NDSU Softball Release.pdf

North Dakota State (14-11) is scheduled to open against Binghamton University (7-7) at 1:15 p.m. Central Time Friday, March 18 in the Maryland Invitational at the Maryland Softball Stadium ... The tournament schedule:

Maryland Invitational
Maryland Softball Stadium, College Park, Md.
(All times converted to Central Time)
Friday, March 18
BISON vs. Binghamton (7-7), 1:15 p.m. CT
BISON at Maryland (7-17), 5:45 p.m. CT
Saturday, March 19
BISON vs. UMass (5-13), 10:15 p.m. CT
BISON vs. Ball State (12-14), 2:45 p.m. CT
Sunday, March 20
BISON vs. Binghamton, 12:30 p.m. CT

The Series
This will be the first meeting between North Dakota State and Binghamton, members of the America East Conference ... This will be the first meeting between North Dakota State and Maryland, members of the Big Ten Conference ... This will be the first meeting between North Dakota State and UMass, members of the Atlantic 10 Conference ... North Dakota State leads the series with Ball State 3-2 ... The Bison and Cardinals, members of the Mid-American Conference, split two meetings at the 2014 Mizzou Tournament.

Quickly Around The Horn
North Dakota State received three votes toward both the USA Today/NFCA and ESPN.com/USA Softball Top 25 polls this week ... North Dakota State sophomore right-hander Jacquelyn Sertic threw her first career no-hitter during the five-inning 18-0 win over DePaul (3-6-16) ... Sertic faced 16 batters with four strikeouts and one walk ... It was the 30th no-hitter in program history ... Sertic struck out a career-high 12 batters in the 8-0 win over Cleveland State (2-28-16) ... North Dakota State has several players listed in the top 25 in the NCAA statistics (March 14) -- Jacquelyn Sertic is 15th in shutouts ... North Dakota State has won nine of its last 26 meetings with nationally-ranked opponents, last win 2-1 at #2 Alabama (3-5-16) .. Jacquelyn Sertic was the winning pitcher, Zoe Stavrou had  ... NDSU was 3-5 last season against nationally-ranked opponents and stand 10-53 overall ... The last grand slam for North Dakota State was hit by left fielder Maritza Lopez-Portillo, who connected in the 7-6 nine inning loss at Hawai'i (3-12-16) ... It was the second grand slam this season for Lopez-Portillo, who also smacked on against Kent State (2-27-16) ... First baseman Jackie Stifter has reached base in 18 straight games ... Freshman first baseman/designated player Zoe Stavrou leads North Dakota State with a .360 batting average ... Second baseman Cheyenne Garcia and shortstop Logan Moreland each have seven multi-hit games ... Garcia has five multi-RBI games this season ... NDSU has 12 players with one or more RBI this season including Garcia with a team-high 19 ... Fourteen Bison have scored one or more runs this season led by Katie Shoultz with 22 ... The Bison are 1-2 in extra innings this season and 43-30 in extra innings under head coach Darren Mueller since 2002 ... North Dakota State is 56-50 in extra innings overall ...  Collectively, the Bison are batting .288 with a 3.11 earned run average and are fielding at .968 ... NDSU opponents are batting .254 with a 4.03 ERA and are fielding at .951 ... The Bison are averaging 5.12 runs scored per game, while opponents are averaging 3.68 ... The big inning is the fourth for North Dakota State with 29 runs scored.

Sertic, Stifter Receive Summit League Weekly Honors
North Dakota State sophomore right-hander Jacquelyn Sertic was named Summit League Pitcher of the Week on March 7 ... First baseman Jackie Stifter was named Summit League Player of the Week on Feb. 29 ... Sertic has been named College Sports Madness.com Summit League Player of the Week twice this season ... It was the first weekly honor for Stifter, while Sertic earned her third award this season and in her career.

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®.

Garcia, Lopez-Portillo, Moreland, Reina, Stifter Take Aim at NDSU Career Charts
On the NDSU career charts, senior second baseman Cheyenne Garcia is 5th in doubles (51), 6th in slugging pct. (.585) and home runs (27), T6th in sacrifice flies (6), 7th in runs scored (164), T7th in triples (9) and runs batted in (145), 8th in total bases (351) and double plays turned (23), and 9th in stolen bases (53) ... Senior left fielder Maritza Lopez-Portillo is 3rd in times hit by pitch (15) and T4th in sacrifice flies (8) ... Senior shortstop Logan Moreland is 10th in batting avg. (.355) and double plays turned (19), and T10th in stolen bases (52) ... Junior catcher Alyssa Reina is 6th in 6th in fielding pct. (991), 7th in putouts (832) and sluggin pct. (.546), 9th in fielding chances (897)and T10th in home runs (23) ... Senior first baseman Jackie Stifter is 2nd in hit by pitch (18) and sacrifice flies (5).

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.

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 517-278 record (.650) including 144-34 (.809) vs. Summit League competition (including tournament) ... Trachsel has compiled a 196-105 record (.652) 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.

Former Bison Krista Menke to Pitch in Italy
Former North Dakota State University all-region performer Krista Menke will pitch for the ASD Thunders Castellana of the Italian League ... Menke leaves April 13 with league play scheduled to run May through July (September playoffs pending) ... Menke, a 5-foot-11 righthander from Friend, Neb., played for DSS Haarlem in the Netherlands last summer. Menke compiled a 1-4 record and 2.49 earned run average for DSS Haarlem with 50 strikeouts and six walks in 39.1 innings pitched. She is the third NDSU softball player to compete professionally overseas, and joins former all-region pitcher and teammate Whitney Johnson (Netherlands) and former All-American catcher Shelly Rhein (Italy).