BATON ROUGE, La. – Jacquelyn Sertic struck out 10 and Tabby Heinz knocked in the winning run in the ninth as North Dakota State defeated No. 10-ranked LSU 1-0 in nine innings on Saturday, March 24, at Tiger Park.
 
With the win, NDSU (18-9) has defeated at least one nationally-ranked opponent in each of the last seven seasons. Sertic has been the pitcher of record in the last three at No. 2 Alabama (2016), No. 6 Oklahoma (2017) and No. 10 LSU. Heinz had the game-winning hit against the Sooners.
 
"This was a good team win for us. Jax (Sertic) did a great job today and showed great leadership on the mound," said North Dakota State head coach Darren Mueller.
 
NDSU is scheduled to play No. 13-ranked Baylor (19-5) at 10:30 a.m. Sunday, March 25, to close out tournament play.
 
Bre Beatty led off the top of the ninth with a single and was replaced by pinch-runner Jaime Barta. Barta advanced to second on a ground out and scored on the Heinz hit off the third baseman.
 
Sertic retired the first two LSU batters faced in the ninth before allowing a single. Her 10^th strikeout ended the game. Sertic improved to 14-5 with her fifth shutout of the season.
 
Allie Walljasper (10-3) struck out eight for LSU, allowed four hits and issued no walks.
 
It was the second straight extra-inning game and third over the last four for the Tigers (26-5), who defeated Baylor 5-3 in eight innings.
 
The game featured no extra-base hits. Both teams had chances. NDSU Zoe Stavrou led off the second with a single, moved second on Heinz sacrifice bunt and stole third. However, Walljasper recorded two strikeouts.
 
LSU (26-5) had two runners on base in the third and a strikeout ended the threat. The Tigers loaded the bases in the fifth, but a pop up ended the threat. LSU had a runner on second with two outs in the seventh, but a ground out sent the game to extra innings.