NDSU Softball Heads to Omaha For Key Summit League Series on March 28-29

Saturday, March 28

Omaha, Neb.

12 p.m.

North Dakota State

Omaha

Photo by: Keith Sanpei

NDSU Softball Heads to Omaha For Key Summit League Series on March 28-29

3/27/2015 10:28:00 AM | Softball

NDSU Softball Release.pdf (3-27-15)

North Dakota State University (23-5, 3-0 Summit League) is scheduled to play at the University of Nebraska Omaha (15-13, 3-0 Summit League) in a Summit League three-game series Saturday, March 28, and Sunday, March 29, at Westside Field at Westbrook ... NDSU and UNO play a noon doubleheader Saturday and 11 a.m. single-game Sunday ... The Bison and Mavericks are tied for first place in the league standings ... North Dakota State then will play a doubleheader at the University of Nebraska (15-12, entering Iowa DH on March 25) scheduled for 3 p.m. Tuesday, March 31, at Bowlin Stadium in Lincoln.

The Series
This will be the 51st meeting between North Dakota State and Omaha ... The Mavs lead the series 35-15 ... NDSU won two of three games last season at Omaha ... The teams were members of the North Central Conference ... This will be the 18th meeting between North Dakota State ... The Cornhuskers lead the series 16-1 ... The lone NDSU win came during the 2013 season.

Quickly Around The Horn
North Dakota State received four votes toward the USA Today/NFCA Top 25 poll released March 24 ... The Bison had received a vote toward the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 on two occasions this season ... North Dakota State was 48th in the first NCAA Softball RPI ranking released March 23 ... Krista Menke recorded the third no-hitter of her career with an 8-0 eight inning win over Purdue University (3-7-15) at the Tennessee Classic ... Menke opened the season with a five-inning gem against Green Bay (2-6-15) ... Her other no-hitter came against Liberty in March 2013 ... North Dakota State has 27 no-hitters, including 11 at 7-plus innings, in the program's history ... Menke has six shutouts this season and 27 in her career ... Menke also has five one-hitters and 17 two-hitters in her career ... Menke has reached double-figure strikeouts 14 times this season and 21 times in her career, including a career-high 16 vs. Bowling Green (3-14-15) and Montana (3-1-15) ... Junior second baseman Cheyenne Garcia tied the school single-game record with two home runs vs. Iowa (2-7-15) ... That record has been achieved 19 times by 12 athletes including current players Logan Moreland (2), Amanda Grable (2) and Maritza Lopez-Portillo (1) ... Senior third baseman Amanda Grable is currently leading the team with .463 batting averages ... Alex Sobrero, Moreland, Garcia and Grable, each have 12 multi-hit games this season, while sophomore Alyssa Reina has nine multi-RBI games ... Grable has a 16-game hitting streak ... NDSU has 13 players with one or more RBI this season led by Reina's 23 ... Twelve Bison have scored one or more runs this season led by Moreland's 22 ... The Bison are 2-0 this season and 42-27 in extra innings under head coach Darren Mueller since 2002 ... North Dakota State is 55-47 in extra innings overall ... Collectively, the Bison are hitting .319 with a 2.59 earned run average and are fielding at .971 ... NDSU opponents are hitting .186 with a 5.31 ERA and fielding at .951 ... The Bison are averaging 5.93 runs scored per game, while opponents are averaging 3.48 ... The big inning has been the fifth for North Dakota State with 35 runs scored.

Menke, Grable, Take Aim at Career Charts
On the NDSU career charts, senior pitcher Krista Menke is tied for 1st in saves (7), 3rd in appearances (132) and batters faced (3,080); 4th in wins (79), lowest opponent batting average (.201), innings pitched (725.1), games started (109), complete games (89), strikeouts (757) and shutouts (27), and 5th in strikeouts per 7 IP (7.31); ... Senior third baseman Amanda Grable is 3rd in sacrifice flies (8), 5th in home runs (31) and walks (84), 8th in double plays turned (21), and 9th in RBI (134), slugging percentage (.539) and fielding assists (290) ... Junior left fielder Maritza Lopez-Portillo is tied for 5th in most times hit by pitch (9) and tied for 8th (5) ... Sophomore catcher Alyssa Reina is 6th in slugging percentage (.575) and fielding percentage (.989) ... Junior second baseman Cheyenne Garcia is 10th double plays turned (17) and slugging percentage (.532).

Bison In NCAA Statistics, Active NCAA Career Leaders
In the NCAA statistics released March 23, North Dakota State University is 8th in doubles ( 1.89 avg.) and stolen bases (2.79 avg.), and 14th in win-loss percentage ... Individually, Krista Menke is leading the nation with 210 strikeouts, 2nd in shutouts (6), 4th in strikeouts per 7 IP (11.4 avg.), 8th in wins (16), 11th in saves (3) and 12th in hits allowed 7 IP (3.91 avg.) ... Krista Menke also ranks in the top 25 among active career Division I leaders in nine different categories including six top 10 -- 4th in complete games and shutouts; 6th in games started, innings pitched; 8th in victories, 9th in strikeouts, 16th in appearances, and 22nd in strikeouts per 7 IP and saves ... Amanda Grable is 38th in RBI and 42nd in walks.

Bison and The RPI
The first NCAA RPI (Ratings Percentage Index) was released March 23 ... The Summit League ranks 18th among Division I conferences ... The Bison come in at No. 48 ... IUPUI follows at No. 85, Western Illinois is No. 148, Omaha is No. 172, South Dakota State is No. 175, South Dakota is No. 231 and Fort Wayne is No. 277 ... The highest final NCAA RPI rankings for NDSU softball are No. 41 in 2014, No. 62 in 2013 and No. 65 in 2009.

Four Bison Players Earn Summit League Honors
North Dakota State centerfielder Alex Sobrero was named The Summit League Player of the Week on March 23 ... It was the second weekly honor for Sobrero ... Sobrero was named the College Sports Madness.com Summit League Player of the Week ... NDSU senior Krista Menke was named The Summit League Pitcher of the Week on March 16 ... Menke earned league honors for the fourth time this season and 14th time in her career ... Menke was also named the College Sports Madness.com Summit League Pitcher of the Week ... NDSU senior Krista Menke was named The Summit League Pitcher of the Week on March 9 ... Menke was also named the College Sports Madness.com Summit League Player of the Week ... NDSU second baseman Cheyenne Garcia and Krista Menke were named The Summit League Player and the Pitcher of the Week on March 2 ... It was the first career weekly honor for Garcia ... Menke was also named the College Sports Madness.com Summit League Player of the Week ... NDSU catcher Alyssa Reina was named The Summit League Softball Player of the Week on Feb. 16 ... It was the first career league weekly honor for Reina ... Reina was also selected as College Sports Madness.com's Summit League Player of the Week ... NDSU centerfielder Alex Sobrero and Krista Menke were named The Summit League's Softball Player and Pitcher of the Week on Feb. 9 ... Menke was also named the College Sports Madness.com Summit League Player of the Week ... Sobrero earned her first career Summit League Player of the Week award.

Ex-NDSU Shortstop Nicole Rivera Member of Gold Medal USA Women's Baseball Pan Am Qualifier Team
Former North Dakota State University softball shortstop Nicole Rivera was a member of the gold medal winning USA Women's Baseball team that qualified for the Toronto 2015 Pan American Games scheduled for July 10-26 ... Rivera, who started 225 career games for the Bison from 2008-11, was a two-time all-Summit League performer for North Dakota State including first team honors in 2010 ... She was a valuable member of three Summit League tournament championship teams including the 2009 unit that went on to win the NCAA Norman Regional and advance to the NCAA Tempe Super Regional ... Rivera, who is from Lakeside, Calif., finished her career with a .313 batting average, three home runs and 55 runs batted in ... She ranks third all-time in stolen bases (95) and stolen base attempts (107); fifth in fielding assists (383) and double plays turned (31); eighth in at bats (726) and runs scored (147), and ninth in hits (147).

Bison Tabbed for First in The Summit League Preseason Poll For Third Straight Season
For the third year in a row, North Dakota State was selected by the league's head coaches as the front runner for The Summit League softball title ... The Bison received six of seven first-place votes and totaled 36 points overall in the poll ... North Dakota State is the three-time defending regular season champion and have won The Summit League Tournament five of the past six seasons ... NDSU returns eight starting position players and five 2014 all-league selections, headlined by Summit League Tournament MVP pitcher Krista Menke, who led the league in wins (29) ... They also bring back third baseman Amanda Grable, centerfielder Alex Sobrero, second baseman Cheyenne Garcia and desginated player/first baseman Jackie Stifter.

Five Bison Named to College Sports Madness.com Preseason All-Summit League Softball Teams
North Dakota State University placed five players on the College Sports Madness.com Preseason All-Summit League Teams led by first team selections, pitcher Krista Menke, third baseman Amanda Grable and centerfielder Alex Sobrero ... Menke was the choice for Pitcher of the Year ... Named to the second team was the NDSU double play combo of second baseman Cheyenne Garcia and shortstop Logan Moreland.

The Mueller/Trachsel File
Head coaches for North Dakota State are Darren Mueller (14th season, 21st overall) and Jamie Trachsel (5th season, 13th overall) ... Mueller has compiled a 481-261 record (.648) including 128-32 (.800) vs. Summit League competition (including tournament) ... Trachsel has compiled a 160-88 record (.645) including a 82-21 (.796) vs. Summit League competition including tournament ... Mueller recorded win No. 450 at South Dakota (5-2-14) ... Trachsel earned win No. 150 vs. Northern Iowa (3-16-15) ... The Bison have had eight straight 30-plus win seasons ... North Dakota State has won five Summit League tournament championships (2009-10-11-12, 2014) to advance to NCAA regional play ... The Bison won the NCAA Norman Regional in 2009 and advanced to the NCAA Super Regional at Arizona State ... NDSU has won four Summit League regular season crowns (2008, 2012-14) ... Rounding out the Bison staff are pitching coach Brynne Dordel and graduate assistant manager Kendall Grimm ... Mueller became the program's all-time winningest coach with the 4-1 victory at Western Illinois (4-16-11) ... The NDSU coaching staff earned the 2008, 2012, 2013 and 2014 Summit League Coaching Staff of the Year honors ... The NDSU staff earned 2009 National Fastpitch Coaches Association co-Midwest Coaching Staff of the Year award ... Mueller was named the 2006 and 2007 Division I Independent Coach of the Year.