UPDATE @ 9:15 a.m. Friday: Friday's games have been cancelled due to rain.
UPDATE @ 1:30 p.m. Saturday: The rain has made the fields unsafe for play. Saturday's games have been cancelled.
UPDATE @ 10 a.m. Sunday: USD will take on Cal State Fullerton after facing Columbia Sunday

South Dakota is headed to California for its final non-conference games ahead of Summit League play. The Coyotes are scheduled to play 11 games in a nine-day span starting Friday in Fullerton and ending March 18 in San Diego.
 
The forecast shows the Sunshine State is not living up to its moniker at the start. Heavy rain is expected in Fullerton Friday, which could alter the tournament schedule. As of now, South Dakota is expected to begin play at 9 a.m. PT (11 a.m. CT) Friday against Brown at Anderson Family Field. The Coyotes are also scheduled to face San Diego State, Loyola Marymount, Cal State Fullerton and Columbia.
 
South Dakota is coming off a successful weekend in Arkansas where the Coyotes knocked off Iowa and split games against Central Arkansas. The results pushed USD's record to 8-9 and South Dakota is 131 in the first RPI rankings released by the NCAA. These rankings will be updated daily as the season progresses.
 
Fifth-year senior Courtney Wilson hit safely in all five games in Arkansas to boost her average to .349. Leadoff hitter Tatum Villotta enters California with a four-game hitting streak and has reached base safely in 10 in a row. She leads the Coyotes and ranks third in the Summit with 13 runs scored and is batting .292. Catcher Bela Goerke has the third-highest OPS in the Summit at 1.190. She's batting .391 with five doubles, three home runs and 10 RBIs.
 
Coyote pitchers Clara Edwards and Kori Wedeking performed well in Arkansas. Edwards went the distance in wins against Iowa and Central Arkansas to more to 4-4 on the year. She struck out a season-high five in a 1-0 shutout of Central Arkansas. Wedeking allowed two earned runs in 12 innings of work against Central Arkansas and Alcorn State.
 
A look at the (current) schedule with ways to follow and a peek at the opponents follows:
 
Friday, March 10
9 a.m. PT (11 a.m. CT) vs. Brown | CANCELLED
11:30 a.m. PT (1:30 p.m. CT) vs. San Diego State | CANCELLED
 
Saturday, March 11
3 p.m. PT (5 p.m. CT) vs. Loyola Marymount | CANCELLED
5:30 p.m. PT (7:30 p.m. CT) vs. Cal State Fullerton | CANCELLED
 
Sunday, March 12
10 a.m. PT (Noon CT) vs. Columbia | Live Stats
Noon PT (2 p.m. CT) vs. Cal State Fullerton | Live Stats | Watch (ESPN+)
 
Brown (2-7, 274 RPI)
The Bears placed sixth in the Ivy League standings a year ago and are working to move up into the top four which is the new standard for tournament qualifications. South Dakota beat Brown 2-0 last season in Miami behind Kynlee Marquez who pitched into the fifth inning before handing off to Grace Garcia. The Coyotes mustered just five hits off Bear pitchers Jodie Aguirre and Alexis Guevara and both are back for Brown this season. Pitching was the strength of Brown's team last year. The Bears had four who registered an ERA under 3.00. It was a .227 team batting average that prevented more victories. This year's results include losses to North Dakota State in Alabama by scores of 6-0 and 2-0. Brown has been shutout five times in nine games.
 
San Diego State (14-7, 40 RPI)
Former UCLA great Stacey Nuveman Deniz got San Diego State back to the NCAA tournament in her first season after taking over for SDSU's all-time winningest coach Kathy Van Wyk. She returns five of her top six hitters and three of four pitchers and is off to a fine start in year two. The Aztecs' wins include Notre Dame (No. 43 RPI), Wichita State (21), Cal State Fullerton (17) and Minnesota (33). The only head scratching loss out of seven was a 4-0 decision to local rival San Diego.
 
Mac Barbara spent two seasons at Ole Miss before transferring to SDSU and became an instant all-American after batting .395 with 18 home runs and 61 RBI last season. She is the reigning Mountain West Player of the Year. Barbara is batting .288 this season with three home runs and 13 RBIs while also working in defensively at catcher.
 
Jillian Celis moved from second base to shortstop and is batting .397 with a team-leading 15 RBIs. Bella Espinoza is 11-for-11 on the base paths. The Aztecs stole 90 bases last year and are 30-of-34 this year.
 
Pitching ace Maggie Balint graduated, but three other solid arms remain. SDSU also added DePaul transfer Sarah Lehman for good measure.
 
Loyola Marymount (9-13, 80 RPI)
LMU qualified for the NCAA tournament last year for the first time since 2007. Like San Diego State, the Lions got there with a new coach who excelled as a student-athlete at UCLA. Tairia Flowers begins her second season at LMU after racking up 259 wins over 10 seasons at CSUN.
 
The Lions' 9-13 record this season is a bit misleading. All but one of LMU's losses have come against teams with RPIs in the top 40 and the Lions' schedule is currently ranked 19^th toughest out of 306.
 
Flowers returns a five-person pitching staff headlined by WCC Pitcher of the Year Jenna Perez, an 18-game winner who began her career at UNLV. Perez is 3-8 this year with a 3.26 ERA in 62 innings. She is one of seven pitchers LMU has used last season.
 
WCC Player of the Year Georgia Blair is now on the coaching staff, but center fielder Morgan DeBord is back. She is hitting .304 with six home runs and 14 RBIs. New first baseman Taylor Fitch is batting .305 with three home runs and a team-high 16 RBIs as a freshman. Jasmine Sofowora is off to a slow start this year, but hit .358 with five home runs a season ago.
 
Cal State Fullerton (11-11, 21 RPI)
Cal State Fullerton has played the ninth-toughest schedule in the nation up to this point. The Titans boast wins against Tennessee, Oregon, Florida and a split with Cal. Two of their losses are to UCLA, one is to Oklahoma and they lost 2-1 to North Dakota State.
 
Fullerton was eliminated by San Diego State at an NCAA regional hosted by Arizona State last May. It was the program's fifth NCAA tournament berth in the last six seasons. Nearly everyone is back from that lineup and the Titans have made one key addition in pitcher Haley Rainey, the Big Sky Freshman of the Year last year at Idaho State.
 
All-region performers Megan Delgadillo in center, third baseman Hanna Becerra and catcher Jessi Alcala are back. Delgadillo hit over .400 last year and stole 50 bases. She's hitting .353 with 10 steals through 20 games. Becerra leads the team with five home runs. Alcala is batting .258 with three home runs and 12 RBIs.
 
Ace pitcher Myka Sutherin won 16 games last year and boasts a 1.16 ERA in 60 innings this year. Raci Miranda was last year's number two. Rainey is 3-3 with a 1.37 ERA in 46 innings of work.
 
Columbia (2-7, 249 RPI)
The Lions are two weeks into their young season. They began in Orlando and competed last week in South Carolina. The wins are against Bradley (7-5) and North Carolina A&T (9-8). Losses include Purdue, Louisville, South Carolina and Illinois.
 
Third baseman Bailey "Bubba" Gleaves is off to a fantastic start. She is 11-of-24 (.458) with three doubles, a triple and 10 RBIs through nine games after hitting .243 a season ago. Outfielder Jaden Hill is hitting .367 (11-of-30) with three doubles. Megan Ryono is also at .367 and is 5-of-5 on the base paths.
 
Jordan Hill was 6-12 in the circle as a freshman last year with a 3.18 ERA. Raquel Reyes was 4-4 a year ago and logged 71 innings. Those two are expected to carry the load defensively again this season.