FARGO, N.D.--Brea Konz went 2 for 4 with three RBI and Whitney Johnson struck out 11 as North Dakota State defeated IPFW 4-2 in the Summit League Softball Tournament opener before a crowd of 334 at the Ellig Sports Complex on Friday, May 14, to advance to the second round against top seed and regular season champion Western Illinois. The attendance figure is third most in NDSU softball history and the largest Ellig Sports Complex crowd.

North Dakota State (31-23) is scheduled to play Western Illinois (34-17) at 10 a.m. Saturday, May 15, in a winner's bracket game. The Leathernecks rode Kamren Ferguson's three-hit shutout for a 4-0 win over South Dakota State in Friday's first game. IPFW (29-18) bounced back to score seven times in the sixth to defeat the Jackrabbits (19-32) in Friday's third game. The Mastodons play the NDSU-WIU loser at noon Saturday. The Summit League championship game is scheduled for 2:30 p.m.

Konz put North Dakota State ahead 1-0 in the first inning with a two-out squib single through the right side.

IPFW quickly took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the third inning on Kristina Karpun's towering home run to left field. It was Karpun's 15th home run of the season.

Konz lined a two-run single to left center to break a 2-2 tie and put the Bison ahead 4-2 with one out in the top of the fifth inning. Laurel Pipkin had a RBI single to start the scoring. Elisa Victa, Konz and Pipkin each had two hits.

Johnson (24-16) struck out 11 batters to reach double-figure strikeouts for the 13th time this season. She joined former NCAA Division II All-American Julie Fromm as the only NDSU pitcher to reach 300 strikeouts in as season. Johnson increased her total to 306. Fromm set the school record with 342 in 1999.

Courtney Cronin (18-10) and Rachel Staschuk pitched for the Mastodons with Cronin picking up the loss. Cronin allowed seven hits, struck out four and walked three, while Staschuk struck out four over the final two innings.

No. 1 Western Illinois 4, No. 4 South Dakota State 0

Top-seeded Western Illinois beat No. 4 seeded South Dakota State, 4-0, in the opening game of The Summit League Tournament. Fighting Leathernecks pitcher Kamren Ferguson allowed just three hits over seven innings with eight strikeouts for the victory.

South Dakota State's Ashley Durazo opened up the Jackrabbits first-ever Summit League Tournament with a double down the right field line. Freshman Devon Reick then popped up to third base, followed by Dani Broshar striking out to end the top of the first.

In the bottom of the first, WIU jumped out to an early 2-0 lead, scoring on a Julie DePolo RBI triple to right center and a Jamie Goss RBI sacrifice bunt.

The Leathernecks put the game out of reach with two more runs in the fifth on a two run home run by Ashley Campbell.

Kori Seidlitz took the loss for SDSU, while Ferguson (21-10) picked up the win and her ninth shutout of the season. Ferguson became the school's all-time leader in career wins and her 75 career wins ranks second all-time in Summit League history.

IPFW 9, South Dakota State 1

In the final game of the first day of The Summit League Tournament IPFW topped South Dakota State, 9-1 in six innings. The Mastodons advance and await the winner of the Saturday's first game match-up of top-seeded Western Illinois vs. No. 3 North Dakota State. South Dakota State ends its season at 19-32.

The game was scoreless going into the fourth inning, when IPFW put two on the board after Cassie Wolfe homered to left center field. The Jackrabbits answered back, hitting a home run in bottom half of the inning.  

IPFW's bats came alive in the sixth inning and put the game out of reach for the Jackrabbits. Courtney Cronin reached base on a fielder's choice, followed by two consecutive singles, loading the bases. Ava Hall was hit by a pitch and the scoring began for the Mastodons. IPFW would tack on seven runs by the end of the inning.

Staschuck picked up the win for the Mastodons, with Courtney Cronin getting the save. SDSU pitching gave up nine hits over six innings, with Kori Seidlitz taking loss in the circle.