dakota (31-24) | Live Stats | Watch
GM5:  5 p.m. – Loser of GM3 vs. Loser of GM4 (elimination game)
 
Friday, May 10
GM6:  1 p.m. – Winner of GM3 vs. Winner of GM4
GM7:  3:30 p.m. – Winner of GM5 vs. Loser of GM6 (elimination game)
 
Championship Saturday, May 11
GM8:  1 p.m. – Winner of GM6 vs. Winner of GM7
GM9:  3:30 p.m. – If Necessary
 
Coverage:
All games will be streamed live on thesummitleague.org with the championship game being broadcast live by Midco and streamed on ESPN+. Live stats are available throughout the tournament. You can also follow the Coyotes through social media on Twitter @SDCoyotesSB.
 
Coyotes vs. Mastodons
South Dakota shutout Purdue Fort Wayne in three straight games in Vermillion on the final days of March. The scores were 7-0, 10-0 and 6-0. In addition to outscoring the Mastodons 23-0, the Coyotes outhit them 24-11.
 
Every Coyote starter had at least two hits during the series, and standouts included shortstop Lauren Eamiguel and pitchers Alexis Devers and Dustie Durham. Eamiguel reached base in all nine at bats, going 5-for-5 with two triples and four walks. Devers pitched two complete-game shutouts, allowing 10 hits and striking out nine in 14 innings. Durham tossed a five-inning, one-hit shutout.
 
But this is the Summit League Tournament and PFW proved Wednesday that anything is possible. The Mastodons erased a 5-1 deficit against one of the top pitchers in the league in Western Illinois' Emily Ira to advance. Lacey Wilzbacher and Brooke Imel delivered back-to-back, run-scoring hits with two outs to tie the game at 5-5 in the seventh, and Abby Baez delivered a two-run double in the top of the eighth for the game winner. The seven runs scored against Ira are tied for the most posted against her all season.
 
Tournament History
South Dakota is 5-11 all-time in the Summit League Tournament (since 2013); each game has been held in Fargo; the Coyotes' advanced to the championship game in 2015 and took silver; USD is 0-2 in Fargo against Purdue Fort Wayne (2013, 2014)