VERMILLION, S.D. — After a historic run in Minneapolis at the Summit League Tournament, the 2026 Summit League tournament champion South Dakota Coyotes are set for their first NCAA Tournament appearance in program history when they head to Lincoln, Nebraska to face No. 4 national seed Nebraska in their tournament debut on Friday, May 15 with a 5:30 p.m. first pitch on ESPN+.
 
GAME #56: South Dakota (20-34-1, 7-11 SL) vs. (1) Nebraska (46-6, 23-1 B1G)
Where: Bowlin Stadium (2,530) | Lincoln, Neb.
When: Friday, May 15 | 5:30 p.m. (CT)
Watch: ESPN+
Talent: Beth Mowins, Michele Smith, and Jessica Mendoza
 
GAME #57: Grand Canyon (52-8, 21-4 MW) OR (8) Louisville (44-12, 18-6 ACC)
Where: Bowlin Stadium (2,530) | Lincoln, Neb.
When: Saturday, May 16 | 12 p.m. (CT) OR 2:30 p.m.
Watch: TBD
Talent: Beth Mowins, Michele Smith, and Jessica Mendoza
 
LAST TIME OUT: SUMMIT LEAGUE TOURNAMENT – CHAMPIONS!!!
The No. 4-seed heading into last week's Summit League Tournament, South Dakota won four games in four days to reach the Summit and win the program's first-ever conference title. The Coyotes won three-straight games from Wednesday to Friday, including a walk-off win over No. 5-seed Kansas City on the opening day just to advance to the double elimination portion of the bracket.
 
The historic run for the Coyotes was also aided by two wins over top-seeded Omaha, a team who had just defeated South Dakota 2-out-of-3 in the regular season finale the week prior. A three-hit, one-run performance from Madison Evans against the Mavericks on May 7 turned some heads in Minneapolis as South Dakota started the tournament 2-0.
 
But Evans wasn't done. The next day, on May 8, it was an All-South Dakota clash in the winner's bracket. Evans, yet again, shined and took a no-hit bid into the seventh inning against the Jackrabbits, a team that also took 2-of-3 from the Yotes to open Summit League play back in March. Behind the two-hit shutout from Evans, South Dakota advanced to Championship Saturday 3-0 with a 2-0 victory over SDSU.
 
Battling even more adversity into Saturday, the Yotes overcame more adversity, dropping Game 1 of the day 10-1 (5 inn.) the Mavericks to force a decisive winner-take-all game for the league crown. Enter Evans once again. The sophomore put together another gutsy performance with a one-hit performance against the Summit's best offensive team as USD prevailed 2-1.
 
 

Your 2026 South Dakota Coyotes...

𝐒𝐔𝐌𝐌𝐈𝐓 𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐆𝐔𝐄 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒! 🏆🥇#GoYotes pic.twitter.com/crpOqTbxGk

— South Dakota Softball (@SDCoyotesSB) May 9, 2026

GAME NOTES

• The Coyotes are making their first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance after a historic four wins in four days to win the Summit League title.
• South Dakota became just the second No. 4-seed to win the Summit League Tournament [Western Illinois, 2008].
• USD has played two NCAA Tournament teams this season with both games being close one-run defeats [at Grand Canyon, 1-0 & at Kansas, 4-3].
• South Dakota is 5-2 in the month of May and enters the NCAA Regionals winners of 10 of their last 16.
• The Yotes played in 16 one-run games this season with a 9-7 record. They are a perfect 4-0 in one-run games in May.
• South Dakota has seven Nebraska natives on their roster.
• The bat of Brooke Carey leads the team in batting average at .343 with Kiya Johnson also cracking the .300 mark after a hot .429 average in the SLT, now at .302.
• The wheels of Madison Evans has her sitting T3rd in the league in triples (3).
• Sara Iburg leads the team with her 27 RBI on the season, being one of four Yotes with 20 or more (White, 21; Carey, 20; Iversen, 20).
• Recently, with the hot bat, Autumn Iversen has improved her batting average to over the .300 mark (.306) and has recorded a hit in nine of the last 10 games. She also leads the team with her 15 drawn walks.
• Madison Evans has been the workhorse for the Yotes, making 33 appearances with 28 starts in the circle with an 15-14 record.
• The 30 starts cracks the top-10 for a single season in program history, sitting T6th with current assistant coach Clara Edwards (2025).
• Her 185.2 innings of work leads the Summit League, while her 187 strike outs continues to sit second in the league.
• Evans' 187 strike outs entering the weekend sits SECOND in a single season in program history and setting a Division I USD record.  
• Heading to NCAA Regionals, Delaney White currently holds the South Dakota career record for best fielding percentage (.995) with all 212 of her games played being starts.
• South Dakota has played in four extra-inning games this season and holds a 2-1-1 record in those games.
• Wagner sits second all-time in program history with his 223 wins as the head coach of the Yotes.

 
ABOUT NEBRASKA
The B1G regular season and tournament champions enter the NCAA Regionals on a 21-game win streak and with a 46-6 record under 34^th year head coach Rhonda Revelle, on the heels of their 22^nd overall conference title and 11^th tournament title in program history.
 
The Cornhuskers have picked up nine wins over ranked teams on the season and the 21-game win streak is the longest active win streak in the nation.
 
The last lost was a one-run defeat to then No. 7-ranked UCLA (6-5) on March 28 in Lincoln. Four of the six loses for Nebraska this season have been one-run defeats and five of them were to nationally-ranked teams at the time of the contest.
 
Jordy Frahm does it all for the Huskers, leading the team in both batting average (.426) and home runs (19), while also leading in appearances in the circle (35) with a 1.24 ERA. She's tossed 152.2 innings in the circle to lead the team and holds a record of 18-4 on the year with 201 strike outs to her name.
 
Frahm is one of three Huskers with double-digit home runs on the season, joined by teammates Jesse Farrell (16) and Ava Kuszak (14).
 
As a team, Nebraska is one of six teams on the season to hold a team ERA of sub-2.00. They sit sixth in the nation with a 1.95 ERA as a pitching staff. Frahm sits fifth nationally with her 1.24 ERA.
 
Offensively, Nebraska sits 19^th in the nation with their 7.23 runs scored per game, in part aided by their T13th-best mark of 89 home runs as a team.
 
SERIES HISTORY (NEBRASKA)

• Nebraska and South Dakota have met 15 times in series history as regionally close opponents.
• Nebraska sits undefeated in the series at 15-0.
• 11 of the 15 games of the series have been played down in Lincoln with the 12^th being on Friday night.
• Wagner sits 0-4 at South Dakota against the Huskers with the last meeting being a doubleheader in March 2022.

 
GRAND CANYON: GCU leads, 6-2

• All eight games have been played at Grand Canyon in Phoenix.
• South Dakota played GCU in 2026, down in Phoenix, with Madison Evans tossing a one-hit performance but USD falling 1-0.
• The Yotes picked up wins over the Lopes in 2018 and 2019 for the two wins.
• All eight previous meetings have been under the direction of Wagner.

 
LOUISVILLE: Louisville leads, 1-0

• The two teams met for the first time back in 2024 with the Cardinals winning 8-5 in Louisville.
• Wagner is 0-1 against Louisville at South Dakota.

 
UP NEXT: Regardless of the result of Friday night's contest, South Dakota is guaranteed a second game on Saturday in the double-elimination format of the NCAA Regionals. With a win, the Yotes would play at 12 p.m. (noon) (CT) on Saturday against the winner of GCU/Louisville. With a loss, USD would play in an elimination game at 2:30 p.m. (CT) in the loser of the GCU/Louisville game.