SCHEDULE CHANGE: NDSU Faces Host Cardinals on Feb. 27 in Louisville Red & Black Classic Opener

Saturday, February 27

Louisville, Ky.

2:45 p.m.

North Dakota State

Louisville

Photo by: Brendan Maloney

SCHEDULE CHANGE: NDSU Faces Host Cardinals on Feb. 27 in Louisville Red & Black Classic Opener

2/24/2016 12:54:00 PM | Softball

NDSU Softball Release (2-25-16).pdf

SCHEDULE CHANGE (2-25-16, 1:33 p.m.): North Dakota State (5-5) is scheduled to open Louisville Red & Black Classic play against the host Cardinals (6-3) at 2 p.m. Central Time Saturday, Feb. 27 at Ulmer Stadium ... The game scheduled for 10 a.m. Friday, Feb. 26 against Kent State (9-1), has been moved to 4 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 27 ... The tournament schedule:

Louisville Red & Black Classic (SCHEDULE CHANGE)
Ulmer Stadium, Louisville, Ky.
(All times converted to Central Time)
Saturday, Feb. 27
BISON at Louisville (6-3), 2 p.m. CT Live Stats I Live Video (pay per view)
BISON vs. Kent State (9-1), 4 p.m. CT Live Stats
Sunday, Feb. 28
BISON vs. Cleveland State (4-5), 10 a.m. CT Live Stats
BISON vs. Kent State, 12 p.m. CT Live Stats

The Series
This will be the first meeting between North Dakota State and Kent State, members of the Mid-American Conference ... This will be the first meeting between North Dakota State and Louisville, members of the Atlantic Coast Conference ... This will be the first meeting between North Dakota State and Cleveland State, members of the Horizon League.

Quickly Around The Horn
NDSU was 27th in both the USA Today/NFCA and ESPN.Com/USA Softball Collegiate Preseason top 25 polls ... With six hits during the opening weekend, North Dakota State sophomore Bre Beatty has already surpassed last year's total of five ... Beatty hit .545 (6x11) at the Texas Classic with two runs scored, a pair of runs batted in and a double ... North Dakota State has won eight of its last 22 meetings with nationally-ranked opponents, last win 5-4 at #21 South Alabama (4-24-15) ... NDSU was 3-5 last season against nationally-ranked opponents and stand 9-52 overall ... The last grand slam for North Dakota State was hit by first baseman Jackie Stifter hit in the 14-6 win over IUPUI (5-3-15) ... Shortstop Logan Moreland leads North Dakota State with a .419 batting average ... Moreland has four multi-hit games ... Second baseman Cheyenne Garcia has two multi-RBI games this season ... ... NDSU has 11 players with one or more RBI this season including Alyssa Reina with team-high nine ... A dozen Bison have scored one or more runs this season led by Katie Shoultz with nine ... The Bison are 0-1 in extra innings this season 2-1 and 42-29 in extra innings under head coach Darren Mueller since 2002 ... North Dakota State is 55-49 in extra innings overall ... Collectively, the Bison are batting .280 with a 3.00 earned run average and are fielding at .966 ... NDSU opponents are batting .261 with a 4.00 ERA and are fielding at .975 ... The Bison are averaging 4.2 runs scored per game, while opponents are averaging 3.6 ... The big inning is the third for North Dakota State with 11 runs scored.

Garcia, Lopez-Portillo, Moreland, Reina, Stifter Take Aim at NDSU Career Charts
On the NDSU career charts, senior second baseman Cheyenne Garcia is 6th in doubles (43), T6th in home runs (25), 7th in slugging pct. (576), 8th in runs scored (155), 9th in stolen base attempts (64) and double plays turned (20), T9th in triples (8), sacrifice flies (5) and stolen bases (52) and 10th in runs batted in (132) ... Senior left fielder Maritza Lopez-Portillo is T2nd in hit by pitch (14) and T4th in sacrifice flies (8) ... Senior shortstop Logan Moreland is 9th in batting average (.363) and on-base pct. (.427) ... Junior catcher Alyssa Reina is 6th in slugging pct. (.584) and fielding pct. (.991), 7th in putouts (747) and T10th in home runs (23) ... Senior first baseman Jackie Stifter 5th in hit by pitch (12) and T9th in sacrifice flies (5).

Garcia Candidate for Senior CLASS Award
North Dakota State second baseman Cheyenne Garcia is one of 30 softball candidates for the 2016 Senior CLASS Award ... From the list of 30 candidates, a national committee will select 10 finalists for the Senior CLASS Award in March ... Garcia, a senior from Vista, Calif. (Rancho Buena Vista H.S.), was named the 2015 Summit League Player of the Year ... Garcia was selected to the 2015 NFCA All-Midwest Region and all-Summit League first teams ... She maintains a 3.448 grade point average majoring in human development and family science ... Garcia is a three-time selection to the Summit League winter/spring honor roll, a two-time Summit League Distinguished Scholar and named to the Commissioner's List in 2015 ... She has taken an active role in her hometown and campus community including volunteering at Rosewood on Broadway Nursing Home and Special Olympic Hockey locally, and Adopt A Child program at Christmas with her family ... An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School®, the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities ... The Senior CLASS Award winner will be announced during the 2016 Women's College World Series®.

NDSU Preseason Favorite in Summit League Coaches Poll
The North Dakota State softball team has been selected 2016's preseason favorite in The Summit League among a vote of the league's head coaches. The Bison received five-of-seven first-place votes for 35 points in the poll ... NDSU, coached by four-time Coaching Staff of the Year Darren Mueller and Jamie Trachsel, are coming off a 45-win season and a second-place finish in the Eugene Regional in the NCAA Tournament, finishing the season ranked No. 24 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball poll and 25th in the USA Today/NFCA Coaches' poll ... The Bison have won the past four regular season league titles along with claiming six of the past seven tournament championships ... North Dakota State brings back a league-high five All-Summit League performers from a season ago ... The Bison's high-powered offense will remain mostly intact, losing only two regular starters in the lineup and retaining 84.2% (303-of-360) of their runs scored from a season ago

Seven Bison Named to College Sports Madness.com Preseason All-Summit League Softball Teams
North Dakota State placed seven players on the College Sports Madness.com Preseason All-Summit League team led by Player of the Year choice in second baseman Cheyenne Garcia, shortstop Logan Moreland, catcher Alyssa Reina and left fielder Maritza Lopez-Portillo ... Second team selections were pitcher Jacquelyn Sertic and first baseman Jackie Stifter, while pitcher KK Leddy was selected Freshman of the Year ... The Bison were also ranked No. 44 in the College Sports Madness.com Preseason Softball Rankings.

NDSU Wins Sixth Summit League Tournament in 2015
North Dakota State won its second straight Summit League Tournament and sixth over past seven seasons on May 8-9 at the Ellig Sports Complex ... NDSU defeated South Dakota State 16-0 on May 8, and edged IUPUI 3-2 and pounded South Dakota 13-3 in five innings in the championship game on May 9 ... The Bison had five players named to the all-tournament team led by MVP pitcher Krista Menke, who earned the top honor for the second time in her career ... Menke compiled a 3-0 record with a 2.33 earned run average, striking out 23 and walking four over 15 innings pitched ... Joining Menke were first baseman Jackie Stifter, second baseman Cheyenne Garcia, shortstop Logan Moreland and catcher Alyssa Reina.

Garcia, Menke, NDSU Coaching Staff Earn 2015 Summit League Honors, Eight Bison Named to All-League Teams
North Dakota State second baseman Cheyenne Garcia was named Summit League Player of the Year, Krista Menke earned her second Pitcher of the Year award, and NDSU head coaches Darren Mueller and Jamie Trachsel, assistant Brynne Dordel and graduate assistant manager Kendall Grimm were named Coaching Staff of the Year ... Joining Garcia and Menke on the all-league first team were center fielder Alex Sobrero, third baseman Amanda Grable and left fielder Maritza Lopez-Portillo ... Named the all-league second team were catcher Alyssa Reina, first baseman Jackie Stifter and shortstop Logan Moreland.

The Mueller/Trachsel File
Head coaches for North Dakota State are Darren Mueller (15th season, 22nd overall) and Jamie Trachsel (6th season, 14th overall) ... Mueller has compiled a 508-272 record (.651) including 144-34 (.809) vs. Summit League competition (including tournament) ... Trachsel has compiled a 187-99 record (.654) including a 98-23 (.810) vs. Summit League competition including tournament ... Mueller recorded win No. 500 vs. IUPUI (5-9-15) in the Summit League tournament ... Trachsel earned win No. 150 vs. Northern Iowa (3-16-15) ... The Bison have had nine straight 30-plus win seasons and reached 40 wins for the first time since 2004... North Dakota State has won six Summit League tournament championships (2009-10-11-12, 2014-15) 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 five Summit League regular season crowns (2008, 2012-13-14-15) ... 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, 2014 and 2015 Summit League Coaching Staff of the Year honors ... The NDSU staff earned 2009 and 2015 National Fastpitch Coaches Association Midwest Coaching Staff of the Year award ... Mueller was named the 2006 and 2007 Division I Independent Coach of the Year.

Ex-NDSU Shortstop Nicole Rivera Member of Gold Medal USA Women's Baseball Pan Am Team
Former North Dakota State University softball shortstop Nicole Rivera was a member of the gold medal winning USA Women's Baseball team at the Toronto 2015 Pan American Games held 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 NDSU 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).