The 2024 Summit League softball tournament took place from May 8–11, 2024. All six eligible teams of the league's seven (St. Thomas is ineligible) met in the modified double-elimination tournament at Jackrabbit Softball Stadium on the campus of South Dakota State University in Brookings, South Dakota.[2] Omaha was the defending champion and repeated as the champion,[3] earning the Summit League's automatic bid to the 2024 NCAA Division I softball tournament.
 | |
| Teams | 6 |
|---|---|
| Format | Double-elimination |
| Finals site |
|
| Champions | Omaha (2nd title) |
| Runner-up | South Dakota State (5th title game) |
| Winning coach | Mike Heard (2nd title) |
| MVP | Kamryn Meyer (Omaha) |
| Attendance | 2,205 |
| Television | MidcoSN, Summit League Network |
| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| South Dakota State † | 14 | – | 2 | .875 | 33 | – | 22 | .600 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Omaha ‡y | 14 | – | 4 | .778 | 40 | – | 13 | .755 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| St. Thomas* | 8 | – | 9 | .471 | 16 | – | 34 | .320 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Kansas City | 8 | – | 10 | .444 | 23 | – | 32 | .418 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| South Dakota | 7 | – | 10 | .412 | 23 | – | 30 | .434 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| North Dakota | 6 | – | 12 | .333 | 14 | – | 42 | .250 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| North Dakota State | 4 | – | 14 | .222 | 17 | – | 37 | .315 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| * Ineligible for the 2024 NCAA tournament due to transition from Division III | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| † – Conference champion ‡ – Tournament champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of May 11, 2024[1] Rankings from NFCA/USA Today | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Standings edit
| Place | Seed | Team | Conference | Overall | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | % | W | L | % | |||
| 1 | 1 | South Dakota State | 14 | 2 | .875 | 31 | 20 | .608 |
| 2 | 2 | Omaha | 14 | 4 | .778 | 36 | 12 | .750 |
| 3 | St. Thomas | 8 | 9 | .471 | 16 | 34 | .320 | |
| 4 | 3 | Kansas City | 8 | 10 | .444 | 21 | 30 | .412 |
| 5 | 4 | South Dakota | 7 | 10 | .412 | 22 | 28 | .440 |
| 6 | 5 | North Dakota | 6 | 12 | .333 | 14 | 41 | .255 |
| 7 | 6 | North Dakota State | 4 | 14 | .222 | 17 | 36 | .321 |
- St. Thomas is ineligible for postseason tournaments through 2026
Format and seeding edit
All eligible finishers from the regular season were seeded one through six based on conference winning percentage during the conference's regular season. The tournament will play out as a modified double-elimination tournament, with the bottom four seeds playing each other in the single-elimination first round and the rest of the tournament as double-elimination. Due to their transition from Division III to Division I, St. Thomas is ineligible for the Summit League and NCAA tournaments until 2026.
Schedule and results edit
| Game | Time* | Matchup# | Television | Location | Attendance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First Round – Wednesday, May 8 | ||||||
| 1 | 1:00 PM | No. 4 South Dakota 6 vs. No. 5 North Dakota 5 | SLN | Jackrabbit Softball Stadium | 147 | |
| 2 | 3:30 PM | No. 3 Kansas City 5 vs. No. 6 North Dakota State 2 | 179 | |||
| Quarterfinals – Thursday, May 9 | ||||||
| 3 | 11:00 AM | No. 1 South Dakota State 7 vs. No. 4 South Dakota 0 | SLN | Jackrabbit Softball Stadium | 298 | |
| 4 | 1:30 PM | No. 2 Omaha 1 (14) vs. No. 3 Kansas City 0 | 156 | |||
| 5 | 4:00 PM | No. 4 South Dakota 3 vs. No. 3 Kansas City 7 | 156 | |||
| Semifinals – Friday, May 10 | ||||||
| 6 | 1:00 PM | No. 1 South Dakota State 2 vs. No. 2 Omaha 1 | MidcoSN/SLN | Jackrabbit Softball Stadium | 360 | |
| 7 | 3:30 PM | No. 2 Omaha 2 vs. No. 3 Kansas City 0 | 145 | |||
| Finals – Saturday, May 11 | ||||||
| 8 | 1:00 PM | No. 1 South Dakota State 2 vs. No. 2 Omaha 5 | MidcoSN/SLN | Jackrabbit Softball Stadium | 382 | |
| 9 | 3:30 PM | No. 2 Omaha 7 vs. No. 1 South Dakota State 0 | 382 | |||
| *Game times in CDT. # - Rankings denote tournament seed. Reference:[6][7] | ||||||
All-Tournament Team edit
The following players were named to the All-Tournament team:[3]
| Player | School |
|---|---|
| Kamryn Meyer (MVP) | Omaha |
| Maggie O'Brien | |
| Sydney Ross | |
| Ava Rongisch | |
| Lynsey Tucker | |
| Emma Osmundson | South Dakota State |
| Tori Kniesche | |
| Mia Jarecki | |
| Lindsey Culver | |
| Camryn Stickel | Kansas City |
| Sydney Nichols | |
| Lexy Smith | |
| Abi Brown | South Dakota |
| Delaney White | |
| Ella Claus | North Dakota State |
| Mariah Peters | North Dakota |
References edit
- ^ "The Summit League Softball Standings". TheSummitLeague.org. The Summit League. Retrieved May 11, 2024.
- ^ "South Dakota State projected to win 2024 Summit League softball title". thesummitleague.org. The Summit League. February 6, 2024. Retrieved March 29, 2024.
- ^ a b "Second-seeded Omaha claims second straight Summit League Softball Championship title". thesummitleague.org. The Summit League. May 11, 2024. Retrieved May 11, 2024.
- ^ "2024 Softball Standings". thesummitleague.org. The Summit League. Retrieved May 4, 2024.
- ^ "The Summit League - 2024 Standings". thesummitleague.org. The Summit League. Retrieved May 4, 2024.
- ^ "2024 Summit League Softball Championship Bracket set". thesummitleague.org. The Summit League. May 4, 2024. Retrieved May 4, 2024.
- ^ "2024 #SummitSB Championship Bracket" (PDF). May 4, 2024. Retrieved May 4, 2024.