South Dakota softball enters year four under head coach Robert Wagner fresh off one of its best seasons in program history. The Coyotes won 33 games last year, came within one game of reaching the NCAA Tournament, and earned an automatic bid to compete in the NISC Tournament for the first time.
 
It's a new season with a new roster and action begins Friday when the Coyotes take a short bus ride east to Cedar Falls, Iowa, to compete in Northern Iowa's Doc Halverson Tournament.
 
Here are five things to know about this 2020 South Dakota team before the first pitch:
 
Five positions are up for grabs
South Dakota's entire infield earned all-Summit League honors last year, but just the Lauren's – Eamiguel at shortstop and Wobken at third – return. That leaves openings at second base, first base and catcher. In the outfield, the question is who will flank three-time all-conference center fielder Camille Fowler in right and left?
 
"It's going to be a new look," said Wagner. "There are going to be new people playing those positions because of what we lost to graduation. And who is going to be playing those positions? Is it going to be a returner who didn't play a lot last year, or is it going to be a newcomer? To some extent, that's yet to be determined, but I think early on we will play a little bit more of the roster than maybe we have in the past."
 
The roster is flexible
Fowler at second base? Okay, probably not. But don't be surprised to see a catcher steal some innings in the outfield, or a pitcher pinch running, or infielders and outfielders playing multiple positions. Wagner has always been crafty with his defense and his lineups. With so many openings and so many options, don't expect to find a pattern early on.
 
"It's safe to say we probably never had the same lineup twice in a row over the past few seasons," said Wagner. "And that's good and bad. One school of thought is if you leave your set lineup, they feel comfortable, they don't feel pressure and they know where they're hitting. We tend to go the other way and say 'hey, if you play well, you're going to get opportunities. But slumps happen in this sport and you might get a day off. You'll be back out there tomorrow, but we're going to go with somebody that's feeling a little more confident.'
 
"I would like to have some consistency in the lineup. I would like to have the top of the order be the same and 3-4-5 be similar. It's just a matter of finding who is going to fit best there. And I don't have those answers, especially with so much newness to our team."
 


Expect more speed, balance throughout the lineup
South Dakota's five 2019 graduates combined to smack nearly 30 home runs a season ago. The long ball has always been a weapon for the Coyotes throughout the last decade, but Wagner spoke highly of the athleticism throughout this roster. He doesn't call for bunts often, but may opt to more this year and use his speed on the base paths as an advantage.
 
Similarly, that advantage should carry over to the defense. Wobken and Eamiguel are beginning their third years on the left side of the infield, and Fowler can run down anything in the outfield, but Wagner also said the right side of the defense will be just as good or better defensively than in years past and that's saying something.
 
"The right side is all new, but I think defensively, they are all solid," said Wagner. "I think we always attempt to upgrade the defense. This group of infielders has grown tremendously and continues to get better and better.
 
"It's hard to replace Jess (Rogers) behind the plate. She was a leader and a four-year starter. But we have Skylar Arellano and Kierstin Denning coming back with some experience, we have a senior transfer in Mary Martin with some experience, and we have a talented freshman in Jordyn Pender. So we feel good about catching as well, and overall I think we're solid defensively."
 
Pitching staff includes freshman Fletcher
Alexis Devers, now a junior, won 13 games a year ago, led the Summit in appearances (37) and games started (32), and was second in innings pitched (172). But Dustie Durham, a 14-game winner who logged 132 innings, has graduated, and first in line to take a crack at those innings is Holly Fletcher, a freshman from San Mateo, California. Fletcher led Aragon High School to a CCS Division I championship last year, and turned in a solid debut in the fall season at USD.
 
"Holly is a competitor," said Wagner. "We think she can definitely step in and give us quality innings and compete in any game.
 
"With all of our pitchers, we're going to have to play sound defense behind them. We won't strike out 10 or 14 players a game, but we will go with our strengths and attack hitters' weaknesses. One of our advantages is that we have at least three people that we feel confident can go in there and start a game. It's kind of like the hitting – we will play the hot hand and look for an ace so to speak. But we do have some depth within our staff."
 
Wagner sums it up best
"There are three things we're looking at as far as the makeup of this team.
 
"We have returners who played a lot last year and the hope is that they will be better than last year. They don't just continue with what they did, but they grow and they develop and they're even better and I see a lot of that.
 
"Then you have returners who maybe didn't play as much in the past and now it's going to be their turn. How do they step in and how do they fill roles and improve on what was there before.
 
"And then you have a very talented group of freshmen. There's high expectations for them and a lot are expected to step in and contribute. A lot of the others are going to continue to develop and get better. If they're not contributing today, the hope is that they will tomorrow.
 
"If we can put those three groups together, I think we can have a successful season."