North Dakota State Softball Hosts UMKC For Three-Game Set April 14-15
4/13/2007 5:00:00 AM | Softball
After 43 games on the road, North Dakota State (24-19, Division I Independent) is scheduled to play a three-series against future Mid-Continent Conference opponent UMKC (2-32, 0-7 Mid-Con) at home ... The Bison and Kangaroos are scheduled to play a doubleheader at noon Saturday, April 14, and a single-game at noon Sunday, April 15, at the Ellig Sports Complex ... NDSU is 2-2 this week, splitting with Northern Iowa (W 4-2, L 4-5) on April 9 and Wisconsin (W 3-1, L 4-6) on April 10 ... UMKC lost to Saint Louis 5-3 and 8-3 on April 11 ... The Kangaroos are scheduled to play South Dakota State in a doubleheader on April 13 in Sioux City, Iowa.
Series Notes: This will be the sixth meeting between NDSU and UMKC ... The Bison lead the series 5-0 including three wins last season ... NDSU defeated the Kangaroos 4-2 at the Lady 'Back Invitational and swept UMKC (8-5, 2-0) in Kansas City ... Third baseman Jaclyn Schuyler is hitting .330 wih five home runs and eight RBI, while outfielder Ashley Toft is hitting .276 with six home runs and 14 RBI ... On the mound, Cori Mead is 1-7 with one shutout and a 4.44 ERA ... Collectively, UMKC is hitting .209 with a 6.49 ERA and .941 fielding percentage ... The Kangaroos are averaging 1.85 runs per game ... These will be NDSU's first games against a Mid-Con opponent this season.
TICKET INFORMATION:
Tickets for the UMKC series are $5 for adults and $3 for youth 17-and-under. NDSU students with a valid college ID are admitted free. Tickets are available at the Bison Sports Arena ticket office or at the gate on gameday. For more information, call 1-888-231-NDSU (6378).LIVE STATS:
Live in-game statistics will be available on the Internet at www.GoBison.com. Click on the "Live Stats" link at the left side of the page for the schedule of events.ON THE RADIO: KNDS-LPFM 105.9 ThunderRadio Sports, the NDSU student radio station, will broadcast the noon game Saturday and Sunday's single-game at noon -- both against UMKC ... Air time is set for 11:50 a.m. both days ... The broadcast will be available on the Internet at www.kndsradio.com.
QUICKLY AROUND THE HORN
: North Dakota State pitcher Allison Bakke is ranked No. 34 in earned run average (1.30) in the NCAA Division I statistics thru games played April 8 ... North Dakota State is No. 121 in the NFCA RPI (Ratings Percentage Index), third among independents ... The Bison were No. 176 in 2006 and No. 195 in 2005 ... Losing three games to rain March 30-31, NDSU and South Dakota State will play at 3 p.m. Friday, April 20 in Brookings ... NDSU has added Bemidji State to the home schedule at 3 p.m. Wednesday, May 2 ... North Dakota State is hitting .258 with a 1.92 earned run average and is fielding at .959 ... NDSU opponents are hitting .220 with a 2.49 ERA and is fielding at .948 ... The Bison are averaging 3.51 runs scored per game ... The big inning has been the fifth for North Dakota State with 31 runs scored ... NDSU went the first 25 games without being shutout by Creighton (1-0) on March 15 ... The Bison are 20-4 when holding opponents to two runs or less ... NDSU is 12-13 in games decided by two runs or less and 3-2 in extra innings ... The Bison are 20-3 when out-hitting opponents ... Sophomore catcher Kelly Cantrell has the longest hitting streak (CURRENT) this season at 11 games this season ... Cantrell (.372) and Melissa Chmielewski (.307) are currently the only NDSU regulars batting over .300 ... Cantrell is hitting .318 (14-44) with nine two-out RBI ... Freshman first baseman Melissa Chmielewski has 10 two-out RBI ... Chmielewski, who has a team-high 33 runs batted in, has eight multi-RBI games ... Senior left fielder Lynnae Foshag has scored 25 runs, while senior center fielder Grete Peterson has 21 runs scored ... Junior pitcher Allison Bakke has 178 strikeouts this season,425 in her career and is No. 3 on the NDSU career list ... Sophomore Bekki Rasmussen and Bakke have combined for nine shutouts in 2007 ... Senior center fielder Grete Peterson is No. 6 in career sacrifice hits with 25 and is No. 10 in stolen bases (45) ... Peterson has 12 multi-hit games this season ... Shortstop Jennifer Morse is No. 5 with 27 sacrifices ... NDSU has turned eight double plays so far this season and have doubled the 2006 total of four DPs ... The 10-1 start was the best since the 2003 season when the Bison started the season 25-1 including a 23-game winning streak.IN A PINCH:
North Dakota State pinch-hitters are hitting 306 (11-for-36) this season ... Junior Aimee Enzler, who is 6-for-11 (.545) in pinch-hit roles, hit her first home run since April 2005 against Oregon on Feb. 24 ... Freshman Jandie Weber, who is 3-for-8 (.375), hit her first collegiate home run against Arkansas on March 16 ... Junior Kelly Vivant is also hitting .333 (2-6) ... Opponents are hitting .067 (2-30) in pinch-hit appearances.THE FOSHAG FILE:
Senior left fielder Lynnae Foshag (Missoula, Mont.) has been hit by pitch seven times this season and tied her NDSU single-season record of seven (2005, 2006) ... Foshag will add to her school career mark of 24 with each HBP ... Making her move on the NDSU career charts, listed at No. 6 in home runs (13), No. 10 in base hits (106), No. 10 in runs scored (105) and No. 10 in doubles (35) .... She is a perfect 16-of-16 in stolen bases during her career.NO THEFT ZONE:
Sophomore catcher Kelly Cantrell has thrown out 18 of 28 opposing baserunners attempting to steal this season ... Cantrell has gunned down 35 of 86 runners overall during her career ... She has a .990 fielding percentage with only seven errors in 679 fielding chances so far during her career.BISON WIN COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON CLASSIC
: Bekki Rasmussen compiled a 3-0 record and 0.37 earned run average at the College of Charleston Classic on Feb. 16-18. She allowed just 13 hits, struck out 12 and walked two batters in 19 innings pitched ... North Dakota State's Rasmussen, left fielder Lynnae Foshag and catcher Kelly Cantrell were selected to the College of Charleston Classic all-tournament team.CHMIELEWSKI SETS SINGLE-GAME RBI RECORD: Freshman first baseman Melissa Chmielewski set a school single-game record with seven RBI as NDSU topped Northern Illinois 11-2 on Feb. 11 at the Ramada Inn UNI Dome Softball Invitational ... Chmielewski went 3-for-3 with seven RBI including a first inning grand slam home run to put NDSU ahead 4-0 against Northern Illinois ... It was her second grand slam of the tournament ... Chmielewski broke the previous school single-game record of six RBI set by former All-American catcher Shelly Rhein against Quincy (Ill.) College on Feb. 28, 1999 ... Chmielewski went 6-for-12 with 15 runs batted in, two home runs and a double at the UNI Dome Invitational.
TROUP, PIPKIN, RASMUSSEN, BAKKE, CANTRELL EARN 2007 DIVISION I INDEPENDENT SOFTBALL WEEKLY HONORS:
North Dakota State junior Allison Bakke was named the Division I Independent Pitcher of the Week, while freshman second baseman Laurel Pipkin and Utah Valley State's Lindsay Dyer were named co-Players of the Week on Feb. 27 by vote of independent sports information directors for their performances Feb. 19-25. ... NDSU right fielder Erin Troup was named the Division I Independent Player of the Week, while NDSU's Bekki Rasmussen earned Pitcher of the Week honors on Feb. 20 ... NDSU sophomore catcher Kelly Cantrell was named Division I Independent Co-Player of the Week on March 20 ... NDSU pitcher Allison Bakke picked up her second Division I Independent Pitcher of the Week honor March 27 ... Bakke has received the honor six times in her career.IN THE DIVISION I INDEPENDENT STATISTICS: In the Division I independent softball statistics released April 10, Kelly Cantrell is No. 1 in hits (41), No. 2 in RBI (24), No. 3 in on-base pct. (.436), No. 4 in batting average (.372) and No. 5 in walks (16); Lynnae Foshag is No. 1 in runs scored (24) and No. 3 in doubles (9); Melissa Chmielewski is No. 1 in RBI (31), No. 3 in hits (36) and No. 4 in doubles (7); Allison Bakke is No. 1 in strikeouts (159), opponent batting avg. (.197), wins (13) and innings pitched (150.1), and No. 2 in ERA (1.30); Bekki Rasmussen is No. 3 in ERA (2.08), No. 5 in opponent batting avg. (.243) and tied for No. 5 in wins (6). Collectively, North Dakota State is No. 1 in ERA (1.90) and No. 4 in batting average (.257) among 10 independent schools.
FIRST TIME OPPONENTS:
With the move to NCAA Division I, North Dakota State is scheduled to face 14 "first-time" opponents during the 2007 season ... The list includes Cal State-Bakersfield, Charleston Southern, College of Charleston, James Madison, Long Beach State, LSU, Manhattan, New Mexico, North Florida, Oregon, San Diego, San Diego State, Siena and Washington.THE HEAD COACH: Darren Mueller
is in his sixth season as the head fastpitch softball coach at North Dakota State ... He has compiled an 203-107 record (.655) ... Mueller was named the 2006 Division I Independent Coach of the Year ... Mueller is assisted by Jamie Trachsel and Darcy Byrne ... Mueller is in his 13th year with the NDSU softball program ... He was part of a coaching staff that guided the Bison to a seven-year record of 339-125 and six straight winning seasons ... The 2000 NCAA national championship team posted a 68-10 ledger to set a Division II record for most wins in a season ... North Dakota State made six straight NCAA tourney appearances including back-to-back national championship tourney trips in 1999 and 2000, and 2002 and 2003 ... Mueller, Mike McLeod and former head coach Mitch Hanson was selected the 2000 Speedline Division II National Coaching Staff of the Year ... The trio were also named the 1999 and 2000 Speedline Division II North Central Regional Coaching Staff of the Year by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association ... Mueller has been active on the local softball scene for more than a decade, and were named to the All-World tournament team in 2000. He also earned All-American honors in 1996 ... Mueller is a Fargo native who earned his bachelor's degree in physical education from NDSU in 1994.THE RECLASSIFICATION
: North Dakota State is in its fourth year of a five-year NCAA reclassification from Division II to Division I ... The Bison will not be eligible for NCAA playoffs until the 2008-09 season in any sport except wrestling and women's volleyball, which became tournament eligible in 2006-07 ... NDSU's football program competes at the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly I-AA) level and is a charter member of the Great West Football Conference (formed in 2004) ... NDSU will join the Mid-Continent Conference in 2007-08.
