FARGO, N.D. – The Summit League Softball Championship is set to get underway Wednesday at the newly renovated Ellig Sports Complex on the campus of North Dakota State University.

The championship tournament begins with a single-elimination first round, pitting No. 4 South Dakota (17-37, 5-9) and No. 5 Omaha (18-29, 5-9) at 3 p.m., followed by third-seeded Western Illinois (17-30, 9-4) versus sixth-seeded IPFW (18-33, 3-11) at 5:30 p.m.

The winners move on to play No. 1 North Dakota State (30-17, 10-3) and No. 2 South Dakota State (32-14, 10-4), respectively, in a double-elimination tournament starting Thursday.

The winner of the tournament earns the league’s automatic berth into the NCAA Championship. Saturday’s title game(s) will air on Midco Sports Network and will be simulcast on ESPN+.

 Full information is available on the softball championship web page at thesummitleague.org/tournaments/sball/2017-18/index. Live game streaming and statistics will be available on the website, and updates will be available on Twitter @summitchamps.

What to watch for:

• North Dakota State is seeking its ninth tournament title after claiming eight of the previous nine and the past four consecutively. The Bison have won the regular-season crown seven times in league history. Previous tournament MVPs KK Leddy and Bre Beatty remain on the NDSU roster and look to make history, as no Summit League team has ever won five straight tourneys.

• South Dakota State earned its best seed in league history – No. 2 – after posting its best record in the Division I era at 32-14. SDSU won four of its five league series this year, with a weather-shortened split against the Bison.

• Western Illinois is the No. 3 seed for the third year in a row. The Leathernecks swept the series against the Mastodons this season, winning by the scores of 5-0, 10-9 and 7-3.

• No. 4 South Dakota faces No. 5 Omaha for the second straight season. In last year’s matchup, the Coyotes emerged victorious by an 11-4 margin. Familiar faces Emily Winckler and Jessica Rogers led the Coyotes with four hits apiece in the win.

• IPFW is making its first appearance in the tournament since 2015, where the Mastodons also held the No. 6 seed. Bailey Benefiel ranks fifth in the league in ERA (3.66), third in wins (11) and third in strikeouts (135) to lead the pitching crew.

• SDSU’s Brittney Morse leads the league in batting average (.418) and RBIs (58). Teammates Abbey Murphy and Julia Andersen also rank in the top five – second at .417 and fourth at .406, respectively – in the league for batting average.

• USD’s Jessica Rogers slugged a league-high 15 home runs this season, good for the second most in program history and seventh in league history.

• Bison Jacquelyn Sertic dominated the pitching circle this season, ranking first in the league in ERA (1.74), wins (22) and strikeouts (267). She earned the league’s Pitcher of the Week honor 16 times in her career (six this season), placing her second on the all-time list.

Photo from www.gojacks.com.