April 25, 2025

This Week's Preview
MADISON, S.D. (April 25, 2025)—The Dakota State University (S.D.) Trojan softball team (5-33 overall record, 1-15 NSAA conference play) wraps up their regular season schedule with a home-and-away North Star Athletic Association doubleheader with their traveling partner Bellevue (Neb.) (26-17, 10-6 NSAA conference record).  This weekend's will be the last ever NSAA contests before heading to the new athletics conference next season.

DSU and BU play their first doubleheader Friday afternoon at Roy Smith Field (2098 O Street) in Omaha, Neb.  Both teams return to action Sunday at Thue Field in downtown Madison for another doubleheader during Dakota State's Senior Day.  The starting game times on both days are set for 12 p.m.
 
The six-team North Star Athletic Association Softball Postseason double elimination format is set for May 1 through May 4 (rain date on May 5) at Sanford Sports Complex on Bravera Field (605 13th Ave. W), hosted by Dickinson State (N.D.).  The pairings and schedule will be announced late Sunday.  Stay tuned to the DSU Athletics' website or download the Trojan Nation fan app to stay up to date with the schedule.

Dakota State went 1-3 record in the NSAA's four-game series at Mayville State (N.D.), dropping the first two games on April 19.  The Trojans snapped their losing skid with a doubleheader split with the Comets on April 21. 

Bellevue split their NSAA's four-game series at (RV) Jamestown (N.D.) on April 18-19.  The Bruins earned a 9-2 non-conference victory at Concordia (Neb.) on April 23.

Next Up:  The North Star Athletic Association postseason tournament's champion will receive the automatic bid to the NAIA Softball National Tournament Opening Round on May 12-15.

This Week's Quick Hits
+ The North Star Athletic Association softball is heading to their final ever conference four-game series this weekend before moving to the new athletics conference, the Frontier Conference in 2025-26 season.
+ Dakota State (S.D.) and Bellevue (Neb.) split a pair of one-run games in last year's meeting on April 27, 2024, in Bellevue.  DSU won the first game 1-0, while BU won the second game 2-1.  The last two games were called off due to rain.
+ The last time both Dakota State and Bellevue met at Thue Field was on April 27, 2023.  The Bruins edged the Trojans in a high scoring affair by the score of 18-16 in the first game and earned an 8-1 victory in the second game.
+ The six-team North Star Athletic Association softball postseason tournament returns to Dickinson, N.D., for the third straight year. 
+ Dakota State is seeking for their first win at Thue Field this season.  The last time the Trojans earned a home victory was on April 29, 2024, when they defeated Valley City State (N.D.) 5-4 in eight innings during the seniors weekend.
+ The Trojans earned their first North Star conference win of the season after holding off Mayville State (N.D.) 5-3 on April 21 in Portland, Neb.
+ The top two seeds will receive an opening round bye in the North Star Athletic Association Postseason Tournament Opening Round, while there will be two opening round games on the first day of the tournament on May 1.  The tournament runs through Sunday, May 4, with the winner advancing to the NAIA Softball National Tournament Opening Round.

Noteworthy...
NORTH STAR UPDATES:   The North Star Athletic Association are entering in their final ever four-game series this weekend.  Dickinson State (N.D.) and Jamestown (N.D.) are tied for first place in the NSAA standings with 13-3 record each.  Bellevue (Neb.) is third with 10-6 record, followed by Valley City State (N.D.) fourth at 8-8 record.  Mayville State (N.D.) is fifth with 3-15 record, followed by Dakota State (S.D.) sixth with 1-13 record.  The traveling partners play home-and-away doubleheaders this weekend.

TROJANS IN THE NSAA CONFERENCE RANKS:   According to the NAIA-PrestoStats as of Thursday, Hannah McFarland ties for the lead in the North Star Athletic Association with 22 stolen bases for Dakota State.  Prior to this weekend's contests, McFarland holds a perfect 22-for-22 on stolen bases attempts this season.   She is also 17th in the North Star conference with 37 hits.   Michelle Evdos leads the team with .451 slugging percentage, which ranks her 29th best in the league. 

EVDOS AND MCFARLAND IN THE RECORD BOOK:  Michelle Evdos and Hannah McFarland continue to extend their all-time school record for Dakota State.  Prior to this weekend's games, Evdos currently have 58 doubles since the 2021-22 season.  McFarland currently have 62 stolen bases during her career since the 2022-23 season.
 
THREE DSU TROJANS NAMED NAIA SCHOLAR ATHLETES:  Two Dakota State softball athletes were named to the 2025 Daktronics-NAIA Spring Sports Daktronics Scholar Athlete award.  They are Hannah Feser and Ally Morrissey.  Students must maintain a minimum grade point average of 3.5 on a 4.0 scale and attended at the institution for one full year.

Mayville State (N.D.) takes first two games over DSU
Portland, N.D. (April 19, 2025)—Dakota State (S.D.) and Mayville State (N.D.) battled for the first North Star Athletic Association win at Paul Karlstad Field.  The Comets took the first two games over the Trojans to open the four-game series.

Mayville State shut down Dakota State 11-0 in five innings in the four-game series opener, fueled by a seven-run fourth inning to secure the victory.

The Comets outhit the Trojans 16-4 in the game.  Hannah McFarland, Ally Morrissey, Katie Hansen, and Gabrielle Ortega-Alves each recorded a single.

Dakota State opened the second game with a 5-3 lead after three innings.  The Comets produced eight-run fifth inning to overtake an 11-5 lead.  MSU ended the game with two runs in the bottom sixth inning to secure a 13-5 victory over DSU.

McFarland sparked the Trojans by going 3-for-4 at the plate with three singles and two RBIs.  She swiped one base.  Ortega-Alves and Torrence Clelland each added a hit and an RBI.  Qunicy Hartley and Michelle Evdos each recoded a hit.  Maycee Bricker tossed four innings in the pitching circle for Dakota Sate.  Makenna McGee and Mason Usselman also pitched in relief.

Trojans split with Comets, earn first NSAA victory
Portland, N.D. (April 21, 2025)—Dakota State (S.D.) returned to Paul Karlstad Field a day after Easter and earned the doubleheader split with Mayville State (N.D.).  The Trojans earned their first NSAA conference win of the season in the first game.

Trailing 2-1 after five innings in the first game, DSU exploded for three runs to overtake a 4-2 lead.  The Trojans added a run in the top seventh and held on to a 5-3 win.

Quincy Hartley, Torrence Clelland, and Julia Maldonado each hit a double for Dakota State.  Ally Morrissey and Michelle Evdos each collected a single and an RBI.  Hartley and Clelland each had an RBI.  Maycee Bricker tossed a complete game victory in the pitching circle with five strikeouts.

The Trojans fell short in the four-game series finale, despite a walk-off grand slam in the bottom seventh inning (MSU 7-3).  Morrissey and Maldonado each had a hit and a RBI.  Evdos and Hartley each added a hit.  Analicia Burgos started the game and re-entered later in the bottom seventh, working for six innings.  Bricker took the setback after pitching in the seventh inning.

Dakota State to honor three seniors Sunday
Madison, S.D. (April 25, 2025)—The Dakota State University Trojan softball team will be honoring their three seniors after the conclusion of the North Star Athletic Association doubleheader finale at Thue Field Sunday versus Bellevue (Neb.).  The doubleheader starts at 12 p.m. in downtown Madison.

Hannah Feser is a third baseman/catcher for the Trojans.  She comes from Cut Knife, Sask., Canada, with a biology major at Dakota State.

Michelle Evdos is a catcher/utility player for DSU (computer information systems major).  She was the first Trojan softball athlete to be named NAIA All-America Honorable Mention in 2023.  She had established several DSU all-time school records.

Torrence Clelland is a catcher/third baseman for Dakota State.  She comes from Rimbey, Alberta, Canada, and majors in exercise science.  She was a transfer from Minnesota West CC.

2025 Dakota State Softball Team Leaders

· Hits:  Hannah McFarland—37 hits

· Batting Average:  Hannah McFarland—.336 batting average (37-of-110 at-bats)

· Slugging Percentage:  Michelle Evdos—.451 slugging percentage (16 singles, 7 doubles, 2 triples, 2 home runs)

· Runs Batted In (RBIs):  Michelle Evdos—18 runs batted in (RBIs)

· Doubles:  Hannah McFarland—10 doubles

· Triples:  Michelle Evdos—2 triples

· Home Runs:  Michelle Evdos, Quincy Hartley—2 home runs

· Total Bases:  Hannah McFarland—47 total bases

· Runs Scored:  Hannah McFarland—26 runs

· Walks:  Michelle Evdos—15 walks

· Hit-by-Pitch:  Hannah Feser—5 hit-by-pitches

· Stolen Bases: Hannah McFarland—22 stolen bases

· On-base percentage:  Hannah McFarland—.421 on-base percentage

· Innings Pitched:  Maycee Bricker—92 2/3 innings

· Earned Runs Average (ERA):  Maycee Bricker—6.04 ERA

· Strikeouts (Pitching):  Maycee Bricker—48 strikeouts

· Complete Games (Pitching):  Maycee Bricker—4 complete games

· Wins:  Maycee Bricker—4 wins

· Saves:  Maycee Bricker—1 save

Follow Trojan Softball

· Twitter:  @DSU_Trojans

· Facebook:  DSUTrojans

· Instagram:  trojans.athletics

· Dakota State Softball Twitter:  @DSUSoftball

· Dakota State Softball Facebook:  @Dakota-State-University-Softball

· Dakota State Softball Instagram:  dsu_softball