South Dakota and South Dakota State meet at Nygaard Field in Vermillion to open the Summit League slate for both teams. The two teams will play a doubleheader on Thursday at 1:30 p.m. and a single game Friday at 1 p.m.

South Dakota State and South Dakota both enter the rivalry series with losing records, but both teams have faced challenging non-conference schedules against ranked teams as well as teams from Power 5 conferences.

The winner of the series secures a point in the South Dakota Showdown Series – an annual competition held between the two athletic departments. SDSU currently holds a 8-7 lead in this year's series as we begin the spring sports season with softball, men's and women's golf as well as outdoor track and field to go.

South Dakota State is 56-3 in conference play since the pandemic and have won the last three regular season titles. 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. 

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 again as a junior in 2023. She enters the series this season with a 7-5 record and a 2.78 earned run average, fifth-best in the Summit. She leads the Summit League in opponent batting average at .183, the only pitcher below .200, and ranks second in the league in strikeouts with 91.

South Dakota junior Clara Edwards, who tossed a shutout over the Jacks in the Summit League tourney last season, sits third in the Summit with a 2.58 ERA.

South Dakota State has won 17 of the last 25 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 Jackrabbits average 4.8 runs per game and lead the Summit League in runs scored, hits, doubles, triple and home runs. 

Meanwhile, the Coyotes rank fourth in the league in batting average at .245 and average 3.4 runs per game.