NDSU Softball Hosts South Dakota in Home Opener on April 3-4 at The Ellig Sports Complex

Friday, April 3

Fargo, N.D.

12 p.m.

North Dakota State

South Dakota

Photo by: Richard Svaleson

NDSU Softball Hosts South Dakota in Home Opener on April 3-4 at The Ellig Sports Complex

4/1/2015 1:57:00 PM | Softball

NDSU Softball Release.pdf (4-1-15)

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This Week
North Dakota State University (27-6, 5-1 Summit League) will host the University (10-18-1, 2-1 Summit League) in a three-game series Friday, April 3, and Saturday, April 4 at the Ellig Sports Complex ... NDSU and USD will play a noon doubleheader Friday and 11 a.m. single-game Saturday ... The Bison have won 13 of their last 14 games.

The Series
This will be the 68th meeting between North Dakota State and South Dakota ... The Bison lead the series 45-22 ... NDSU swept the Summit League three-game series in Vermillion last season and also posted a win over the Coyotes in the Summit League tournament in Fargo.

Ticket Information
Tickets for North Dakota State softball games 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 GoBison.com or at the Ellig Sports Complex on game day ... Gates at the Ellig Sports Complex will open 60 minutes prior to first pitch each day ... For more information, call 1-888-231-NDSU (6378).

Menke Selected as Senior CLASS Award® Candidate
North Dakota State University pitcher Krista Menke was one of 30 NCAA® softball student-athletes who excel both on and off the field were selected as candidates for the 2015 Senior CLASS Award® in collegiate softball ... Menke, a 5-foot-11 senior from Friend, Neb., maintains a 3.627 G.P.A. majoring in exercise science ... She is a member of the NDSU Student-Athlete Advisory Council and has been active in NDSU SAAC and softball team community projects ... To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition.

Quickly Around The Horn
North Dakota State received seven votes toward the USA Today/NFCA Top 25 poll released March 31 ... The Bison had received a vote toward the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 on two occasions this season ... North Dakota State was 50th in the second NCAA Softball RPI ranking released March 30 ... 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 seven shutouts this season and 28 in her career ... Menke also has five one-hitters and 17 two-hitters in her career ... Menke has reached double-figure strikeouts 16 times this season and 23 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 .444 batting average ... Garcia and Moreland each have 15 multi-hit games this season, while sophomore Alyssa Reina has nine multi-RBI games ... Grable had a season and career-high 17-game hitting streak ... NDSU has 13 players with one or more RBI this season led by Reina's 34 ... Twelve Bison have scored one or more runs this season led by Garcia's 34 ... 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 .318 with a 2.57 earned run average and are fielding at .971 ... NDSU opponents are hitting .194 with a 4.96 ERA and fielding at .953 ... The Bison are averaging 5.67 runs scored per game, while opponents are averaging 2.85 ... The big inning has been the fifth for North Dakota State with 39 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 strikeouts (780), appearances (136) and batters faced (3,167); 4th in wins (81), lowest opponent batting average (.200), innings pitched (747.1), games started (112), complete games (92) and shutouts (28); 5th in strikeouts per 7 IP (7.31 avg.), and 10th in lowest ERA (2.36) ... Senior third baseman Amanda Grable is 3rd in sacrifice flies (8); 5th in home runs (32) and walks (86); 8th in double plays turned (21), RBI (137) and slugging percentage (.540), and 9th in fielding assists (295) ... Junior left fielder Maritza Lopez-Portillo is tied for 5th in most times hit by pitch (10) and tied for 8th in sacrifice flies (5) ... Sophomore catcher Alyssa Reina is 6th in slugging percentage (.574) and 7th in fielding percentage (.990) ... Junior second baseman Cheyenne Garcia is tied for 5th in sacrifice flies (5), and 10th in double plays turned (17) and slugging percentage (.534) ... Junior first baseman Jackie Stifter is tied for 8th in sacrifice flies (5).

Bison In NCAA Statistics, Active NCAA Career Leaders
In the NCAA statistics released March 30, North Dakota State University is 9th in stolen bases (2.39 avg.), 12th in doubles ( 1.81 avg.), and 15th in win-loss percentage (.803) ... Individually, Krista Menke is leading the nation with 232 strikeouts, 4th in strikeouts per 7 IP (11.4 avg.), 5th in shutouts (6), 7th in wins (18), 12th in hits allowed 7 IP (3.87 avg.) and 15th in saves (3) ... 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, 17th in appearances, 22nd in strikeouts per 7 IP and 23rd in saves ... Amanda Grable is 44th in RBI and 48th in walks.

Bison and The RPI
The second NCAA RPI (Ratings Percentage Index) was released March 30 ... The Summit League ranks 18th among Division I conferences ... The Bison come in at No. 50 ... IUPUI follows at No. 108, Omaha is No. 148, Western Illinois is No. 168, South Dakota State is No. 190, South Dakota is No. 194 and Fort Wayne is No. 266 ... 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 Weekly Honors
North Dakota State senior Krista Menke was named The Summit League Pitcher of the Week for the fifth time this season and 15th time in her career on March 30 ... Menke was also named the College Sports Madness.com Summit Player of the Week for the fifth time this season ... 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 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 ... 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.

Ex-NDSU Shortstop 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 485-261 record (.650) including 130-33 (.798) vs. Summit League competition (including tournament) ... Trachsel has compiled a 164-89 record (.648) including a 84-22 (.793) 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.