NDSU Softball Opens Summit League Play at IUPUI on April 2-3 in Indianapolis

Saturday, April 2

Indianapolis, Ind.

11 a.m.

North Dakota State

IUPUI

Photo by: Cory Erickson

NDSU Softball Opens Summit League Play at IUPUI on April 2-3 in Indianapolis

3/31/2016 10:15:00 AM | Softball

NDSU Softball Release (3-31-16).pdf

North Dakota State (18-12, 0-0 SL) is scheduled to open Summit League play with a three-game series at IUPUI (10-18, 0-2 SL) in Indianapolis on April 2-3 ... NDSU and the Jaguars play a doubleheader at 11 a.m. CT Saturday April 2 ... The teams close out the series with a 10 a.m. CT single-game Sunday, April 3 ... IUPUI is scheduled to play at Butler on March 30 ... The Jaguars are 1-0 at home this season, the Bison are 5-5 on the road.

The Series
This will be the 24th meeting between North Dakota State and IUPUI ... The Bison lead the series 20-3 ... NDSU won all four meetings against the Jaguars last season including a 3-2 win in the Summit League tournament semifinals .

Quickly Around The Horn
North Dakota State was 51st in the NCAA RPI rankings on March 28 ... North Dakota State co-head coach Jamie Trachsel picked up career win No. 200 with the 4-1 victory at Iowa State (3-26-16) ... NDSU senior second baseman Cheyenne Garcia ranks in the top 25 among NCAA active career leaders, 5th in doubles (53), 12th in runs scored (168), 18th in total bases (357) and 21st in at bats (616) ... North Dakota State sophomore right-hander Jacquelyn Sertic threw her first career no-hitter in 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) ... NDSU has several players listed in the top 25 in the NCAA statistics (March 28) -- Jackie Stifter is 11th in hit by pitch (0.40 avg.), Jacquelyn Sertic is 15th in wins (13) and Cheyenne Garcia is 16th in doubles (0.40 avg.) ... North Dakota State first baseman Jackie Stifter has been hit by pitch 10 times this season, which ties the school's single-game record set by Jenina Ortega in 2014 ... NDSU has won nine of its last 28 meetings with nationally-ranked opponents, last win 2-1 at #2 Alabama (3-5-16) .. Jacquelyn Sertic was the winning pitcher, Zoe Stavrou had the game-winning hit against the Tide ... North Dakota State was 3-5 last season against nationally-ranked opponents and stand 10-56 overall ... The last grand slam for NDSU 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) ... Shortstop Logan Moreland leads North Dakota State with a .360 batting average ... Moreland has nine multi-hit games ... Second baseman Cheyenne Garcia has six multi-RBI games this season ... NDSU has 12 players with one or more RBI this season including Garcia with a team-high 22 ... Fourteen Bison have scored one or more runs this season led by Katie Shoultz with 24 ... 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 .291 with a 3.04 earned run average and are fielding at .965 ... NDSU opponents are batting .251 with a 4.33 ERA and are fielding at .952 ... The Bison are averaging 5.20 runs scored per game, while opponents are averaging 3.56 ... The big inning is the fourth for North Dakota State with 34 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 22 ... 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 fourth award this season and in her career.

Garcia Candidate for Senior CLASS Award
North Dakota State second baseman Cheyenne Garcia was one of 30 softball candidates for the 2016 Senior CLASS Award ... 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 ... 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 tied for 4th in doubles (53); 6th in slugging percentage (.580), home runs (27) and sacrifice flies (7); 7th in runs scored (168) and RBI (148); tied for 7th in triples (9); 8th in total bases (357) and double plays turned (23), and tied for 9th in stolen bases (54) ... Senior left fielder Maritza Lopez-Portillo is 3rd in hit by pitch (15) and tied for 4th in sacrifice flies (8) ... Senior shortstop Logan Moreland is 9th in batting average (.359), tied for 9th in stolen bases (54), 10th in double plays turned (19) and tied for 10th in runs scored (140) ... Junior catcher Alyssa Reina is 6th in runners caught stealing (28), 7th in fielding percentage (.990), 7th in putouts (859) and slugging percentage (.548) tied 8th in home runs (24), and 9th in fielding chances (929) ... Senior first baseman Jackie Stifter is 2nd in hit by pitch (20), tied for 7th in sacrifice flies (6) and 10th in on-base percentage (.424).

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 high-powered offense remains mostly intact, retaining 84.2% (303-of-360) of their runs scored.

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 521-279 record (.651) including 144-34 (.809) vs. Summit League competition (including tournament) ... Trachsel has compiled a 200-106 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. 200 at Iowa State (3-26-16) ... The Bison have had nine straight 30-plus win seasons and reached 40 wins for the first time since 2004 last season ... 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).

Ex-NDSU Shortstop Nicole Rivera Member of 2015 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 ... The Lakeside, Calif. native 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.