LINCOLN, Neb. – After its stunning run through the 2026 Summit League Baseball Championship, South Dakota State has its sights set on another postseason triumph and will make that attempt in a similar underdog role. It worked in Minneapolis a week ago where the Jackrabbits dealt top-seeded Oral Roberts a loss in the opening round, then snatched the automatic berth by beating the Golden Eagles in a winner-take-all goal to claim just the program’s second Division I postseason trophy.
The task will be a little taller at the Lincoln Regional where SDSU will face a bracket stacked with a trio of Top 25 programs, including its opening-round opponent Nebraska, who is the No. 13 overall seed and was ranked No. 20 in the latest National Collegiate Baseball Writers Top 25 and No.19 in the DIBaseball.com Top 25. The Jacks and Huskers are joined by Ole Miss and Arizona State, who will square off in the other opening-round tilt. The Rebels were No. 18 in the NCBWA poll and 21 in the DIBaseball.com poll, while the Sun Devils were No. 22 and No. 23, respectively.
The Lincoln Regional is the only one of the 16 featuring three teams ranked inside the Top 25 in both of those polls.
The Jacks and Huskers will face off at 3 p.m. CT on Friday and all games in the Lincoln Regional will air on ESPN platforms, including ESPN2, ESPNU, and ESPN+.
NCAA TOURNAMENT | Lincoln, Neb. | Nebraska No. 13 National Seed
Friday, May 29
G1: South Dakota State at Nebraska | 3 p.m. CT | ESPN+
G2: Arizona State vs. Ole Miss | 8 p.m. CT | ESPN2
Saturday, May 30
G4: G1 Winner vs. G2 Winner | 2 p.m. CT | ESPN+
G3: G1 Loser vs. G2 Loser | 7 p.m. CT | ESPN+
Sunday, May 31
G5: G3 Winner vs. G4 Loser | 2 p.m. CT | ESPN+
G6: G5 Winner vs. G5 Winner | 7 p.m. CT | ESPN+
Monday, June 1
G7: G6 Winner vs. G6 Loser (if necessary | TBD | ESPN+
2026 SUMMIT LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP
Wednesday, May 20
G1: (4) SDSU 7, (1) Oral Roberts 3
G2: (3) Northern Colorado 5, (2) Omaha 3
Thursday, May 21
G3: (1) Oral Roberts 9, (2) Omaha 0
G4: (4) SDSU 2, (3) Northern Colorado 1
Friday, May 22
G5: (1) Oral Roberts 3, (3) Northern Colorado 1
Saturday, May 23
G6: (1) Oral Roberts 4, (4) SDSU 1
G7: (4) SDSU 9, (1) Oral Roberts 6
All-Tournament Team
Will Edmunson, Oral Roberts
Jackson Farrell, Oral Roberts
Luke Jones, South Dakota State
Nathan Love, Oral Roberts
Ty Madison, South Dakota State (MVP)
Matthew Mainord, Oral Roberts
Ethan Mooser, Northern Colorado
Kaden Rylance, South Dakota State
Owen Siegert, South Dakota State
Makani Tanaka, Oral Roberts
Jackson Trout, Omaha
Nate Wachter, South Dakota State
Reece Wagner, Northern Colorado
Nic Werk, South Dakota State
#SUMMITBSB CHAMPIONSHIP NOTES
• For the first time in program history, the Jackrabbits cleared the winner’s bracket, starting the tournament 2-0 with wins over top-seeded Oral Roberts and Northern Colorado.
• In their previous five championship title games, the Jackrabbits had advanced through the loser’s bracket.
• SDSU won its first title in 2013 after coming out of the loser’s bracket to post back-to-back shutouts over NDSU.
• ORU has made the title game in all 26 of its tournament appearances and have won 22 titles. The Golden Eagles are now 2-4 when trying to win the title coming out of the loser’s bracket.
• ORU won its first two in that scenario in 2012 and 2016 but have lost the last four (2019, 2021, 2025 and 2026).
• With a 3-2 record in Minneapolis, the Golden Eagles improve to 80-11 all-time in the Summit League Tournament and won 22 of 26 tournament titles with their last coming in 2024.
SCOUTING THE JACKRABBITS
• SDSU won its second Summit League Tournament title and became just the second No. 4 seed in league history to hoist the trophy after defeating top-seeded Oral Roberts in a winner-take-all-game.
• The Jackrabbits opened the tournament by beating the Golden Eagles, 7-3, marking the first time in 20 tries the program had done so in Summit League postseason play. The victory also snapped a 15-game overall losing streak to ORU that dated back to St. Patrick’s Day in 2024 (March 17).
• In the opening game, SDSU starter Sam Schlecth threw a career-high 7.1 innings, yielding three earned runs on six hits while striking out eight to earn the win. Ty Madison made his first of three appearances in the tournament to notch the save, tossing 1.2 scoreless innings.
• Centerfielder Owen Siegert led a 12-hit attack with three singles, including a two-run single in the sixth that doubled SDSU’s advantage.
• In the 2-1 victory in a winner’s bracket clash vs. Northern Colorado, Siegert opened the scoring with a RBI double and the Jackrabbits would score the eventual winning run in the fourth after an error by UNC.
• Kaden Rylance and Madison combined on a two-hitter. Madison went the final three innings for his second save of the tournament. Rylance allowed just one hit over six frames to match his career-long outing.
• After falling 4-1 to ORU in their first chance at a title, the Jacks bounced back in the winner-take-all game to oust the No. 1 seed, 9-6. Nolan Grawe and Nate Wachter hit back-to-back solo shots in the first to tie the game at 2-2 and Nic Werk hit his first home run of the season to even things at 3-3 in the second.
• Werk would then give the Jacks the lead for good with a two-run double in the fifth as Madison logged the final 5.1 innings to earn the win and Championship MVP honors.
• Madison finished the tournament 1-0 with two saves, five strikeouts and a 0.90 ERA over 10 innings.
• SDSU opens NCAA Lincoln Regional play against the host Cornhuskers, who they played earlier the season falling, 5-4, back on March 4. The Jacks and Huskers are joined by (18/21) Ole Miss and (22/23) Arizona State in the four-team bracket.
AROUND THE LEAGUE
• SDSU arrives at the Lincoln Regional as the Summit’s highest-scoring offense, producing 7.0 runs per game after scoring a league-best 379 in 54 contests.
• Designated hitter Luke Luskey is second among Summit League players with 13 home runs and leads all with 55 RBI.
• The Jackrabbits boast four of the 15 Summit League hitters with a .300 or better average. Third baseman Nolan Grawe leads that quartet with a .321clip, while Nate Wachter is hitting .311, Luskey is at .306 and freshman Carter Taylor carries a .302 average into NCAA Regional play.
• Ty Madison leads all SDSU hurlers with a 4.75 ERA and is 4-5 with four saves in 66 innings pitched.
• Oral Roberts won the program’s 22nd regular season title after compiling a 22-6 record in Summit play. The Golden Eagles’ 22 titles are now equal to the amount of title won by other current and former league members.
• The Golden Eagles won four of the five individual awards and led all programs with five players on the All-League first team.
• Centerfielder Makani Tanaka was named the Player of the Year, marking the 21st time a Golden Eagle has won that award. Tanaka led all players with nine home runs in Summit play and was part of a five-way tie for the RBI lead with 31.
• Tanaka also earned a spot on the All-Tournament Team in Minneapolis, going 6-for-23 with five runs, four RBI and his league-leading 14th home run.
• ORU second baseman Martell Davis was named the Defensive Player of the Year and showed why at the Summit League Tournament, making several key plays and not committing an error in 26 chances.
• ORU reliever Jack Hill was named the Pitcher of the Year, keeping that honor within the program for the fifth time in the last six years. Hill went 5-1 with a 3.08 ERA and three saves in Summit action.
• ORU’s Ryan Folmar collected his eighth Coach of the Year honor in his 12 seasons of leading the program. Folmar is the all-time wins leader in Summit League history with 415.
• NDSU freshman Sheamus Ryan was named the Newcomer of the Year after leading all Summit hurlers with a 2.02 ERA, which included a 20-inning scoreless stretch during league competition.
#SUMMITBSB
