December 23, 2025

MADISON, S.D. – Dakota State (S.D.) announced their 2026 softball schedule, with their first two preseason tournaments being held at American State Bank Sports Complex in Sioux Center, Iowa.  The Trojans also enter their new conference era in the Frontier Conference, with eight total teams in the league.

Hunter Lambdin is entering his first season as Trojan softball head coach.  He is assisted by Jade Laviolette and graduate assistant Mikaela Pamplona. 

Dakota State will be playing a total of eight games combined in the two preseason tournaments at American state Bank Sports Complex on Feb. 13-14 and Feb. 20-21.  The Trojans will face teams from the Great Plains Athletic Conference, playing host-team Dordt (Iowa), No. 17 preseason ranked Northwestern (Iowa), and Briar Cliff (Iowa) twice during the two tournaments.  DSU will also face Waldorf (Iowa) on Feb. 14 and (RV) Morningside (Iowa) on Feb. 20.

DSU plays their first doubleheader of the season on March 6 at Peru State (Neb.) before heading to the Stars & Stripes Spring Break in Branson, Mo., from March 9 through 12.  The Trojans play a doubleheader to kick off the tournament versus Missouri Valley on March 9, followed by contests versus Crowley's Ridge (Ark.) and Ecclesia (Ark.) on March 10.

Dakota State continues their action in Branson on March 11 versus Ecclesia and Doane (Neb.) before closing the tournament in a doubleheader with Mission (Mo.) on March 12.

The Trojans open their six-game home stand at Thue Field on March 14 versus Waldorf.  DSU opens their 28-game Frontier Conference schedule, where each conference member plays a four-game series (with the traveling partners playing home-and-away doubleheader), on March 20-21 versus Mayville State (N.D.).

Dakota State is scheduled to play an exhibition doubleheader at NCAA Division I North Dakota on March 25.  The Trojans return to Frontier Conference action at Valley City State (N.D.) on March 27-28.

DSU returns home for another six-game home stand at Thue Field on March 30 versus their traveling partner Bellevue (Neb.) and versus Providence (Mont.) on April 3-4. 

Dakota State then play their eight-game road stretch in the Frontier Conference action at Carroll (Mont.) on April 10-11, at Bellevue on April 15 and at Dickinson State (N.D.) on April 17-18.

DSU closes out their regular season at home in the Frontier's four-game series versus Bismarck State (N.D.) on April 24-25.  It will also be their Senior Weekend in their home regular season finale.

Stay tuned to the DSU Athletics website on dsuathletics.com for future updates on schedule changes, games times, or games addition.

The Frontier Conference softball postseason tournament will be held in Dickinson, N.D., at Bravera Field on April 30 through May 3.  The winner of the conference postseason tournament, which will be an eight-team double elimination format, receives an automatic bid to the NAIA Softball National Tournament Opening Round on May 11-14 at campus sites.

The 45^th annual NAIA Softball World Series will be held on May 21-27 at South Commons Complex in Columbus, Ga.

Below is the complete 2026 Dakota State University Trojan softball schedule:
 

2026 Dakota State Trojan Softball Schedule
Day	Date	Opponent	Time (CST)	Location
Friday	Feb. 13	Briar Cliff (Iowa) $	2 p.m.	Sioux Center, Iowa
Friday	Feb. 13	Dordt (Iowa) $	6 p.m.	Sioux Center, Iowa
Saturday	Feb. 14	Waldorf (Iowa) $	1 p.m.	Sioux Center, Iowa
Saturday	Feb. 14	Northwestern (Iowa) $	5 p.m.	Sioux Center, Iowa
Friday	Feb. 20	Briar Cliff (Iowa) @	4 p.m.	Sioux Center, Iowa
Friday	Feb. 20	Northwestern (Iowa) @	6 p.m.	Sioux Center, Iowa
Saturday	Feb. 21	Morningside (Iowa) @	4 p.m.	Sioux Center, Iowa
Saturday	Feb. 21	Dordt (Iowa) @	6 p.m.	Sioux Center, Iowa
Friday	March 6	Peru State (Neb.)	1 p.m./3 p.m.	Peru, Neb.
Monday	March 9	Missouri Valley %	2 p.m./4 p.m.	Branson, Mo.
Tuesday	March 10	Crowley's Ridge (Ark.) %	1 p.m.	Branson, Mo.
Tuesday	March 10	Ecclesia (Ark.) %	3 p.m.	Branson, Mo.
Wednesday	March 11	Ecclesia (Ark.) %	1:30 p.m.	Branson, Mo.
Wednesday	March 11	Doane (Neb.) %	3:30 p.m.	Branson, Mo.
Thursday	March 12	Mission (Mo.) %	2 p.m./4 p.m.	Branson, Mo.
Saturday	March 14	Waldorf (Iowa)	12 p.m./2 p.m.	Madison, S.D.
Friday	March 20	Mayville State (N.D.)*	2 p.m./4 p.m.	Madison, S.D.
Saturday	March 21	Mayville State (N.D.)*	12 p.m./2 p.m.	Madison, S.D.
Wednesday	March 25	North Dakota #	5 p.m./7 p.m.	Grand Forks, N.D.
Friday	March 27	Valley City State (N.D.)*	2 p.m./4 p.m.	Valley City, N.D.
Saturday	March 28	Valley City State (N.D.)*	12 p.m./2 p.m.	Valley City, N.D.
Monday	March 30	Bellevue (Neb.)*	2 p.m./4 p.m.	Madison, S.D.
Friday	April 3	Providence (Mont.)*	2 p.m./4 p.m.	Madison, S.D.
Saturday	April 4	Providence (Mont.)*	12 p.m./2 p.m.	Madison, S.D.
Friday	April 10	Carroll (Mont.)*	3 p.m./5 p.m.	Helena, Mont.
Saturday	April 10	Carroll (Mont.)*	1 p.m./3 p.m.	Helena, Mont.
Wednesday	April 15	Bellevue (Neb.)*	2 p.m./4 p.m.	Bellevue, Neb.
Friday	Apri 17	Dickinson State (N.D.)*	3 p.m./5 p.m.	Dickinson, N.D.
Saturday	April 18	Dickinson State (N.D.)*	1 p.m./3 p.m.	Dickinson, N.D.
Friday	April 24	Bismarck State (N.D.)*	2 p.m./4 p.m.	Madison, S.D.
Saturday	April 25	Bismarck State (N.D.)*	12 p.m./2 p.m.	Madison, S.D.
Thursday-Sunday	April 30- May 3	Frontier Conference Postseason Tournament	TBA	Dickinson, N.D.
Monday-Thursday	May 11-14	NAIA National Tournament Opening Round	TBA	Campus Sites
Thursday-Wednesday	May 21-27	NAIA Softball World Series	TBA	Columbus, Ga.
HOME GAMES IN BOLD - at Thue Field $ American State Bank Sports Complex Softball Classic Tournament #1 – Sioux Center, Iowa @ American State Bank Sports Complex Softball Classic Tournament #2 – Sioux Center, Iowa % Stars & Stripes Spring Break – Branson, Mo. # Exhibition Game *Frontier Conference contest