Upcoming Event: Softball at North Dakota State on April 30, 2026 at 4 p.m.
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4 p.m.
Softball
at North Dakota State
South Dakota State University Athletics
Thursday, April 30
Fargo, N.D.
4 p.m.
South Dakota State University
at
North Dakota State
Grace Proctor
Photo by: Megan Glover | South Dakota State
LEAGUE TOURNAMENT IN PURSUIT AS JACKS FACE BISON
4/29/2026 10:36:00 AM | Softball
| Games 54-56: South Dakota State (23-29, 5-9) at North Dakota State (24-22, 8-7) | |
| When | Thursday, April 30Â - May 2 |
| Location | Fargo, N.D. (Tharaldson Park) |
| Stream | Summit League Network |
| Live Stats | GoJacksLive.com |
| South Dakota State | Game Notes |
| North Dakota State | Home Page |
South Dakota State heads into its final three games of its regular season this week as the Jackrabbits travel to Fargo to take on North Dakota State. The Jackrabbits and Bison begin their Summit League series at 4 p.m. on Thursday at NDSU's Tharaldson Park. The two sides play at 3 p.m. Friday before the finale at 1 p.m. on Saturday.
SDSU is in the midst of fierce competition in order to qualify for The Summit League Softball Championship tournament. The Jacks hold a 5-9 conference record. SDSU is among a group of four squads still vying for a spot in the tournament. SDSU's .357 win percentage sits behind South Dakota (.400), but is ahead of Kansas City (.333) and North Dakota (.286). The Roos have completed their league slate with a 6-12 record. South Dakota faces Summit League regular season champion Omaha at the Mavericks' Connie Claussen Field, while the Fighting Hawks play at St. Thomas to close their campaign.Â
North Dakota State has already qualified for The Summit League tournament. The Bison are 8-7 in conference play and sit third in the league standings. NDSU is 24-22 overall while SDSU enters the weekend 23-29.
The series between NDSU and SDSU has historically went the way of the Bison as they hold a 75-65 edge in all-time meetings. Of late, it's favored the Yellow and Blue. The Jackrabbits have closed in on the all-time record thanks to 18 consecutive victories against the Bison. That stretch includes five straight regular season series sweeps and four conference tournament wins.Â
SDSU has been paced at the plate by several performers over the course of the 2026 season. Abby Gentry has been the Jackrabbits' leader in batting average as she has hit. 512 across 14 conference games and .385 on the year. Her 18-game hit streak, which was the third longest in program history, came to an end in SDSU's doubleheader versus St. Thomas this past Friday.Â
Five others have hit over .300 for the Jackrabbits this season in Amanda Vacanti (.360), Emma Christensen (.331), Emma Vike (.322), Akayla Barnard (.321) and Bria Riebel (.308).Â
One RBI for Gentry gives SDSU five players with 30-plus RBIs (Barnard, Vacanti, Vike, Riebel). It'd be just the fourth time an SDSU lineup achieved the feat. The Jacks have had three seasons with five players driving in 30 RBIs previously in 2025, 2019 and 2018.
An Emma Vike home run would give the Jackrabbits the first time in their program history where they had four players with 10-plus homers in a season (Barnard - 14, Vacanti - 11, Riebel - 10). Â
One run scored by Gentry would give SDSU five players having scored at least 30 runs (Barnard, Riebel, Vike, Christensen). It'd be the fourth time SDSU has had five players scoring 30-plus runs joining the 2021, 2018 and 2018 squads.Â
SDSU has multiple standouts in conference play. Gentry is first in doubles (8), while she's second in batting average and hits (21), along with third in on-base percentage (.571) and slugging percentage (.829).Â
Barnard ranks second in home runs (5) as well as third in runs scored (16) and doubles (4). She's also fourth in slugging percentage (.814) and seventh in hits (16). She  is SDSU's leader in ERA (2.06) just ahead of Vacanti (2.69).
Coverage Information
The entire Summit League softball regular season will stream on The Summit League Network powered by Midco Sports Plus. Live stats for all three games the Jackrabbits play the Tommies 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-
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Players Mentioned
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