Three-time Summit League tournament champion North Dakota State (30-25) is scheduled to open with top seed Arizona State (50-6) at 7 p.m. (Central) Friday, May 20, in the first round of the NCAA Division I Softball Tempe Regional televised on ESPNU and ESPN3.com (Announcers Cara Capuano & Michelle Smith)  at Farrington Stadium ... It is the second straight season the Bison have opened NCAA play with the No. 1-seed, traveling to Washington in 2010 ... North Dakota State is 3-4 in two NCAA Division I softball tournament appearances (3-0 at 2009 NCAA Norman Regional, 0-2 at 2009 NCAA Tempe Super Regional, 0-2 at 2010 NCAA Seattle Regional) and 27-19 overall in 10 appearances including the 2000 NCAA Division II national championship ... The Bison have played 12 teams that advanced to the 64-team NCAA tournament ... The Sun Devils are ranked No. 1 in the USA Today/NFCA and ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 polls ... The other first round matchup has San Diego State (32-19) playing Long Beach State (37-16) at 4:30 p.m. (Central) ... The double-elimination tournament continues Saturday and Sunday ... The winner advances to play the NCAA College Station Regional winner ... Live stats available at www.ncaa.com ... The NCAA Tempe regional schedule:

NCAA Division I Tempe Regional

Farrington Stadium, Tempe, Ariz.

Friday, May 20 (Please note all times adjusted to Central time)

4:30 p.m. Game 1: San Diego State (32-19) vs. Long Beach State (37-16)

7 p.m. G2: North Dakota State (30-25) at #1 Arizona State (50-6)

Saturday, May 21

5:30 p.m. G3: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2

7:30 p.m. G4: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2

10 p.m. G5: Winner Game 4 vs. Loser Game 3

Sunday, May 14

4:30 p.m. G6: Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 5

7 p.m. G7: If needed

Ticket Information

For ticket information regarding the NCAA Tempe Regional, call (480) 727-0000 or visit www.TheSunDevils.com.

The Series

North Dakota State trails in the series with Arizona State 0-2 ... The Bison are 0-12 vs. the Pac-10 ... ASU won the Pac-10 tournament last weekend ... The Sun Devils defeated NDSU 3-0 and 11-0 in the 2009 NCAA Tempe Super Regional played at Farrington Stadium ... Arizona State won the 2008 NCAA Women's College World Series ... The Sun Devils are hitting .343 with 69 home runs, fielding at .983 with 17 DPs and have a 1.88 earned run average ... North Dakota State trails in the series with San Diego State 0-2 including a 3-2 loss in the 2011 season opener Feb. 11 at UCLA's Stacy Winsberg Memorial Tournament ... The Aztecs are members of the Mountain West Conference ... San Diego State is hitting .289 with 37 home runs, fielding at .971 with 11 DPs and have a 2.74 earned run average ... North Dakota State won the only previous meeting with Long Beach State, 2-0, at the San Diego State Aztec Invitational on Feb. 23, 2007 ... The 49ers are members of the Big West Conference ... Long Beach State is hitting .282 with 27 home runs, fielding at .964 with 10 DPs and have 2.09 earned run average.

Against The Nationally-Ranked

With the dramatic 1-0 win in 11 innings over 9th/10th-ranked Oklahoma at the 2009 NCAA Norman Regional, North Dakota State softball recorded its first win over a nationally-ranked team in 16 tries since beginning the transition to Division I in 2005 ... NDSU is currently 1-29 overall ... By year, 2005 -- Lost at #21 Iowa 2-0, Lost at #25 Nebraska 7-0, 8-0, Lost at #20 Missouri 9-1, 8-0; 2006 -- Lost at #10 Oklahoma 9-0, 7-2, Lost at #24 North Carolina 5-1, Lost at #6 Cal 10-1, Lost at #16 Nebraska 8-0; 2007 -- Lost to #25 Oregon 6-1; 2008 -- Lost at #9 Stanford 7-0; 2009 -- Lost at #11 Arizona, 10-0, 9-2, 12-0, Won at #9/10 Oklahoma 1-0 (11), Lost at #9/10 Arizona State, 3-0, 11-0; 2010 -- Lost vs. #6 Arizona 6-0, Lost at #21 Texas A&M 4-0, 5-2, Lost at #1 Washington, 3-0 ; 2011 -- Lost at #1/2 UCLA 7-0, 15-2 (5), Lost at #2/4 Georgia 14-4 (5), Lost at #16/17 Stanford 12-0 (5), Lost vs. #24 Kentucky 5-4 (8), Lost at #2/3 Florida 18-0 (5), Lost at #2/3 Florida (9-0), Lost at #13/17 Missouri 4-3, Lost at #13/17 Missouri  11-2 (5).

Bison Claim Third Straight Summit League Tournament Championship, NCAA Tournament Berth

Whitney Johnson tossed her sixth straight shutout including her third of the weekend as North Dakota State won its third straight Summit League Softball Tournament championship by shutting out top-seeded UMKC 5-0 before 130 rain-soaked fans at Western Illinois' McKee Stadium ... NDSU (30-25) reached 30 wins for the fifth straight season and for the eighth time over the last 10 seasons under head coach Darren Mueller, who recorded career wins No. 349, 350 and 351 during the weekend ... Johnson (23-11) and the Bison defense held regular season champion UMKC (38-16) and the league's No. 1 offense to just one hit during the rainy and windy afternoon ... Johnson earned the tournament MVP for the second straight season ... The Bison hit .272 and outscored opponents 18-0 in the tournament ... NDSU broke a scoreless tie in the top of the fifth inning ... Bases-loaded walks to pinch-hitter Cristina Borek and left fielder Elisa Victa pushed across a pair of runs to put the Bison ahead 2-0 ... The Kangaroos threatened in the bottom of the fifth inning including UMKC's single through the left side by Emily Ott to put runners on first and second ... Johnson retired the next batter on strikes, and third baseman Brea Konz and second baseman Brandi Enriquez turned a double play to end the threat ... NDSU scored three insurance runs on three hits in the top of the sixth inning to take a 5-0 lead ... Katie Tamayo started off the inning with a one-out solo homer followed by a Jenina Ortega triple down the right field line and a Jamie Gay single through the left side ... It was Johnson's fourth one-hitter in six games, seventh of the season and 13th of her career ... She fanned nine UMKC batters, while allowing one hit and four walks in seven innings ... Johnson has now kept her opponents scoreless in 40 straight innings ... The school record is 52 set by former Division II All-American Julie Fromm from April 9-21, 2000 ... Summit League Pitcher of the Year Deanna Friese picked up the loss (28-9) striking out three, yielding five hits and three earned runs in 5.1 innings ... Leading the Bison were Tamayo, a perfect 3-for-3 with her fifth home run of the season, and Gay going 2-for-3 with two runs scored ... Johnson hurled her fifth straight shutout as North Dakota State defeated Southern Utah 8-0 on May 13 to advance to the championship game for the third straight season ... NDSU left fielder E.Victa made the catch of the season with two out in the fourth inning ... Haylee Hoch launched a 1-0 pitch to left and E.Victa jumped and reached over the fence to snare the softball ... Hoch was the hero of the 1-0 upset of UMKC with a solo homer ... E.Victa made six putouts vs. the Thunderbirds ... The big blow offensively was delivered by Gay, who laced a line drive bases-clearing triple to right that skipped to the fence ... Tamayo went 3 for 4 with two RBI to spark NDSU, while Rivera, Konz and Gay each had two hits ... During the tournament, Tamayo hit .667 (6-9) with a pair of doubles and three RBI, while Gay hit .500 (5-10) with three RBI ... Johnson went 3-0 during the weekend including a 5-0 shutout of IPFW in the opening game May 12 ... She allowed only five hits and a .075 opponent batting average. Johnson struck out 19 and walked 11 in 21 innings of work ... The Bison placed five on the all-tournament team, joining Johnson were Elisa Victa, Tamayo, Ortega and Gay ... E.Victa, who made the catch of the season vs. Southern Utah (5-13-11) earned the honor for the third straight season.

Johnson, Mortensen Earn All-Summit League First Team Honors; Rivera, Tamayo Named to Second Team

Pitcher Whitney Johnson and right fielder Taylor Mortensen were named to the All-Summit League softball first team, while shortstop Nicole Rivera and designated player Katie Tamayo were second-team selections announced May 11 ...

Johnson and Rivera were first-team selections in 2010, while Mortensen and Tamayo earned all-league honors for the first time ... Johnson, a sophomore righthander from Lake Crystal, Minn., compiled a 15-3 record with one save and a 1.25 earned run average in league play ... She struck out 139 batters and walked 46 in 112 innings pitched ... Johnson recorded six of her eight shutouts against league competition ... She led the league in ERA, wins, strikeouts, opponent batting avg. (.142), innings pitched, and shutouts ... Mortensen, a junior from Sioux Falls, S.D., hit .435 in Summit League play with eight of her 10 home runs and 22 RBI. She scored 21 runs, was 6 for 6 in stolen bases and added three doubles ... Mortensen led the league in batting and slugging pct. (.871), tied for 1st in home runs (8), and was 3rd in on-base pct. (.521), 5th in RBI (22), tied for 5th in runs scored, and tied for 9th in hits (27) ... She was a Player of the Week selection during the season ... Rivera, a senior from Lakeside, Calif., hit .356 with 23 runs scored and 10 RBI from the lead-off spot ... She was 15 for 20 in stolen bases and added three doubles ... Rivera was tied for 1st in stolen bases, 2nd in hits (32), and tied for 3rd in runs scored ... She had a career-high 18-game hitting streak this season ... Tamayo, a junior from Garden Grove, Calif., hit .369 with three home runs and 19 RBI ... She drew 15 walks, and added 14 runs scored four doubles and a triple ... Tamayo was tied for 2nd in walks, 7th in on-base pct. (.476), tied for 8th in RBI, and 9th in batting ... She was a Player of the Week selection during the season.

Quickly Around The Horn

A closer look at the North Dakota State 30-25 won-loss record shows 0-9 vs. top 25 (0-5 vs. top 3) and 1-3 vs. teams ranked or receiving votes after Bison have played them ... North Dakota State is 12-9 in games decided by 2 runs or less ... The Bison are 23-1 when holding opponents to 2 runs or less and 20-3 when leading after four innings ... NDSU has turned 20 double plays through 55 games and ranks 35th nationally in the NCAA statistics (thru games played May 8), the Bison had only nine DPs in 2010 ... Right fielder Taylor Mortensen leads the Bison with 10 home runs and 34 RBI including  a home run on her April 1st birthday against IUPUI ... Mortensen, who hit .435 in Summit League play, has 11 multi-RBI games to her credit this season ... Mortensen has a team-high 15 two-out RBI ... Designated player Katie Tamayo leads NDSU in batting average at .363 and is hitting .400 with runners in scoring position ... Shortstop Nicole Rivera is hitting .332 this season and .313 in her career ... Rivera leads the team with 41 runs scored and 21 stolen bases ... Rivera tied a career-high with three stolen bases at Western Illinois (4-16-11, game one) ... Rivera had a career-and season-high 18-game hitting streak and a team-high 20 multi-hit games ... With the 9-7 nine-inning win over South Dakota State on April 24, NDSU is 1-2 in extra innings this season ... It was NDSU's first extra inning win since May 15, 2009 at Oklahoma (1-0, 11 innings) in the NCAA Norman Regional ... The Bison are 33-22 in extra innings under head coach Darren Mueller since 2002 ... North Dakota State is 46-43 overall in extra innings overall ... Whitney Johnson recorded a career-high with 14 strikeouts in the 9-0 win over South Dakota State (4-24-11) ... Johnson has five double-figure strikeout games this season and 18 in her career ... Johnson has 11 shutouts this season, 20 in her career ... Johnson has seven one-hitters this season and 13 in her career ... Johnson is one of NDSU four pitchers to record over 500 career K's ... The Bison have hit a home run in 17 of the last 26 games with 20 of NDSU's 26 homers coming over that span ... Opponents are hitting .170 off Johnson ... Through games played May 8, Johnson is 23rd in hits allowed and 29th in shutouts in the NCAA statistics ... Left fielder Elisa Victa went 4 for 4 in the first game of the IUPUI series to match her career-high in hits ... Victa is the Bison all-time leader with  ... NDSU went nearly two years without recording a save ... Whitney Johnson (game one) and Randi Parks (game two) each notched their first career save vs. IUPUI (4-2-11) ... The last save came from Andi Padilla on April 17, 2009, at Western Illinois (game two) ... Collectively, the Bison are hitting .262 with a 3.80 earned run average and is fielding at .962 ... NDSU opponents are hitting .238 with a 3.32 ERA and fielding at .952 ... The Bison are averaging 4.13 runs scored per game ... The big inning(s) has been the first and third for North Dakota State with 41 runs scored ... NDSU's first 42 games in 2011 were played on the road ... The Bison are 18-9 at neutral sites this season ... NDSU played in five tournaments to start the season, with all the tournament hosts (UCLA, Georgia, Stanford, Florida, Missouri) being nationally-ranked ... Transfer Jamie Gay makes her third NCAA appearance,  the first two with Nebraska.

Rivera, E. Victa, Johnson Take Aim at NDSU Career Charts

On the NDSU career charts, shortstop Nicole Rivera is 3rd in stolen bases (85) and stolen base attempts (107), T6th in fielding assists (376), 8th in runs scored (146) and at-bats (708), and T9th in hits (225) ... Left fielder Elisa Victa is 2nd in sacrifices (51), 7th in walks (77) and 10th in at-bats (700) ... Sophomore Whitney Johnson is 2nd in strikeouts per 7 innings (7.92 avg.) and lowest opponent batting avg. (.186); 4th in strikeouts (549); T5th in shutouts (20); 7th in wins (49), complete games (58), innings pitched (485.1), and games started (72), T8th in appearances (87), and 10th in ERA (2.39) ... Right fielder Taylor Mortensen is 8th in home runs (15) ... Outfielder Richel Briones (9) is tied for 4th and third baseman Brea Konz (8) is tied for 7th in times hit by pitch ... Catcher Jenina Ortega is 3rd in runners picked off (2), T7th in caught stealing (16) and 9th in fielding pct. (.987).

Bison in The Summit League Statistics

North Dakota State can be found several time in the Summit League statistics (league games thru May 7) ... Team-wise, the Bison are 2nd in fielding (.968) and batting (.302), and 3rd in pitching (2.62 ERA) ... Individually, shortstop Nicole Rivera is T1st in stolen bases (15), 2nd in hits (32), T3rd in runs scored (23); Whitney Johnson is 1st in ERA (1.25), wins (15), strikeouts (139), opponent batting avg. (.142), innings pitched (112), and shutouts (6); right fielder Taylor Mortensen is 1st in batting (.435) and slugging pct. (.871), T1st in home runs (8), 3rd in on-base pct. (.521), 5th in RBI (22), T5th in runs scored (21), and T9th in hits (27); DP Katie Tamayo is T2nd in walks (15), 7th in on-base pct. (.476), T8th in RBI (19), and 9th in batting (.369); third baseman Brea Konz is T2nd in doubles (8); center fielder Kristina Victa is 9th in walks (12), and Randi Parks is T3rd in saves (1).

Mortensen, Johnson Earn Summit League Honors

North Dakota State's Taylor Mortensen and Whitney Johnson were named Summit League Softball Player and Pitcher of the Week for the week of April 18-25 ... Mortensen, a junior from Sioux Falls, S.D., earned her first career Player of the Week honor after leading North Dakota State to a three-game sweep of South Dakota State ... For the week, Mortensen posted two perfect multi-hit games with a .714 batting average (5-for-7), a 1.571 slugging percentage and a .818 on-base percentage ... She tallied two homers, six runs scored, five RBI and four walks ... Johnson, a sophomore from Lake Crystal, Minn., captured her third career Pitcher of the Week honor and first of the season after recording three wins and throwing two one-hit shutouts in the three-game sweep of South Dakota State ...For the week, Johnson posted a perfect 3-0 record, struck out 30 batters, while surrendering nine hits, five earned runs and only two walks in 18 innings of work ... She posted a 1.94 ERA and held the Jackrabbits to a .150 batting average.

Tamayo Earns Summit League Player of the Week Honors

North Dakota State junior DP/P Katie Tamayo received her first career Summit League Player of the Week award April 11 after leading the Bison to a series sweep of Oakland ... In game two April 8, Tamayo scored two runs and drove home another on a sacrifice fly ... She also picked up the win on the mound in game two ... After allowing a single to the first batter faced, Tamayo retired 12 straight to finish the game ... For the weekend, Tamayo batted a .500 (4-for-8) with a .750 slugging percentage, which included two doubles, four runs scored, and three RBI.

Bison, IPFW First in Preseason 2011 Summit League Poll

North Dakota State and IPFW were selected the preseason co-favorites to win the 2011 Summit League Softball Championship, as voted on by the league's nine head coaches ... The Mastodons and Bison each earned 60 points in the preseason poll, while NDSU tallied five first-place votes and IPFW received four ... Despite losing Melissa Chmielewski, the 2010 Player of the Year, and four starters, North Dakota State, the two-time reigning Summit League champions, still found its way atop the poll ... The Bison welcome back four starters, including two All-League honorees, led by senior Nicole Rivera, a first team all-League selection who led the league with 77 hits ... Also returning for NDSU is sophomore Whitney Johnson, the 2010 Freshman of the Year, a second team all-League pick and The Summit League tournament MVP ... In her rookie season, Johnson recorded an overall record of 26-18 with a 2.61 ERA).

The Mueller File

Darren Mueller is in his 10th season as the head softball coach at North Dakota State ... He has compiled a 351-198 record (.637) including 70-21 (.761) vs. league competition ... Mueller became the program's all-time winningest coach with the 4-1 victory at Western Illinois (4-16-11) ... Recorded win No. 350 vs. Southern Utah (5-13-11) at the 2011 Summit League Softball Tournament ... Mueller and staff earned 2009 National Fastpitch Coaches Association co-Midwest Coaching Staff of the Year award ... Earned 2008 Summit League Coach of the Year honors ... Mueller was named the 2007 and 2006 Division I Independent Coach of the Year ... Mueller is assisted by co-head coach Jamie Trachsel, pitching coach Brittany Weil and volunteer assistant Kelly Cantrell ... Mueller is in his 17th year with the NDSU softball program ... He was part of a 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 ... NDSU 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 ... Mueller is a Fargo native who earned his bachelor's degree in physical education from NDSU in 1994.