NDSU Softball Travels to No. 23/24 Minnesota, South Dakota Series Moved Up

Wednesday, April 27

Minneapolis, Minn.

4 p.m.

North Dakota State

Minnesota

Photo by: Cory Erickson

NDSU Softball Travels to No. 23/24 Minnesota, South Dakota Series Moved Up

4/27/2016 9:53:00 AM | Softball

NDSU Softball Release (4-27-16).pdf

Wednesday April 27, 2016 -- NDSU at Minnesota
4 p.m. Game 1 | Watch Live (BTN Plus) | Live Stats
6 p.m. Game 2 | Watch Live (BTN Plus) | Live Stats

Friday, April 29, 2016 -- NDSU at South Dakota
1 p.m. Game 1 Live Stats
3:30 p.m. Game 2 Live Stats

Saturday, April 30, 2016 -- NDSU at South Dakota
11 a.m. Live Stats

North Dakota State (30-13, 12-0 Summit League) is scheduled to play No. 23/24 Minnesota (32-12, 13-3 Big Ten) in a doubleheader at 4 p.m. Wednesday, April 27, at Jane Sage Cowles Stadium in Minneapolis ... Minnesota is 5-2 at home this season ... The Bison are 11-5 on the road ... North Dakota State is scheduled to travel to South Dakota (13-32, 7-5 SL) for a three-game Summit League series on April 29-30, at Nygaard Field in Vermillion ... NOTE: THE SERIES WAS SCHEDULED FOR APRIL 30-MAY 1 ... Doubleheader at 1 p.m. Friday, April 29, and 11 a.m. single-game Saturday, April 30 ... USD is 6-2 at home this season ... NDSU has won 22 Summit League regular season games in a row, dating back to the 4-2 loss to South Dakota (G2 4-3-15).

The Series
This will be the 22nd meeting between North Dakota State and Minnesota ... The Gophers lead the series 19-2 ... NDSU and Minnesota split a doubleheader last season in Minneapolis ... This will be the 72nd meeting between North Dakota State and South Dakota ... The Bison lead the series 48-23 ... NDSU won three of four meetings last season including a 13-3 win in the Summit League tournament championship game.

Quickly Around the Horn
North Dakota State was 60th in the NCAA RPI rankings on April 25 ... NDSU senior second baseman Cheyenne Garcia ranks in the top 25 among NCAA active career leaders, 3rd in doubles (59), 12th runs scored (184), 21st total bases (380) and 22nd at bats (660) ... Garcia is the all-time Summit League leader with 184 runs scored ...
NDSU has several players listed in the top 30 in the NCAA statistics (April 25) -- Cheyenne Garcia is 7th in doubles (0.42 avg.), Jackie Stifter is 12th in times hit by pitch (0.38 avg.), Jacquelyn Sertic is 14th in wins (20) and Logan Moreland is 27th in stolen bases (0.63 avg.) ... Overall, the Bison are 15th in stolen bases (2.07 avg.), 18th in fielding (.972), 27th in scoring (6.19 avg.) and 29th in doubles (1.58 avg.) ... 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 14 batters in the 7-2 win at SDSU (4-15-16) and 14-2 win at IUPUI (4-2-16) ... First baseman Jackie Stifter has been hit by pitch 14 times this season, which shattered the school's single-season record of 10 set by Jenina Ortega in 2014 ... Stifter is tied for first all-time at NDSU in times hit by pitch at 24 with Lynnae Foshag (24/2004-07) ... The last grand slam for NDSU was hit by utility player Zoe Stavrou, who connected in the 8-2 second game win at SDSU (4-15-16) ... It was the fourth grand slam this season for NDSU, as Maritza Lopez-Portillo has connected against Hawai'i (3-12-16) and Kent State (2-27-16), and Alyssa Reina did it vs. IPFW (4-9-16) ... Shortstop Logan Moreland leads North Dakota State with a .428 batting average ... Moreland has 19 multi-hit games ... Moreland hit a home run in four straight games (Iowa State G2, IUPUI G1, IUPUI G2, IUPUI G3) ... With two home runs vs. IPFW on April 10, Moreland tied the school single-game record for the third time in her career ... That record has been achieved 22 times by 13 athletes ... Moreland has 12 multi-RBI games this season ... NDSU has 12 players with one or more RBI this season including Alyssa Reina with a team-high 42 ... Fourteen Bison have scored one or more runs this season led by Moreland with 41 ... 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 .318 with a 2.89 earned run average and are fielding at .972 ... NDSU opponents are batting .235 with a 5.27 ERA and are fielding at .948 ... The Bison are averaging 6.19 runs scored per game, while opponents are averaging 3.18 ... The big inning is the fourth for North Dakota State with 53 runs scored.

Sertic, Stifter, Moreland, Reina Receive Summit League Weekly Honors
North Dakota State redshirt junior catcher Alyssa Reina was named Summit League and College Sports Madness.com Summit League Player of the Week on April 25 ... Senior shortstop Logan Moreland was named Su32mmit League and College Sports Madness.com SL Player of the Week on April 11 ... First baseman Jackie Stifter was named SL Player of the Week on Feb. 29 ... It was the first weekly SL honor for Stifter, Reina and Moreland have been named twice, while Jacquelyn Sertic has earned her five SL awards this season ... Sertic has been named College Sports Madness.com SL Player of the Week twice.

Garcia, Lopez-Portillo, Moreland, Reina, Stifter Take Aim at NDSU Career Charts
On the NDSU career charts, senior second baseman Cheyenne Garcia is 4th in doubles (59) and sacrifice flies (8), 6th in runs scored (184) and runs batted in (154), 7th in slugging (.576), home runs (27), total base (380), stolen bases (66) and triples (9), and 8th in double plays turned (25) ... Senior left fielder Maritza Lopez-Portillo is 3rd in times hit by pitch (16) and 4th in sacrifice flies (8) ... Senior shortstop Logan Moreland is 6th in stolen bases (68), 7th in batting average (.375) and on-base percentage (.435), 8th in home runs (25) and times hit by pitch (9), 9th in slugging (.546), runs scored (161), hits (234) and double plays turned (23), and 10th in total bases (341) ... Junior catcher Alyssa Reina is 6th in slugging (.602), home runs (28), fielding (.991) and runners caught stealing (30), 7th in putouts (948) and 9th in fielding chances (1025) ... Senior first baseman Jackie Stifter is T1st in times hit by pitch (24) and 7th in sacrifice flies (6).

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 has won the past four regular season league titles along with claiming six of the past seven tournament championships.

Sertic espnW National Player of the Week on March 9
Memo to all future espnW national players of the week: The trip to Hawaii is not included ... Sorry ... The timing of North Dakota State pitcher Jacquelyn Sertic's ongoing stay in Honolulu is purely coincidental, her team long ago scheduled to travel this week to a tournament in Hawaii while making the most of spring break, but she certainly earned some kind of reward ... Sertic and the Bison travel across the Pacific Ocean to play six games this week, two each against Baylor, California and Hawaii ... They have their work cut out for them against teams like that, but events of the past week suggest those teams don't have it so easy, either ... A program that made a habit of playing beyond its weight class since moving to Division I a little more than a decade ago, North Dakota State was at it again as it followed the pitcher's lead in a tournament hosted by Alabama ... In her first start in Tuscaloosa, Sertic allowed four hits, one walk and two earned runs in eight innings to beat DePaul ... She topped that a day later when she allowed four hits and one earned run in a win over second-ranked Alabama on its field. She wasn't done. Sertic then threw a five-inning no-hitter as the Bison surged to an 18-0 win over DePaul to wrap up their stay ... That's an extra-inning complete game, the biggest upset of the season and her first career no-hitter ... Eight hits and three earned runs allowed in 20 innings across three starts ... All in barely 48 hours ... It adds up to the player of the week.

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 ... 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.

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 533-280 record (.656) including 156-34 (.821) vs. Summit League competition (including tournament) ... Trachsel has compiled a 212-107 record (.665) including a 110-23 (.827) 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 Pitcher Krista Menke Off to 2-0 Start in Italy
Former North Dakota State University all-region pitcher Krista Menke is 2-0 with 18 strikeouts for the ASD Thunders Castellana of the Italian League ... League play is scheduled to run from April 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).