MINNEAPOLIS — Top-seeded Omaha was held to one hit in the Summit League Softball Championship final as fourth-seeded South Dakota edged the Mavericks, 2-1, Saturday afternoon.
Omaha, which needed two wins Saturday to claim a fourth straight tournament title, forced a winner-take-all game with a 10-1 victory in six innings in the opener.
Both of Omaha's losses in the tournament came by one run to South Dakota, including a 1-0 defeat Thursday. In its three wins, Omaha outscored opponents 30-3.
All the scoring in the final came in the first two innings.
Omaha (37-12) took a 1-0 lead in the first when Bailey Sample scored on an error. The Mavericks' only hit was a Marra Cramer single in the inning.
South Dakota (19-34-1) answered with two runs in the second, collecting three of its six hits against Maddia Groff, who went the distance for Omaha.
The Mavericks put runners in scoring position in both the fifth and sixth innings but could not push across the tying run against Madison Evans, who also pitched a complete game.
Omaha dominated the opener to force the second final, sending eight of its first nine batters safely aboard in a five-run first inning.
Rylinn Groff led off with a single and Taylor Sedlacek walked ahead of Sample's three-run homer to left-center, her seventh of the season. Ava Rongisch added an RBI single, and Haley Wilwerding was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to cap the inning.
The Mavericks extended the lead to 8-1 on Wilwerding's three-run homer in the fourth. She finished with four RBIs from the No. 9 spot in the lineup.
Omaha added two runs in the sixth on an error and a Cramer double.
In the circle in the opener, Maddia Groff and Alexis Wiggins combined on a five-hitter with nine strikeouts. Wiggins earned the win to improve to 14-2.
The field for the 2026 NCAA Division I Softball Championship will be announced Sunday at 6 p.m. CT on ESPN2 during the NCAA Softball Selection Special.
