VERMILLION, S.D. — In a single-elimination game to start the 2026 Summit League Tournament on Wednesday, May 6, the No. 4-seeded South Dakota softball team will square off with No. 5-seed Kansas City at 1 p.m. from Jane Sage Cowles Field on the campus of the University of Minnesota.
 
GAME #51: South Dakota (16-33-1, 7-11 SL) vs. Kansas City (16-31, 6-12 SL)
Where: Jane Sage Cowles Stadium (1,000) | Minneapolis, Minn.
When: Wednesday, May 6 | 1 p.m. (CT)
Watch: Summit League Network
 
LAST TIME OUT: OMAHA
South Dakota became just one of two Summit League teams this season to take a win against the regular season champions of Omaha. Behind a career-best 10-inning outing and 11 strikeout performance from Madison Evans, the Yotes prevailed 5-4 in 10 innings – the longest game of the season for USD.
 
Evans was stellar against the Mavericks in Game 2, scattering 11 Maverick hits and allowing just four runs. She held Omaha scoreless in nine of the 10 frames on the day.
 
Autumn Iversen, Allie Cromer, Brooke Carey, and Delaney White all recorded two hits in the Game 2 win. Carey delivered the RBI game-winning single to win it in the 10^th, scoring Iversen from second base. Sara Iburg drove in two of the team's five runs in the contest, while Cromer hit her fourth home run of the season in the sixth.
 
GAME NOTES

• The Coyotes have played multiple games under head coach Robert Wagner at the Summit League Tournament in six of the eight league tournaments he has been head coach.
• South Dakota won two Summit League series this season, including at Kansas City (April 24-26) in the First Round opponent.
• The bat of Brooke Carey leads the team in batting average at .348 with Autumn Iversen also cracking the .300 mark last weekend, now at .306.
• 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.
• Allie Cromer now holds the longest hit streak for South Dakota this season, entering the Summit League Tournament at eight games.
• Cromer has hit four home runs over the last three weekends, marking all four 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 four HR, two doubles, and 12 RBI on the season in 51 at-bats.
• Madison Evans has been the workhorse for the Yotes, making 28 appearances with 25 starts in the circle with an 11-13 record.
• Three 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 156.2 innings of work leads the Summit League, while her 155 strike outs continues to sit second in the league.
• Evans' 155 strike outs entering the weekend sits 5th in a single season in program history, surpassing McKenna Young's total of 152 last season (2025).
• She's just one of two Summit League pitchers to have 150+ strike outs on the season and one of four to have 100+.
• Heading to Minneapolis, Delaney White currently holds the South Dakota career record for best fielding percentage (.995) with all 207 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 219 wins as the head coach of the Yotes.

 
KANSAS CITY SERIES (APRIL 24-26)
The Coyotes took 2-of-3 from Kansas City down in Kansas City at the end of April, marking the second-straight series victory for South Dakota at the time. In that series (including the mid-week with Drake), Kiya Johnson led the team with her .545 batting average with six hits in 11 at-bats.
 
Both Johnson and Allie Cromer homered on the weekend with Cromer leading the team with her three runs driven in. Cromer also had two doubles on the week.
 
Madison Evans went 2-0 on the weekend with two complete game victories (14.0 IP), including a career-best 12 strike outs in the 5-3 rubber match victory.
 
ABOUT KANSAS CITY
It's been a turnaround story by head coach Kiki Stokes O'Connor and the Roos this season. KC won only five games all of 2025 (one Summit League game), compared to their 16-31 record entering the tournament this season. It marks an 11-game win improvement and a five-game win improvement in league play (6-12 Summit) for Kansas City.
 
Left-handed hitter Ella Husak sits atop the team in batting average with her .326 average this season in a team-best 138 at-bats. She's just one of two KC athletes to have a home run this season with that home run being an inside-the-park homer against South Dakota back in April.
 
Leilani Bustamante returned to the lineup in Game 2 against South Dakota (April 25) after missing a couple of games due to injury. Playing in 39 of the team's 47 games, she's second on the team with her .310 batting average and team-best five doubles.
 
Megan Johnston has been the power threat for Kansas City this year with her team-best two home runs – the only two home runs to leave the yard this season. She also leads the team with her 20 RBI on the campaign.
 
In the circle, the main arm has been junior Delilah Robles who has been a workhorse with 143.0 innings of work – nearly half of the team's innings in the circle (48.6%). She's made 26 starts and 35 appearances and holds a 12-16 record in the circle with a 3.62 ERA and 73 strike outs to her name.
 
SERIES HISTORY
With the series win earlier this season, South Dakota improves their record against Kansas City to 26-22 all-time. The last four games with the Roos have been decided by two runs or less, with USD being 3-1 in those games dating back to the Summit League Tournament last season (May 7, 2025).
 
At neutral site games with Kansas City, the Roos hold the slight advantage, 4-2.
 
UP NEXT: The winner of the single elimination round will advance to face top-seeded Omaha on Thursday, May 7 from Jane Sage Cowles Field at 11 a.m. on the campus of the University of Minnesota on the Summit League Network.