South Dakota Softball travels to Conway, Arkansas to compete Friday and Saturday at the Adam Brown Memorial Shamrock Classic in Central Arkansas. The Coyotes face Iowa, Central Arkansas (twice) and Alcorn State at Farris Field.
The schedule
Friday March 5th
10:30 a.m. vs. Iowa | Live Stats
2:30 p.m. vs. Central Arkansas | Live Stats | ESPN+
Saturday March 6th
9:30 a.m. vs. Alcorn State | Live Stats
11:30 a.m. vs. Central Arkansas | Live Stats | ESPN+
how to follow
Central Arkansas offers live stats for all four games. The two games against host team Central Arkansas will be streamed on ESPN+.
series history
-South Dakota lost to Central Arkansas in Tennessee a year ago and is 0-3 on aggregate (2019, 2020, 2022)
-USD and Iowa have met once since 2011 (2017). Iowa has won all seven meetings, with all games played in Iowa City.
-USD is 3-0 against Alcorn State (2014, twice; 2018). All three encounters took place in Louisiana.
South Dakota (5-8, 0-0 peaks)
The Coyotes won 2-3 in Arizona last week and played six games in Texas the weekend before. South Dakota is offensively led by the catcher Bela Gorke and right fielder Gaby Moserwho average near .370 and have accumulated 20 RBIs. Courtney Wilson leads the team with 16 goals and Tatum Villotta has a team high nine runs. Clara Edwards won 16 games a year ago as a freshman and has watched the Coyotes’ 13 games this season. Five launches were made by Kori Wedeking who was an NJCAA All-American at Kirkwood a year ago. Kirkwood is 20 minutes north of Iowa City.
Iowa (8-6, 0-0 Big Ten)
Within the Hawkeyes’ 8-6 record that year is a 1-2 loss to then-No. 1 UCLA and another 2-1 loss to Oregon State. These took place last weekend in Palm Springs, California. It was freshman pitcher Jalen Adams who went toe-to-toe with the Bruins, and she boasts a team-high .79 ERA in 26 innings. Only eight strikeouts in this record, but only three walks. Junior Denali Loecker led Iowa with 10 home runs last year, the second-highest in program history, and was also Iowa’s top pitcher. She has four homers and a .478 average in 14 games and is 1-0 in the circle with a 2.88 ERA in 17 innings.
Central Arkansas (11-3, 0-0 ASUN)
The Bears made the first and only NCAA tournament appearance in 2015 and have been on the verge of a return in recent years. Central Arkansas was a runner-up to Conference Champion Liberty last year but is bringing back the best parts of last year’s 37-win team. Veteran pitchers Kayla Beaver and Jordan Johnson take center stage. Both are carrying ERAs below 2.00 this year. Beaver has won 21 games in each of the last two seasons. Outfielders Tremere Harris and Jenna Wildeman stole 47 combined bases last year, while Morgan Nelson and Jaylee Engelkes combined 23 homers. UCA beats .227 as a team and so does their opponents.
Alcorn State (3-9)
Eugenia Fernandez was named Alcorn State’s head coach in early November after previously working as an assistant at Florida A&M from 2014-16. Fernandez played professionally for Columbia for more than a decade. Fernandez’ Lady Braves competed in Mississippi for the first two weekends of the season. A doubleheader at Nichols State on February 22 was her final competition. Alcorn State’s returnees include pitchers Kiri Parker (1-4, 6.70 ERA) and Alexa Veamoi (1-3, 5.33 ERA). Kristian Edwards hit .324 with nine triples and two home runs last year. She was also 28 of 28 on the base paths for a team that stole 77 bases. Edwards has five of Alcorn’s 19 steals this season.