VERMILLION, S.D. — The South Dakota softball team looks to finish the regular season strong after winning five of their last seven games but welcome a strong test in the Summit League leading Mavericks of Omaha to Nygaard Field for the final series of the regular season, Thursday-Saturday, April 30-May 2, in a rematch of last year's Summit League tournament championship game.  
 
The Coyotes have firmly secured a spot in the 2026 Summit League Tournament next week after winning the last two Summit League series. The Yotes sit fourth in the standings entering the final weekend of play and could only drop as low as fifth, since USD has the tiebreaker over Kansas City with the series win.
 
GAME #48: South Dakota (15-31-1, 6-9 SL) vs. Omaha (32-9, 13-1 SL)
Where: Nygaard Field | Vermillion, S.D.
When: Thursday, April 30 | 3 p.m. (CT)
Watch: Summit League Network
 
GAME #49: South Dakota (15-31-1, 6-9 SL) vs. Omaha (32-9, 13-1 SL)
Where: Nygaard Field | Vermillion, S.D.
When: Friday, May 1 | 3 p.m. (CT)
Watch: Summit League Network
 
GAME #50: South Dakota (15-31-1, 6-9 SL) vs. Omaha (32-9, 13-1 SL)
Where: Nygaard Field | Vermillion, S.D.
When: Friday, May 2 | 12 p.m. (CT)
Watch: Summit League Network
Promo: SENIOR DAY
 
LAST TIME OUT: KANSAS CITY
The Coyotes picked up a pair of wins down I-29 in Kansas City last weekend against the Roos, behind the arm of Madison Evans in the circle.
 
Kiya Johnson led the Yotes with a hot bat last week, batting .545 on the week with six hits in 11 at-bats. She had a double against Kansas City and hit a home run against Drake in the midweek. Autumn Iversen recorded a hit in each of the four games last week, bringing her hit streak up to seven-straight games. Allie Cromer also contributed a pair of doubles and her third home run of the season.
 
In the rubber match victory, Evans tossed a career-high 12 strike outs and twice struck out a Roo with the bases loaded that could've given KC the lead or tied the game with a hit. On the weekend, Evans was 2-0 with a 3.50 ERA over 14.0 innings with 20 strike outs and KC hitting just .200 off her. In Game 2, Campbell German pitched well enough to win, having a 1.68 ERA over 8.1 innings on the week with just two earned runs allowed with six strike outs.
 
GAME NOTES

• The Coyotes have won five of their last seven games, sitting fourth in the Summit League (6-9 SL).
• South Dakota has now won back-to-back Summit League series with both being on the road (at UND, at Kansas City).
• The Yotes look for their first Summit League win at Nygaard Field against the Mavericks.
• The bat of Brooke Carey leads the team in batting average at .364, which sits top-10 in the Summit League (T8th).
• The wheels of Madison Evans has her sitting T3rd in the league in triples (3).
• Sara Iburg leads the team with her 25 RBI on the season, being one of three Yotes with 20 or more (Iversen, 20; White, 20).
• Recently, with the hot bat and seven-game hit streak, Autumn Iversen has improved her batting average to over the .300 mark (.304) and leads the team with her 15 drawn walks.
• The seven-game hit streak for Iversen also is the team's longest hitting streak on the season.
• Allie Cromer has hit three home runs over the last two weekends, marking all three of her HRs as a Yote coming in that span.
• She's been inserted in the lineup as the DP more and more as the bat continues to stay hot with the three HR, two doubles, and 11 RBI on the season in 40 at-bats.
• Madison Evans has been the workhorse for the Yotes, making 27 appearances with 24 starts in the circle with an 8-13 record.
• Four more starts for Evans would see her crack the USD single season top-10 list for starts in a season (10^th = 28 starts).
• Her 146.2 innings of work leads the Summit League, while her 144 strike outs sits second (just one behind Omaha's Groff).
• Evans' 144 strike outs entering the weekend sits T5th with Angela Palma (2005) in a single season in program history.
• She's just one of three Summit League pitchers to have 100+ strike outs on the season.

 
ABOUT OMAHA
The Mavericks enter the final weekend of the regular season clinching at least a share of the 2026 Summit League title with a 13-1 Summit record. Omaha had the best start in program history this season with an 11-0 mark and was at one point ranked No. 1 in the nation in D1Softball.com's mid-major poll. They enter this weekend at No. 3 in the mid-major poll with a 31-9 (13-1 SL) record.
 
Offensively, Taylor Sedlacek has cracked the top-10 single-season list for home runs in the Summit League with her 15^th home run at Creighton Tuesday evening. She chases the Omaha single-season record of 21 home runs by Leslie Svobada (2006).
 
Omaha boasts the No. 23 arm in all of Division I softball, per Softball America, in Maddia Groff who leads the Summit League in strike outs (145) and wins (14). Twice this season the Mavericks have thrown either a no-hitter or a perfect game with the last coming from Groff in a five-inning no-hitter against BYU on March 13.
 
SERIES HISTORY
The series dates back to 1979 and it's been controlled by the Mavericks. Omaha leads the all-time series, 105-26 and in Vermillion, 34-14. However, South Dakota has the most wins over the Mavericks on the home field.