VERMILLION, S.D. — South Dakota kicks off Summit League play this weekend at Nygaard Field as they host North Dakota for a three-game series. The Yotes enter conference play after posting a 17-11 mark in the nonconference slate, while UND is 15-14 and 6-6 in true road games.
 
The Schedule vs North Dakota
Saturday @ noon and 2:00 p.m.
Sunday @ 11:00 a.m.
 
ABOUT THE YOTES

• South Dakota enters the conference season with a 17-11 record after winning its most recent contest 8-2 over Wofford to close out last week in South Carolina. The Yotes went 3-3 over the spring break trip to S.C., picking up a pair of wins over Wofford and a 10-1 win over Presbyterian.
• USD holds a 71-38 all-time record over North Dakota and are 37-12 against the Hawks in Vermillion.
  • The Yotes went 3-1 over the Hawks a season ago and took the regular season series 2-1 in Grand Forks, outscoring UND 14-5 across the three games.
  • South Dakota also earned a 6-5 10-inning win over the Hawks in the Summit Leauge Tournament.
  • The first game of the regular season between the Yotes and Hawks also went to extra innings with USD taking a 5-3 win in nine innings.
• Tatum Villotta carries a team high .440 batting average into this weekend's series and leads the Yotes with 40 hits.  
  • Villotta has hit safely in 23 of 28 games to start the season and has 12 multi-hit games.
  • Villotta also leads the Yotes with three triples on the season, has nine extra-base hits and is tied for second with 15 RBIs.
• Delaney White follows Villotta with a .396 batting average and has a team high eight doubles. White is the Yotes leader with 19 RBIs.
  • White has 11 multi-hit games, including a 3-for-3 performance against UTSA earlier this spring.
  • White went 8-for-16 from the plate at the Lion Classic with two RBIs and five runs scored.
  • She went 3-for-6 at the plate in the last two games against Wofford with two doubles and five RBIs.
• Clara Edwards has started in the pitcher's circle in 15 of her 16 appearances and has a 10-5 record with 89.2 innings of work.
  • Edwards has tossed nine complete games and has struck out 57 batters.
  • Edwards 3-1 last week with wins over Presbyterian and a pair of victories over Wofford. Edwards tossed 12.0 innings against the Terriers and allowed just two runs.
  • Edwards also holds a .295 batting average with one home run and 15 RBIs.
  • In her complete game shutout of Norfolk State, Edwards also went 2-for-3 at the plate with a double and an RBI. She followed that with a 4-for-4 game at the plate with four RBIs in the second game of the doubleheader against the Spartans.
• Autumn Iversen is fourth on the team with 13 RBIs and is third with a .324 batting average. She has seven extra base hits with four doubles, two triples and a home run.
• Ella McGee and Alyssa Thorson also carry hitting clips above .300 with a .317 and .310 average, respectively.
• McKenna Young had herself a weekend in Texas and earned her first career Kwik Star Summit League Peak Pitcher of the Week honor two weekends ago.
  • Young put together back-to-back complete game wins with 10+ strikeouts in both contests.
  • Young opened up her weekend with a career high 14 strikeouts against Prairie View A&M, and followed that with 11 punchouts against East Texas A&M.
• Young has a team leading 81 strikeouts in 58.1 innings of work. She has made 16 appearances, 10 starts and carries a 2.01 ERA and 1.08 WHIP while holding opposing bats to a .189 average. She holds a 6-4 record on the season.
• South Dakota swept the Summit League's Peak Performer of the Week honors with Tatum Villotta earning the Peak Performer of the Week and Clara Edwards earning the Peak Pitcher of the Week two weeks ago.
  • Villotta extended her hit streak to 16 games over that weekend and went 11-for-22 from the plate across the five games at the Pirate-Spartan Challenge. Villotta scored nine runs and had seven RBIs. She tallied six extra-base hits with three triples, two doubles and an inside the park home run.
  • Edwards earned a win in all four of her starts this past week and improved her season record to 7-3. Edwards tossed 23.0 innings with a 0.78 ERA and had 19 strikeouts. Edwards tossed complete games in three of four games this past week and has seven complete games on the year. 
• South Dakota was picked to finish third in the Summit League Preseason Poll, as announced by the league office.
• The Coyotes finished fifth in the Summit League a season ago with a 7-10 conference record and a 23-30 mark on the season.
• USD returns a trio of All-Summit League selections from a season ago in Tatum Villotta (second team), Clara Edwards (HM) and Delaney White (HM).
• Villotta and Edwards were named as USD's players to watch in the conference preseason poll.
• Villotta was one of three Yotes to start in all 53 games a season ago, splitting time in both middle infield positions. She tallied a team-high 54 hits, 23 runs and a team best 10 game hitting streak during the season. Villotta had 12 multi-hit games in 2024 and has 39 multi-hit games in her career.
• Edwards made 28 starts in 29 appearances as the No. 1 pitcher in 2024 and recorded an 8-13 record, 2.76 ERA, and 121 strikeouts in 157.1 innings pitched. Edwards struck out a career-high 13 batters in a complete game shutout, one of five shutouts she had on the season, in a win over Abilene Christian.
• McKenna Young begins her sophomore season after pitching 79.0 innings in her freshman campaign, making 27 appearances and nine starts. She tallied 75 strikeouts and held opponents to a team-low .246 batting average.
• Rounding out the pitching staff is freshmen Madison Evans and Campbell German. Evans was named the South Dakota Gatorade Players of the Year last year after leading Sioux Falls Lincoln to a state title, while German was a three-time First Team All-State selection in Iowa.
• The combination of Villotta, White and Rylie Jones in the infield combined to start all but three games in 2024.
• White was tied for second on the squad in 2024 with 45 hits, second with eight doubles and drove in the second most runs (23) while holding a .278 batting average. White led the team with 13 multi-hit games and had five games with multiple RBIs.

 
ABOUT NORTH DAKOTA

• The Fighting Hawks went 4-2 last week and ended their week in Tennessee with a 3-1 game two win over Darthmouth. UND is 15-14 on the season.
• Katie Joten leads the Hawks with a .390 batting average and has a team-high 32 hits with eight doubles, a triple and one home run. Callie Honig is tied for second with 19 RBIs and is No. 2 on the team with a .362 average.
• Camryn Lasota has a team-leading 20 RBIs and seven home runs.  Lasota has 13 RBIs over last nine games, including six games with multiple RBIs.
• Makaela Carr has made 17 appearances in the circle for the Hawks and holds a team-low 2.91 ERA in 55.1 innings of work. Carr has made six starts and has struck out 60 batters.
  Jackie Albrecht has started in 10 of her 12 appearances but holds a 0-9 record. Albrecht has a 3.30 ERA in 40.1 innings of work and has 45 punchouts on the season.