NDSU, Defending Champion Oklahoma Collide at 2 p.m. Friday at NCAA Norman Regional

Friday, May 19

Norman, Okla.

2:30 p.m.

North Dakota State Athletics

Oklahoma

Photo by: Nick Nelson

NDSU, Defending Champion Oklahoma Collide at 2 p.m. Friday at NCAA Norman Regional

5/16/2017 5:15:00 PM | Softball

NCAA Norman Regional Championship Page
NCAA Division I Softball Interactive Bracket
NDSU Softball Release.pdf

Summit League champion North Dakota State (28-31) is scheduled play host, defending champion and No. 10-seed Oklahoma (50-8) at 2 p.m. Central Time on Friday, May 19, on the first day of the NCAA Norman Regional at Marita Hynes Field ... NDSU and Big 12 champion Oklahoma are scheduled to play on ESPN3 and the game will be broadcast on Bison 1660 AM / 92.7 FM with Keith Brake describing the action ... The first game features American Athletic Conference champion Tulsa (39-15) and Southeastern Conference member Arkansas (31-22) at 11:30 a.m. CT Friday on the SEC Network ... Describing the action for ESPN3 and the SEC Network are Alex Loeb and Megan Willis ... Willis was a two-time Big 12 Player of the Year for Texas and played in the National Fastpitch League ... The same four teams comprised the 2009 NCAA Norman Regional ... The tournament schedule:

NCAA Norman Regional
Marita Hynes Field, Norman, Okla.
Friday, May 19
Game 1: Tulsa (39-15) vs. Arkansas (31-22), 11:30 a.m. CT / SECN
Game 2: #10 Oklahoma (50-8) vs. North Dakota State (28-31), 2 p.m. CT / ESPN3
Saturday, May 20
Game 3: Game 1 Winner vs. Game 2 Winner, 1:30 p.m.
Game 4: G1 Loser vs. G2 Loser, 4 p.m.
Game 5: G4 Winner vs. Game 3 Loser, 6:30 p.m.
Sunday, May 21
Game 6: G3 Winner vs. G5 Winner, 1:30 p.m.
*Game 7: If Necessary, 4 p.m.
The winner of the regional in Norman advances to a Super Regional against the winner of the regional being hosted by Auburn ... The Super Regional is a best two-of-three format with the winner advancing to the eight-team Women's College World Series, scheduled for June 1-7 in Oklahoma City, Okla.

Ticket Information
Reserved seats for the Norman Regional are SOLD OUT ... A limited number of all-session general admission tickets are available for purchase online and by calling the OU Athletics Ticket Office at (800) 456-GoOU ... If availability remains, single-session tickets will go on sale at the OU Softball Complex on game day.

The Series
This will be the fourth meeting between North Dakota State and Oklahoma... Oklahoma leads the series 2-1 ... The Bison lost the season opening series against the Sooners 9-0 and 7-2 in 2006 ... NDSU defeated Oklahoma 1-0 in 11 innings in the first game of the 2009 NCAA Norman Regional ... This would be the third meeting between North Dakota State and Tulsa ... The Bison lead the series 2-0, winning both games (3-2, 4-1) at the 2009 NCAA Norman Regional ... This would be the seven meeting between North Dakota State and Arkansas ... The series is tied 3-3 ... The Bison and Razorbacks split a pair of games at the 2016 Texas Classic, Arkansas won the first 8-4, the Bison the second 7-2 ... NDSU won two of three against Arkansas at the 2007 Nebraska tournament ... The Razorbacks won 3-0 in 2006.

Bison in the NCAA Tournament
North Dakota State is making its eighth trip to the NCAA tournament over the past nine years ... The Bison are 8-14 in seven previous trips and 4-6 over the past three seasons ... NDSU won the 2009 NCAA Norman Regional and advanced to the Tempe Super Regional at Arizona State ... The eight Bison tournament wins have come against Oklahoma (2009), Tulsa (2 / 2009), Hawai'i (2012), Auburn (2014), Fresno State (2015), BYU (2015) and Weber State (2016) ... NDSU is making it's 15th NCAA appearance overall and have a 32-29 record ... The Bison won the 2000 NCAA Division II national championship.

Bison Against the NCAA Field
North Dakota State has played 10 teams this season in the 2017 NCAA tournament field and have compiled a 1-12 record -- No. 7 Auburn (0-1), No. 2 Arizona (0-1), Cal State-Fullerton (0-1), No. 1 Florida (0-1), Louisiana (0-2), Minnesota (0-2), Missouri (0-1), No. 12 Ole Miss (1-0), Ohio State (0-1) and South Carolina (0-2).

NDSU Wins Eighth Summit League Tournament in 2017
North Dakota State won its fourth straight Summit League Tournament and eighth over past nine seasons on May 10-13 at the Ellig Sports Complex ... NDSU dropped its first game 4-3 to Western Illinois, but stormed through the loser's bracket ... The Bison beat South Dakota 14-3 and Western Illinois 6-3, then forced a second championship game against IUPUI ... NDSU won the championship series by the scores of 13-4 and 5-3 ... Shortstop Montana DeCamp delivered the eventual game-winning hit, while Jacquelyn Sertic retired the 18 batters she faced in order ... North Dakota State had five players named to the all-tournament team led by MVP right fielder Bre Beatty ... Joining Beatty were pitchers KK Leddy and Jacquelyn Sertic, first baseman Vanessa Anderson and shortstop Montana DeCamp ... Leddy and Beatty were both named to the all-tournament team for the second time in their careers ... Beatty hit .588 with six runs scored, four doubles, one home run and five RBI ... Beatty cracked three of the doubles in the 13-4 win over IUPUI to tie the Summit League tournament and NDSU single-game records ... Collectively, North Dakota State hit .371 in the tournament with 41 runs scored, 10 home runs and eight doubles ... KK Leddy and Sertic combined for a 4-1 record with a 2.76 earned run average .. The pair allowed 34 hits and 17 runs -- 13 earned, struck out 29 and walked 12 over 33 innings pitched.

NDSU Places Six on All-Summit League Team
North Dakota State University pitcher Jacquelyn Sertic and shortstop Montana DeCamp were named to the All-Summit League first team, while four other Bison were named to the second team ... The all-league team was announced May 9 ... Sertic was named to the all-league first team for the second time, while DeCamp makes her first appearance. NDSU pitcher KK Leddy and third baseman Julia Luciano were repeat selections on the all-league second team, while right fielder Bre Beatty and left fielder Stephanie Soriano were both named to the all-league second team for the first time.

Quickly Around the Horn
North Dakota State pitcher Jacquelyn Sertic #TheScientist became the fourth Bison pitcher to reach 300 strikeouts in a season ... In NCAA statistics (May 14), individually, Sertic is No.4 in strikeouts (326) and No. 25 in strikeouts per 7 innings (8.3 avg.) ... Second baseman Zoe Stavrou #Zowie and pitcher Sertic earned The Summit League weekly honors on May 1 ... It was the first honor for Stavrou ... Sertic claimed her fourth honor this season and 10th of her career ... NDSU rallied past Western Illinois 5-4 in eight innings (4-23-17) to improve to 2-1 in extra innings this season ... NDSU defeated Georgia Tech 8-6 (G1, 3-25-17) in 12 innings, matching the longest game in program history ... The Bison stand 45-31 in extra innings under head coach Darren Mueller since 2002 ... North Dakota State is 58-51 in extra innings overall ... NDSU freshman left fielder Stephanie Soriano #Squints tied the NDSU single-game record when she was hit by pitch twice against South Dakota (4-15-17) ... The record has been tied 15 times by 12 different players ... Sophomore third baseman Julia #LuckyLuciano has been hit by pitch eight times this season ... Sophomore Vanessa Anderson #ThePunisher has hit 12 home runs this season ... Her first career home run was a grand slam in the 7-3 win over the College of Charleston (2-26-17) ... NDSU head coach Darren Mueller reached career win No. 550 with the 3-1 victory at Stetson University (3-10-17) ... Soriano leads the Bison with 16 multi-hit games ... Anderson tops NDSU with 11 multi-RBI games ... Montana DeCamp #DeRipper, Beatty and Stavrou lead the Bison with 15 two-out RBI ... Collectively, the Bison are batting .248 with a 3.16 earned run average and are fielding at .968 ... NDSU opponents are batting .252 with an 3.10 ERA and are fielding at .963 ... The Bison are averaging 3.63 runs scored per game, while opponents are averaging 3.71.

The Scientist's Research Nets Shutouts, Double-Figure Ks
North Dakota State junior right-hander Jacquelyn Sertic #TheScientist has reached double-figure strikeouts 12 times this season and 18 times in her career, the last coming with 14 strikeouts at Omaha (5-6-17) ... Sertic tossed a 1-0 shutout win over South Dakota State (4-30-17) ... Sertic has five shutouts this season and 13 in her career ... Sertic has compiled a 53-34 record with three saves over three seasons.

Zowie, The Punisher, Squints Tie Home Run Record
North Dakota State freshman left fielder Stephanie Soriano #Squints and sophomore first baseman Vanessa Anderson #ThePunisher both tied the school record with two home runs against IUPUI in game two April 8 ... Soriano became the 16th Bison player to tie the record ... The record has been achieved 28 times ... Anderson tied the record for the second time including the pair at Fort Wayne (4-2-17) ... Fellow sophomore Zoe Stavrou #ZOWIE hit two home runs in the 6-0 win against Ball State (2-18-17) ... Stavrou tied the record for the second time.

NDSU-Georgia Tech Marathon Produces Records
North Dakota State freshman left fielder Stephanie Soriano #Squints tied the single-game record with five base hits and seven at-bats at Georgia Tech (G1, 3-25-17) ... The Bison won 8-6 in 12 innings ... Soriano became the fifth NDSU player collect five hits, the first since Melissa Chmielewski vs. Saint Mary's, Calif. (3-5-08) ... Junior righty Jacquelyn Sertic #TheScientist struck out a career-high 19 at Georgia Tech (G1, 3-25-17) to match the single-game record set by Whitney Johnson in eight-inning win against Toledo (2-9-12) ... Sertic became the third pitcher to throw 12 innings in a game, the first since Amber Garrett at Colorado State (4-26-06) ... NDSU tied the school record for the longest game for the fifth time in program history, the last time against UMKC (4-22-12) ... NDSU junior catcher Tabby Heinz #Toby tied the school record with 21 putouts and 22 fielding chances at Georgia Tech (G1, 3-25-17), matching Janice Thompson's effort vs. South Dakota State (4-6-84) ... Freshman center fielder Madyson #Macho Camacho walked four times at Georgia Tech (G1, 3-25-17) to tie the single-game mark.

Sertic, Luciano, Heinz Take Aim at NDSU Career Charts
On the NDSU career charts, pitcher Jacquelyn Sertic is 5th in strikeouts/7 IP (7.49 avg.), 6th in strikeouts (619) and batters faced (2455), 7th in complete games (68) and saves (3), 8th in wins (53), appearances (111), starts (85) and innings pitched (578.2), and 9th in shutouts (13) ... Third baseman Julia Luciano is 5th in times hit by pitch (13) ... Catcher Tabby Heinz is 10th in fielding pct. (.988).

Former Bison Moreland Playing Professionally in Italy
Former North Dakota State all-region shortstop Logan Moreland is hitting .333 (5x15) with four stolen bases, a pair of doubles and two RBI for Labadini Collechiom which is 4-2 in the Italian Softball League ... Moreland has started all six games ... Moreland (Woodland, Calif./Woodland H.S.) is the fourth NDSU softball player to play professionally overseas, and joins former all-region pitchers and teammates Krista Menke (Italy/Netherlands) and Whitney Johnson (Netherlands), along with former All-American catcher Shelly Rhein (Italy).

NDSU Earns Easton/NFCA Team All-Academic Award
North Dakota State University softball earned Easton / National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Team All-Academic Award, while 10 players picked up Easton / NFCA Scholar Athlete honors for work in the classroom during the 2015-16 academic year ... Collectively, NDSU compiled a 3.340 grade-point average ... Earning NFCA Scholar Athlete honors were infielder Vanessa Anderson, outfielder Courtney Johnson, left fielder Maritza Lopez-Portillo, third baseman Julia Luciano, shortstop Logan Moreland, shortstop Lauren Reimers, catcher Alyssa Reina, center fielder Alex Sobrero, first baseman Jackie Stifter and pitcher Katie Thun.

The Mueller File
The North Dakota State head coach is Darren Mueller (16th season, 23rd overall) ... Mueller has compiled a 570-313 record (.645) including 179-42 (.810) vs. Summit League competition (including tournament) ... Mueller reached career win No. 550 at Stetson (3-10-17) ... The Bison have had 10 straight 30-plus win season ... Mueller became the program's all-time winningest coach with the 4-1 victory at Western Illinois (4-16-11) ... North Dakota State has won eight Summit League tournament championships (2009-10-11-12, 2014-15-16-17) 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 six Summit League regular season crowns (2008, 2012-13-14-15-16) ... Rounding out the Bison staff are assistant coaches Gerice Olson and Beth Spoehr, along with graduate assistant manager Cheyenne Garcia and volunteer assistant Kendall Grimm ... 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, 2015 and 2016 National Fastpitch Coaches Association Midwest Coaching Staff of the Year award ... Mueller was the 2006 and 2007 Division I Independent Coach of the Year.