South Dakota embarks on the beginning of its spring break trip with the four-team Tennessee Invitational played at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium in Knoxcille. Ohio State and Missouri State round out the event, played in bracket format after your three round robin games are concluded.

The Schedule
Friday
12:30 p.m. (ET)/ 11:30 a.m. (CT) vs. Ohio State | First Meeting
5:40 p.m. (ET)/4:30 p.m. (CT) vs. #9 Tennessee | Second Meeting (0-1)
Saturday
10 a.m. (ET)/9 a.m. (CT) vs. Missouri State | Second Meeting (0-1)
3 p.m. (ET) or 5:30 p.m. (ET) vs. Bracket Play Game
Sunday
11 a.m. (ET)/10 a.m. (CT) if lose bracket play Game
or
1:30 p.m. (ET)/12:30 p.m. (CT) if win bracket play Game

The Opponents 

Ohio State (2023 Final RPI 46, 33-20, Big Ten)
Ohio State enters at 8-4 after having last weekend off and like South Dakota begins its spring break trip. 
The Buckeyes lead the Big Ten in team batting average at .328 while ranking second in slugging at .509 while their pitching staff sports the second-best ERA at 2.26.
Taylor Heckman, a senior, leads the offense with a .455 average, one home run and six RBIs in nine games played. 
Hannah Church, a sophomore, is hitting .393 with nine RBIs while senior Teagan Cortelletti is hitting .379 with a .486 on-base percentage.
Freshman Jasmyn Burns, who opened her collegiate career with a 10-game hitting streak, leads the team with four home runs and 15 RBIs.
The pitching staff is anchored by seniors Allison Smith (4-3, 1.57 ERA) and Emily Ruck (2-0, 2.27 ERA).

Tennessee (2023 Final RPI 6, 51-10, SEC)
Eighth-ranked/Ninth-ranked Tennessee, a Women's College World Series participant in 2023, is coming in off a 2-1 win over 10th ranked Clemson on Tuesday at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium.
The Volunteers are 14-4 overall and have won six in a row since falling to 16th-ranked UCLA on February 25. There other losses are to second-ranked Texas, ninth-ranked Stanford and Cal-State Fullerton.
Rylie West paces the offense with an even .400 average through 18 games with 20 hits in 50 at bats including six home runs and 18 RBIs. Kiki Milley is hitting .389 with a team-high seven home runs. 
Tennessee's offense is hitting .300 on the season and averaging 6.1 runs per game. 
The Volunteers pitching staff sports a team ERA of 1.44, good for eighth-best in the NCAA. 
Karlyn Pickens, the 2023 SEC Freshman of the Year, is 8-2 with a 0.82 ERA and Payton Gottshall is 5-2 with a 1.62 ERA. 

Missouri State (2023 Final RPI 76, 31-20, MVC)
This is the final season in legendary head coach Holly Hesse career as softball coach at Missouri State. Hesse is retiring at the conclusion of the 2024 season after 36 years at the helm where she owns a career mark of 906-866-2. 
The Bears, picked third in the Missouri Valley Conference Preseason Poll, lost a returning all league performer McKenzie Vaughan to a season ending injury in the preseason. 
Abby Ford, a sophomore, is hitting .317 with 13 hits in 12 games to pace the offensive attack which has scored just 32 runs in 12 games. 
Missouri State also had last weekend off and enter with a 3-9 record.