Softball 3/18/2026 8:02:00 PM Nick Huntimer, Dakota State University Sports Information Director

DSU opens Frontier Conference softball season at Sanford Sports Complex Friday & Saturday

Dakota State (S.D.) faces Mayville State (N.D.) in Frontier four-game series in Sioux Falls, S.D.

March 18, 2026

THIS WEEK'S PREVIEW
The Dakota State University Trojan softball team (6-12 overall record, 0-0 Frontier Conference record) opens their 28-game Frontier Conference schedule Friday and Saturday. The Trojans face Mayville State (N.D.) (6-12 overall record, 0-0 Frontier) in the conference's four-game series opener at Sanford Sports Complex (2405 W Benson Road) Field No. 10 in Sioux Falls, S.D.

The doubleheader starts on Friday at 2 p.m., followed by another doubleheader on Saturday at 12 p.m.

QUICK HITS
*Dakota State kicks off their inauguarl Frontier Conference softball season this season. Each conference member is scheduled is play a total of 28 league contests, with each series consisting of four-game series.

*Last season, the Trojans competed in the former North Star Athletic Associatwith six teams, including Jamestown (N.D.). This season, the Frontier Conference consists of existing NSAA members, along with Bismarck State (N.D.), Carroll (Mont.), and Providence (Mont.).

*Dakota State's season home opener will have to wait until March 30 when they host Bellevue (Neb.) in a doubleheader at Thue Field. The Trojans' season opener with Waldorf (Iowa) scheduled for March 14 has been moved to April 14.

*The last time DSU played at the Sanford Sports Complex was on April 16, 2023, where they played a rare tripleheader in the North Star conference with Viterbo (Wis.). DSU won the final two games of the tripleheader in a high scoring affair by the scores of 27-20 and 16-10.

*DSU is scheduled to play 12 home games at Thue Field this season, including 10 Frontier Conference contests.

2025-26 STATS COMPARISON


Batting Average	.245	.280
Runs	58	68
On-Base %	.333	.348
Slugging %	.348	.381
Home Runs	6	6
Hits	115	120
Doubles	26	21
Triples	2	2
Stolen Bases	19	27
Walks	58	44
Fielding %	.941	.919
ERA	4.44	6.41

SCOUTING THE COMETS
Jordan Olson enters her third season as Mayville State (N.D.) softball head coach. The Comets finished fourth in the final year of the North Star Athletic Association last season. During Olson's first year at MSU, the program doubled their wins from the 2023 season and finished fourth in the conference.

Previously coming to Mayville State in 2022-23, Olson was the head softball coach at Doane (Neb.) from 2020-22. She racked up her 100th win as a head coach and took the team from ninth to fourth in the Great Plains Athletic Conference in 2021.

The Comets are coming off from their three-game winning streak to close out the Tucson (Ariz.) Tournament last week. After dropping the first six games of the tournament to Frontier's foe Providence (Mont.), followed by Benedictine-Mesa (Ariz.), Ottawa (Ariz.), (RV) Indiana Tech, and Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.), the Comets earned three straight wins.

Mayville State defeated NSAA's former foe Viterbo (Wis.) 7-6, followed by a 4-1 win over Westcliff (Calif.). The Comets closed the tournament by defeating No. 19 ranked Midland (Neb.) 3-2.

MSU went 3-1 record in last year's four-game series in Portland, N.D. The Comets won the first two games of the series before the Trojans won the third game 5-3. Mayville State closed the four-game series with 7-3 win.

The Comets hold a 41-34 record in the last 75 games since April 14, 2006.

LAST TIME OUT
Dakota State played a total of 10 games outdoors, their first time playing their contests outside of the dome (first eight games were held at the American State Bank Sports Complex dome in Sioux Center, Iowa).

The Trojans fell short to kick off their 10-game road stretch, falling to Peru State (Neb.) of the Heart of America Athletic Conference on March 7 in La Vista, Neb. DSU dropped the first game by the score of 8-6, followed by a 9-1 five-inning setback in the second game of the doubleheader.

Dakota State kicked off their eight-game slate in the Stars & Stripes Spring Break Classic held in Branson, Mo. The Trojans established their first winning streak of the season by sweeping Missouri Valley in a doubleheader on March 9, their first doubleheader sweep of the season. It was the first time since April 21, 2023, that DSU produced a doubleheader sweep (swept Waldorf, Iowa) at Thue Field). DSU rallied for a 7-5 victory in the first game and cruised past the Vikings 11-3 in five innings in the second game.

The Trojans ballooned their winning streak to four games on March 10 as they defeated Crowley's Ridge (Ark.) 4-1 and rolled past Harris-Stowe State (Mo.) with a season-high tie with 11 runs scored in 11-3 five-inning victory. It was the first time since the 2022-23 season that DSU had won four straight games.

Dakota State fell to No. 17 ranked Evangel (Mo.) 10-0 and Doane (Neb.) 10-1, both games in five innings on March 11. The Trojans closed the tournament with a pair of setbacks to Mission (Mo.) 6-4 and 4-3 on March 12.

Dakota State batted nearly .300 in the tournament and finished with a 4-4 record. Emmalynn Rabe led the team with .444 batting average (8-of-18 at the plate), followed by Alexia Hayden with .435 batting average (10-of-23 at the plate). Hayden led the team with 13 runs batted in.

Grace Kitterman, Maycee Bricker, and Makenna McKee each recorded a pitching victory in the tournament for Dakota State.

FRONTIER CONFERENCE SEASON OVERVIEW
The Frontier Conference softball season gets underway on Thursday morning as Carroll (Mont.) visits Bismarck State (N.D.) in Bismarck, N.D. Each conference member play a four-game series during the season, except traveling partners playing home-and-away contests during the week.

Each Frontier member is slated to play a total of 28 league contests. Dakota State opens their conference season with a four-game series with Mayville State (N.D.) in Sioux Falls, S.D. DSU then will play their first four-game series road contests at Valley City State (N.D.) next weekend before coming home on March 30 versus Bellevue (Neb.) for a doubleheader.

The Trojans continue their home stand during Easter weekend, hosting Providence (Mont.) on April 2-3 before heading to Carroll (Mont.) on April 10-11 for a four-game series. DSU continues their Frontier Conference action on April 15 at Bellevue (Neb.) and concludes their road trip at Dickinson State (N.D.) on April 17-18.

Dakota State closes their Frontier Conference schedule on April 24-25 versus Bismarck State (N.D.) at Thue Field. All eight Frontier Conference teams will play in the postseason conference tournament in Dickinson on April 30 through May 3, with the tournament's champion earning the Frontier's automatic bid to the NAIA National Tournament Opening Round.

Dickinson State was the preseason favorite to win the Frontier Conference softball league title, followed by Bellevue second, Valley City State third and Carroll fourth.

TROJANS IN THE FRONTIER CONFERENCE RANKS
According to the NAIA-PrestoStats statistical website as of Wednesday, Dakota State's Hannah McFarland ranks fifth in the Frontier Conference in batting average. She posts a batting average of .429 prior to this weekend's games. She is also third in the league with 10 stolen bases.

Quincy Hartley ties for third most home runs in the league, with Kennadi Stone of Valley City State (N.D.). Alexia Hayden ranks fifth in the conference with 17 runs batted in.

Dakota State ranks sixth in the Frontier Conference with .280 batting average, as well as 120 hits this season. The Trojans are fifth in the league with 65 RBIs.

2026 DSU SOFTBALL RETURNING TEAM LEADERS

· Hits: Hannah McFarland—21 hits

· Batting Average: Hannah McFarland—.429 batting average (21-of-49 at-bats)

· Slugging Percentage: Alexia Hayden—.711 slugging percentage (1 home run, 2 triples, 7 doubles, 9 singles)

· Runs Batted In (RBI): Alexia Hayden—17 RBIs

· Doubles: Alexia Hayden—7 doubles

· Triples: Alexia Hayden—2 triples

· Home Runs: Quincy Hartley—3 home runs

· Total Bases: Alexia Hayden—32 total bases

· Runs Scored: Emmalynn Rabe—13 runs

· Walks: Hannah McFarland—9 walks

· Hit-by-Pitch: Julia Maldonado—2 hit-by-pitches