JACKRABBITS OPEN SEASON WITH LONG STAY IN TEXAS

Friday, February 6

Commerce, Texas

9 a.m.

South Dakota State University

Texas Southern

Emma Christensen and Akayla Barnard

Photo by: Mario Terrana

2/5/2026 10:16:00 AM | Softball

By: Andrew Pedersen

Week 1: South Dakota State at East Texas A&M Leadoff
When	Friday, Feb. 6 - Sunday, Feb. 8
Location	Commerce, Texas (Cain Family Field)
Stream	Lion Athletics YouTube
Tournament Central	LionAthletics.com
Live Stats	GoJacksLive.com
South Dakota State	Game Notes

South Dakota State gets its 2026 season underway this weekend as the Jackrabbits take part in the East Texas A&M Leadoff in Commerce, Texas. The Jackrabbits are slated to play five games at Cain Family Field.

The Jacks will compete in two games Friday facing Texas Southern (9 a.m.) and Stephen F. Austin (1:30 p.m.). SDSU then plays Bucknell (3:45 p.m.) and the host Lions (6 p.m.) on Saturday. The Jackrabbits close their stay at East Texas A&M with a rematch against the SFA Lumberjacks at 11:15 a.m. Sunday.

South Dakota State participated in the East Texas A&M Leadoff to open the 2025 season as well. The Jacks played four games in the event and earned four victories. SDSU defeated SFA twice, 9-4 and 6-3, along with earning wins over East Texas A&M (9-0) and Texas Southern (9-1). Both of those meetings resulted in run-rule victories.

SDSU will spend its first two weeks of the 2026 season in Texas. The Jackrabbits play at Baylor on Tuesday, take on Abilene Christian in a doubleheader next Wednesday, followed by a five-game stay at Tarleton State.

South Dakota State returns to action with a great deal of experience representing the Yellow and Blue in 2026. The Jackrabbits in the circle bring back 98% of their innings pitched from 2025.

Sophomores Tayler Baker and Sylvia Shromoff were SDSU's standouts in conference play. Baker was a Second Team All-Summit League selection and Shromoff was an honorable mention. Both finished their freshman seasons with sub-4.00 ERAs. Madi Mangulis and Amanda Vacanti each sported sub-4.00 ERAs as primarily relief pitchers a season ago, while Akayla Barnard and Hailey Herman have two seasons of pitching at SDSU.

SDSU's lineup proved to be one of its best in program history despite several new faces making impacts. Earning their first All-Summit accolades last season were Barnard (First Team), Abby Gentry (First Team), Emma Vike (Second Team) and Emma Christensen (Honorable Mention). Gentry finished a .427 batting average and was the 2025 Summit League Player of the Year. Vike and Christensen hit over .300 at the plate. Alli Boyle returns as an everyday starter over the past three seasons along with experienced players for SDSU at bat in Vacanti, Alivya Bollen and Cece Hanson. The 2025 squad at the plate finished among some of the bests in program history in single season records which include: 2nd in walks (222) and doubles (89), 3rd in hits (449), 4th in RBIs (285), home runs (50) and total bases (704), as well as 5th in runs (300).

Two players that will be notably missed from last year's roster are Brooke Dumont and Mia Jarecki. Multiple time all-conference honorees, the former SDSU duo made their impact on the Jackrabbit record book. Jarecki finished as SDSU's all-time runs scored record holder (154) and Dumont as the program's all-time runners caught stealing record holder (34).

The Jackrabbits went 29-26 overall during the 2025 season. SDSU extended its streak of consecutive winning seasons to seven which is the longest stretch in program history. South Dakota State is led by fourth-year head coach Kristina McSweeney who holds a 101-67 record in her time guiding the program. One of seven coaches in SDSU history with more than 50 wins, her current .601 win percentage ranks the best among that same group.

Coverage Information
South Dakota State's games at the East Texas A&M Leadoff will be streamed on the Lions' athletic department YouTube Page which is available on the Tournament Central page. Live stats for all six games the Jackrabbits play in are available on GoJacksLive.com. For more information about Jackrabbit softball, you can follow the team social media accounts (@GoJacksSoftball) or visit the team page at GoJacks.com.

-GoJacks.com-