VERMILLION, S.D. — After the program's historic run and first-ever trip to the NCAA Tournament, a pair of Coyotes in Madison Evans and Autumn Iversen were tabbed College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District for their work in the classroom and on the field throughout the 2026 season.  
 
MADISON EVANS, pitcher
Evans was instrumental in the Coyotes' run to the NCAA tournament this season, picking up five wins in the circle over the final two weeks of the season at the Summit League Tournament and NCAA Tournament.
 
She finished the season with a 16-15 record in the circle with 11 of those wins coming since April 18, including eight straight wins in eight starts starting at North Dakota and through the championship series of the Summit League Tournament. Two of her three shutouts on the season came during this span against Omaha and South Dakota State in the SLT.
 
On the season, she finished the season with a 3.84 ERA in 32 starts (35 appearances) with 198.2 innings of work. Opponents his just .248 off her this season while she also struck out 194 batters, which sits second all-time for a single season in program history and sets a new Division I era record for the Coyotes.
 
The sophomore is an accounting major at USD with a GPA north of 3.75. This also marks the first-career academic award for Evans, in her first year of eligibility as a sophomore in 2026.
 
AUTUMMN IVERSEN, outfield
Iversen sat as the lead-off hitter for most of the second half of the season, anchoring that spot during the USD run in the Summit League Tournament and into the program's first NCAA Tournament. She sits third on the team with a .299 batting average, while hitting .300 or better for most of the hot streak the team had.
 
The junior led the team with her 23 walks drawn and four sac flies on the year. She also had an on-base percentage of .393, while having a seven-game hit streak this season. She was 5-for-7 on stolen base attempts and had six doubles.
 
Iversen also holds the honor as just one of two athletes to homer off the Nebraska pitching staff at the Lincoln Regional. Her fourth inning home run gave South Dakota the lead over the No. 1-ranked team in the nation in the first game of the regional.
 
The two-time Second Team All-Summit League performer holds a perfect 4.0 GPA as a Kinesiology and Sport Management major at USD.
 
South Dakota finished the 2026 season with a 21-36-1 record. The Yotes got hot at the right time and won the 2026 Summit League Tournament and made the program's first-ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The Coyotes also recorded the program's first NCAA Tournament win with a 4-2 win over Louisville.