NDSU Softball Release (3-21-18).pdf

North Dakota State (17-7) is scheduled to open against No. 13-ranked Baylor (17-4) at 11 a.m. Friday, March 23, at the LSU Round Robin Tournament in Tiger Park (2,671), Baton Rouge ... The NDSU tournament schedule:

LSU Round Robin Tournament
Tiger Park, Baton Rouge, La.
Friday, March 23
BISON (17-7) vs. #13 Baylor (17-4), 11 a.m.
BISON vs. BYU (15-12), 1:30 p.m.
Saturday, March 24
BISON vs.#10 LSU (23-4), 3 p.m. SECN+
Sunday, March 25
BISON vs. #13 Baylor, 10:30 a.m.

The Series
This will be the the fourth meeting between North Dakota State and Baylor, members of the Big 12 Conference ... The Bears lead the series 3-0 ... This will be the fifth meeting between North Dakota State and BYU, members of the West Coast Conference ... The series is tied 2-2 ... This will be the second meeting between North Dakota State and LSU, members of the Southeastern Conference ... The Tigers lead the series 1-0.

Quickly Around the Horn
 In the fourth NCAA statistics report (3-19-18), North Dakota State is No. 12 in fielding percentage (.980) and No. 18 in doubles per game (1.71) ... Individually, outfielder Bre Beatty is No. 9 with 0.46 doubles per game, No. 11 with 11 doubles overall ... Pitcher Jacquelyn Sertic is No. 3 with 151 strikeouts, No. 7 with 13 victories, No. 16 with 9.9 strikeouts/7IP and No. 25 with four shutouts ... On the active NCAA DI career leader list, Jacquelyn Sertic is No. 3 with 84 complete games, No. 6 with 703.2 innings pitched and 784 strikeouts, and No. 7 with 102 games started and 67 victories ... The Bison won 8-7 over Colgate (3-15-18) in eight innings ... NDSU is 2-1 in extra innings this season ... The Bison stand 47-32 in extra innings under head coach Darren Mueller since 2002 ... North Dakota State is 60-52 in extra innings overall ... NDSU head coach Darren Mueller reached career win No. 550 with the 3-1 victory at Stetson University (3-10-17) ... Collectively, the Bison are batting .270 with a 2.23 earned run average and are fielding at .980 ... NDSU opponents are batting .219 with a 3.31 ERA and are fielding at .968 ... The Bison are averaging 4.33 runs scored per game, while opponents are averaging 2.54.

Sertic Notches Louisville Slugger/NFCA Weekly Honor
North Dakota State pitcher Jacquelyn Sertic was named the Louisville Slugger/NFCA Division I Pitcher of the Week on March 20 ... Sertic is the first NDSU softball player to receive the honor ... She compiled a 5-0 record with a 1.11 earned run average ... Sertic struck out  batters in 16.1 innings pitched and recorded three shutouts including her fifth career one-hitter.

Sertic Candidate for Senior CLASS Award
North Dakota State University pitcher Jacquelyn Sertic was one of 30 NCAA women's softball student-athletes selected as candidates for the 2018 Senior CLASS Award announced March 15 ... To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition ... Second baseman Cheyenne Garcia (2016) and Krista Menke (2015) were also candidates for the award.

Shoultz Ties NDSU Record For Steals in a Game
North Dakota State outfielder Katie Shoultz tied the school single-game record with five stolen bases in five attempts in the 7-1 win over Columbia (3-11-18) ... Shoultz matched the record achieved twice by Bison Athletic Hall of Fame/NCAA Division II All-America shortstop Nikki Flynn Gregg vs. North Dakota (4-22-00) and vs. Edinboro, Pa. (3-8-99) ... Shoultz matched her career-high with four hits against Columbia.

Sertic Selected #SummitSB Pitcher of the Week
North Dakota State right-hander Jacquelyn Sertic was named the Summit League Pitcher of the Week for the third time this season on March 19 ... It was the 13th career #SummitSB weekly honor for Sertic ... She compiled a 5-0 record with a 1.11 earned run average ... Sertic struck out  batters in 16.1 innings pitched and recorded three shutouts including her fifth career one-hitter.

Trio Take Aim at NDSU Career Charts
On the NDSU career charts, pitcher Jacquelyn Sertic is No. 3 in strikeouts/7IP (7.80); No. 4 in appearances (131), strikeouts (784), batters faced (2954); No. 5 in games started (102), complete games (84), innings pitched (703.2); No. 6 in wins (67), and No. 8 in shutouts (17) and lowest opponent batting avg. (.221) ... Third baseman Julia Luciano is tied for No. 4 in times hit by pitch (14) ... Catcher Tabby Heinz is No. 8 in fielding pct. (.990).

The Scientist, Special K Notch Shutouts, Double-Figure Ks
North Dakota State's Jacquelyn Sertic #TheScientist has reached double-figure strikeouts nine times in 2018 and 27 times in her career, the last coming with 10 strikeouts in relief vs. Monmouth (3-18-18) ... Sertic has four shutouts this season, last vs. Fairfield (3-18-18), and has 17 in her career ... Sertic has compiled a 67-40 record with three saves ... NDSU right-hander KK #SpecialK Leddy recorded her first career double-figure strikeout game with 13 against Southern Utah (2-9-18) ... Leddy notched her first shutout of the season vs. Yale (3-3-18) and has four in her career ... Leddy has compiled a 27-19 record.

Bison #SummitSB Preseason Favorite Sixth Straight Year
For the sixth consecutive year, North Dakota State was named The Summit League preseason softball favorite in a poll of the league's head coaches ... The Bison won their fifth-straight tournament title in 2017 ... NDSU earned five first-place votes for a total of 25 points ... NDSU retains a sizable core of its roster, including a league-best seven all-league selections from a year ago ... Jacquelyn Sertic (P) and Montana DeCamp (SS) return from the first team, while KK Leddy (P), Julia Luciano (3B), Bre Beatty (OF) and Stephanie Soriano (OF) round out the second team members ... Sertic was selected as a "Player to Watch" this season.

Eight NDSU Players Easton/NFCA Scholar Athletes
Eight North Dakota State softball players were recognized as National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Scholar Athletes for the 2016-17 academic year: first baseman Vanessa Anderson, shortstop Montana DeCamp, outfielder Courtney Johnson, pitchers KK Leddy and Jacquelyn Sertic, pitcher/outfielder Morgan Olson, second baseman Lauren Reimers and catcher Alyssa Reina ... Collectively, NDSU compiled a 3.746 grade point average and ranked No. 32 on the Easton/NFCA Division I All-Academic Team list.

The Mueller File
The North Dakota State head coach is Darren Mueller (17th season, 24th overall) ... Mueller has compiled a 588-322 record (.646) including 179-42 (.810) vs. Summit League competition (including tournament) ... Mueller reached career win No. 550 at Stetson (3-10-17) ... The Bison had 10 straight 30-plus win seasons ... 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 ... 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.