Softball 2/11/2026 7:38:00 PM Nick Huntimer, Dakota State University Sports Information Director

Dakota State (S.D.) opens 2026 softball season with two preseason tournament in Sioux Center, Iowa

Trojans to play two four-game slates at American State Bank Sports Complex this weekend and next weekend

February 11, 2026

THIS WEEK'S PREVIEW
The Dakota State University Trojan softball team (0-0 overall record) makes their 2026 season debut this weekend as they prepare for a pair of dome tournaments, hosted by Dordt (Iowa). The Trojans play their first dome tournament Friday and Saturday, followed by another dome tournament next weekend at American State Bank Sports Complex (1080 7th Street NE) in Sioux Center, Iowa.

Dakota State plays a total of eight games combined from their two dome tournaments against six Great Plains Athletic Conference members. The Trojans open the tournament Friday afternoon versus Briar Cliff (Iowa) (1-3 overall record at 2 p.m., followed by a 6 p.m. contest versus host-team Dordt (5-0 overall record). Both games will be held on East Field.

DSU continues their action Saturday versus Waldorf (Iowa) (0-0 overall record) at 1 p.m. and No. 17 ranked Northwestern (Iowa) at 5 p.m. Both games will be played on West Field.

Dakota State returns to ASB Sports Complex next weekend for another four-game slate, starting on Friday, Feb. 20 versus Doane (Neb.) (3-1) at 4 p.m. and Northwestern at 6 p.m., both games on West Field. The Trojans close the tournament on Saturday, Feb. 21 versus (RV) Morningside (Iowa) (2-0 overall record) at 2 p.m. and Briar Cliff at 4 p.m., both on East Field.

QUICK HITS
*Dakota State kicks off their 2026 season competing in two American State Bank Sports Complex Softball Classic Tournament on Feb. 13-14 and Feb. 20-21 in Sioux Center, Iowa, hosted by Dordt (Iowa). The Trojans will play a four-game slate on both weekends against six different Great Plains Athletic Conference foes.

*DSU plays their season opening preseason tournament in the American State Bank Sports Complex Softball Tournament in the dome for the third consecutive year in Sioux Center. In addition, this year marked the 11th straight season that the Trojans open their season inside the dome. DSU played in the Presentation (S.D.) Dome Classic to begin their season from 2016 through 2022. The streak began in 2015 when Dakota State played in a dome held in Rosemount, Minn.

*Dakota State is scheduled to play in three preseason tournaments before their busy 28-game Frontier Conference slate get underway in mid-March. After playing two preseason tournaments in Sioux Center, the Trojans play a total of eight games in the Stars & Stripes Spring Break in Branson, Mo.

*Dakota State is in their first year of the Frontier Conference, which features a total of eight teams. The league included the existing North Star Athletic Association members, along with Bismarck State (N.D.), and a pair of Montana teams, Carroll (Mont.) and Providence (Mont.). The conference postseason tournament remains in Dickinson, N.D., scheduled for April 30 through May 3.

SCOUTING THE CHARGERS
TJ Eadus enters her third season leading the Briar Cliff (Iowa) softball program. She has a record of 28-53 with the Chargers. She is a graduate of Creighton University.

Briar Cliff started the season dropping two contests, a 7-4 loss against Cleary University (Mich.) and 2-1 decision against Clarke (Iowa). The next day, the Chargers won their first game of the season, defeating Cleary (Mich.) 1-0. Briar Cliff dropped their final game of the weekend, losing 10-1 to host team St. Ambrose (Iowa). The Chargers are 1-3 coming into this weekend.

Briar Cliff is hitting .222 as a team coming into this weekend. Their pitching staff has allowed a 5.32 team ERA and a .301 batting average against.

SCOUTING THE DEFENDERS
Jeff Zomer is in his 16th season leading the Dordt (Iowa) Defender softball program. He carries an overall record of 276-299-1 in his career including six 20-plus win seasons and 10 appearances in the GPAC post season tournament. He is a Dordt alum.

The Defenders will start with sixteen straight contests at home this year, hosting multiple American State Bank Sports Complex Softball Classics. Dordt has won five contests in a row to start the year.

Dordt is hitting .312 as a team and their staff is pitching to a stellar 0.60 ERA and .145 batting average against.

SCOUTING THE WARRIORS
Tom Myers enters his inaugural leading the Waldorf (Iowa) softball program. He previously was the head softball coach at Northeastern Junior College in Colorado.

Waldorf opens their season with the ASB Sports Complex Softball Classic, after coming off a 3-36 campaign in 2025. The Warriors are a member of the Great Plains Athletic Conference and were a former member of the North Star Athletic Association.

SCOUTING THE RED RAIDERS
Shane Bouman is in his eighth year as head coach of the Northwestern College Red Raiders. He has a record of 242-90 at NWC.

The Red Raiders started their season going 3-1 at the ASB Sports Complex, splitting opening day with win over Mount Mercy (Iowa) 2-1 before dropping a 2-1 decision against Mayville State (N.D.). NWC then shut down York (Neb.) 5-0 before winning a close contest against (RV) Benedictine (Kan.) 2-1.

Northwestern is batting .211 as a team this season, and their pitching staff has a team ERA of 1.01 and a .212 batting average against.

SCOUTING THE TIGERS
Samantha Valadez-Haralabidis enters her first season as the head coach after being an Associate Head Coach since 2023. She played collegiate softball for her alma mater from 2014-17.

Doane kicked off their season with a 3-1 record in the Branson Bash in Branson, Mo. on Feb. 6-7. The Tighers play four games this weekend in the NAIA Invitational in Kansas City before coming to Sioux Center, Iowa on Feb. 20-21. Donae is batting at .308 and posts slugging percentage of .504 as a team in their first four games of the season.

SCOUTING THE MUSTANGS
Brooke Pruner was the Morningside softball head coach since the 2023 season, taking over the top spot after serving as an assistant in Morningside's program since the 2017-18 season.

The Mustangs finished the 2025 season with an overall record of 35-19, which included an appearance in the NAIA National Tournament Opening Round. Morningside finished 2-2 record in the national tournament in 2025.

Morningside began their 2026 season with a pair of wins over Heart of America Athletic Conference teams in the ASB Sports Complex in Sioux Center, on Feb. 8. MU is set to face McPherson (Kan.) in a doubleheader Saturday and returns to ASB Sports Complex on Feb. 20-21.

DAKOTA STATE IN THE NEW CONFERENCE ERA AND NEW HEAD COACH
Dakota State enters their new conference era this season, the Frontier Conference after the North Star Athletic Association dismantled last season. The Frontier Conference features the five existing members of the North Star Athletic Association along with NAIA's newcomer Bismarck State (N.D.) and a pair of Montana teams, Carroll (Mont.) and Providence (Mont.).

Hunter Lamblin enters his first season as the head coach for Dakota State. He comes from NCAA Division II Northwest Missouri State where he was the softball assistant coach since July 2022.

Dakota State was picked to finish eighth in the Frontier Conference Softball Coaches' Preseason poll, announced last November. Dickinson State (N.D.) registered four first place votes and 46 points to claim the top spot. Bellevue (Neb.) was second with two first place votes and 42 points. Valley City State (N.D.) was third with a first place vote and 37 points. Carroll picked up the final first place vote with 33 points to finish fourth, followed by Providence fifth with 22 points, Mayville State (N.D.) sixth with 21 points, and Bismarck State seventh with 12 points.

The softball school members are scheduled to play a total of 28 conference contests this spring, playing a four-game series during the conference season. The Frontier conference softball season starts in mid-March, where Dakota State hosts Mayville State in the conference home opener at Thue Field on March 20-21.

The 2026 Frontier Conference Softball Tournament will be hosted by Dickinson State at Bravera Field at Sanford Sports Complex in Dickinson, N.D. The double elimination postseason tournament begins on Thursday, April 30 and runs through Sunday, May 3.

The winner of the conference postseason tournament receives an automatic bid to the NAIA Baseball National Tournament Opening Round on May 11-14 at various campus sites. The opening round winners move on to the NAIA Softball World Series at South Commons Complex in Columbus, Ga., on May 21-27.

2025 DAKOTA STATE SOFTBALL SEASON IN REVIEW
Dakota State finished their 2025 season with an overall record of 7-37. The Trojans also finished their final year of the North Star Athletic Association with a 3-17 record, highlighted with a four-game series split over Bellevue (Neb.) in the final North Star's home four-game series at Thue Field.

Hannah McFarland was selected to the NSAA Softball All-Conference First Team, marking her third straight year that she was selected to the All-Conference honors (second straight as the First Team selection). Michelle Evdos completed her career at Dakota State as a four-time All-Conference recipient, the first time since Brittany Hill from 2012-15 to be named All-Conference four straight years.

Six new career school records were set in Dakota State's softball record book, highlighted by Evdos with four new all-time school record in total bases (326), doubles (60, runs batted in (138), and walks (71). McFarland added two new all-time school records of runs scored (114), and stolen bases (65).

Maycee Bricker is fifth all-time in innings pitched (313 1/3 innings), fifth all-time in pitching wins (16), and sixth all time in strikeouts (157). Gabrielle Ortega-Alves tied for eighth most single-season hit-by-pitches with six.

A LOOK AT 2026 TROJAN SOFTBALL SCHEDULE
Dakota State's 2026 schedule begins with a pair of preseason tournaments at American State Bank Sports Complex in Sioux Center, Iowa, hosted by Dordt (Iowa), on Feb. 13-14 and Feb. 20-21. The Trojans are scheduled to play total of eight games against six different Great Plains Athletic Conference members.

The Trojans play their first doubleheader of the season on March 7 at Peru State (Neb.) before heading to Branson, Mo., for an eight-game slate in the Stars & Stripes Spring Break from March 9 through March 12.

DSU open their six-game home stand at Thue Field on March 14 versus Waldorf (Iowa). The Trojans continue their home stand on March 20-21 as they open their 28-game Frontier Conference schedule with a four-game series versus Mayville State (N.D.).

Dakota State is scheduled to play exhibition doubleheader at NCAA Division I North Dakota on March 25 and heads to Valley City State (N.D.) for a four-game series at Valley City State (N.D.) on March 27-28.

The Trojans return home for another six-game home stand at Thue Field versus Bellevue (Neb.) on March 30 and Providence (Mont.) on April 3-4. DSU then plays eight straight Frontier Conference road games 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 schedule at home versus Bismarck State (N.D.) on April 24-25.

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 final site of the NAIA Softball World Series is set for May 21-27 in Columbus, Ga.

2026 DSU SOFTBALL RETURNING TEAM LEADERS

· Hits: Hannah McFarland—46 hits

· Batting Average: Hannah McFarland—.357 batting average (46-of-129 at-bats)

· Slugging Percentage: Hannah McFarland—.457 slugging percentage (33 singles, 13 doubles)

· Runs Batted In (RBI): Quincy Hartley—24 RBIs

· Doubles: Hannah McFarland—13 doubles

· Triples: Gabrielle Ortega-Alves—1 triple

· Home Runs: Quincy Hartley—4 home runs

· Total Bases: Hannah McFarland—59 total bases

· Runs Scored: Hannah McFarland—34 runs

· Walks: Hannah McFarland—18 walks

· Hit-by-Pitch: Gabrielle Ortega-Alves—6 hit-by-pitches