UPDATE: Saturday's game will start at hour early at 11 a.m. to try to beat the rain

South Dakota and South Dakota State meet at Jackrabbit Softball Stadium in Brookings Friday and Saturday for the final games of the regular season. The two teams will play a doubleheader Friday at 1 p.m. and a single game Saturday at noon.
 
You can watch the games for a fee at GoJacks.com/watch. Live stats links are posted below.
 
It is a series for bragging rights in every sense of the phrase. South Dakota State (32-15) has already clinched its third consecutive Summit League title. The Jackrabbits will be the No. 1 seed at the tournament which runs May 10-13 in Brookings. South Dakota (22-23) can improve from the No. 4 seed to the No. 3 seed but both scenarios lead to a first day tournament game Wednesday.
 
The winner of the series also secures a point in the South Dakota Showdown Series – an annual competition held between the two athletic departments. SDSU currently holds a 9-8 lead in this year's series with one softball and two track and field points up for grabs.
 
South Dakota State is 53-3 in conference play since the pandemic. Two of its three losses were to South Dakota. The Coyotes ruined the Jacks' perfect run through the conference on the final week of the 2021 season. USD gets another chance to play spoiler this season as SDSU boasts a 14-0 mark.
 
SDSU's rise has come in concert with the addition of pitcher Tori Kniesche. She was Summit Pitcher of the Year as a freshman in 2021 and will no doubt earn that title again next week. She is 20-4 on the season with a 1.48 ERA and 203 strikeouts which rank 11^th nationally. She has tossed two no-hitters and is tied for the national lead with 12 shutouts.
 
Most notably, Kniesche hasn't allowed an earned run in Summit play. She gave up her first run last week in Kansas City, but it took an error behind her to make that happen. Kniesche is 10-0 in Summit play. She has pitched 71 2/3 innings and has 112 strikeouts against 34 walks.
 
South Dakota scored five runs off Kniesche – all in one inning – in a 5-3 win against South Dakota State last season. Clara Edwards tossed a complete game in the circle and Tatum Villotta went 2-for-3 with an RBI and run scored.
 
South Dakota State has won 13 of the last 20 games of a series that dates back to 1978. South Dakota won 13 consecutive games from 2012-16, the longest streak in the series.
 
The Coyotes have the top two hitters in the Summit in terms of batting average in Aleesia Sainz (.463) and Courtney Wilson (.393). Three and four on that list are Jackrabbits Jocelyn Carrillo (.390) and Mia Jarecki (.380). South Dakota is hitting a Summit-best .298 in conference play. South Dakota State is second with a .291 average.
 
The number two pitchers are Kori Wedeking (USD) and Shannon Lasey (SDSU), two transfers who will compete in this rivalry for the first time. Wedeking tossed a one-hit shutout against St. Thomas last weekend and is 4-2 in Summit play with a 2.63 ERA in 37 innings. Lasey is 4-0 in five starts with a 2.97 ERA in 28 innings.

Live Stats Links: Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3