NDSU Hosts Fort Wayne at the Renovated Ellig Sports Complex on April 28-29

Saturday, April 28

Fargo, N.D.

12 p.m.

North Dakota State

Fort Wayne

Photo by: Derrick Tuskan

NDSU Hosts Fort Wayne at the Renovated Ellig Sports Complex on April 28-29

4/24/2018 3:43:00 PM | Softball

NDSU Softball Release (4-24-18).pdf

North Dakota State (25-14, 5-2 SL) is scheduled to host Fort Wayne (16-29, 1-7 SL) in a Summit League three-game series, with a noon doubleheader on Saturday, April 28, and an 11 a.m. single-game on Sunday, April 29, at the renovated Ellig Sports Complex ... Saturday will be Faculty/Staff Appreciation Day ... The Bison have played the first 39 games away from Fargo ... NDSU's doubleheader with Minnesota, scheduled for Wednesday, April 25, has been moved to Tuesday, May 1, starting at 4 p.m.

The Series
This will be the 45th meeting between North Dakota State and Fort Wayne ... The Bison lead the series 32-12 ... NDSU won all three meetings against the Mastodons in Fort Wayne last season.

Quickly Around the Horn
In the NCAA RPI released April 23, North Dakota State was ranked No. 59 ... South Dakota State was No. 110, followed by Western Illinois (197), South Dakota (198), Omaha (213) and Fort Wayne (230) ... The Summit League was 20th out of 32 teams in the league rankings ... In the NCAA statistics report (4-23-18), North Dakota State is No. 9 in strikeout-to-walk ratio (4.43), fielding percentage (.972) and doubles per game (1.46) ... Individually, pitcher Jacquelyn Sertic is No. 10 in strikeouts (221), No. 15 in strikeouts per 7 IP (9.3), No. 19 in shutouts (7) and No. 21 in wins (19) ... Outfielder Bre Beatty is No. 32 in doubles per game (0.33) ... On the active NCAA DI career leader list, Jacquelyn Sertic is No. 3 in complete games (92); No. 6 in innings pitched (762.2) and strikeouts (854), and No. 7 in games started (111) and wins (73) ... The Bison won 1-0 over South Dakota (4-21-18) in eight innings ... NDSU is 4-1 in extra innings this season ... NDSU stands 49-32 in extra innings under head coach Darren Mueller since 2002 ... North Dakota State is 62-52 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) ... Bre Beatty leads NDSU with 14 multi-hit and seven multi-RBI games ... Vanessa Anderson has NDSU's longest reached base streak currently at 14 games ... Collectively, the Bison are batting .257 with a 2.53 earned run average and are fielding at .972 ... NDSU opponents are batting .234 with a 3.01 ERA and are fielding at .969 ... The Bison are averaging 3.72 runs scored per game, while opponents are averaging 3.03 ... NDSU is are 17-0 when leading after six innings.

NDSU with Trio of Summit League Shutouts
North Dakota State swept the series at South Dakota with three shutouts, a pair by Jacquelyn Sertic and one by KK Leddy ... It is the fourth time NDSU had three shutouts in a Summit League three-game series and first since the 2015 season ... The Bison scored eight runs with Zoe Stavrou hitting .700 (7x10) with a 1.200 slugging percentage, and accounting for six of those runs ... NDSU committed only one error in 81 fielding chances for a .988 fielding percentage.

Stavrou, Sertic Take #SummitSB Weekly Awards
North Dakota State second baseman Zoe Stavrou was named Summit League Player of the Week on April 23 ... It was the second career honor for Stavrou, who hit ..700 (7x10) with a 1.200 slugging percentage ... She had six RBI, a pair of doubles, her first home run of the season and a sacrifice fly ... Meanwhile right-hander Jacquelyn Sertic was named the Pitcher of the Week for the fifth time this season on April 23 ... It was the 15th career #SummitSB weekly honor for Sertic ... Sertic struck out 22 batters in 15 innings during a pair of shutout wins at South Dakota.

Anderson Ties NDSU Record For Home Runs in a Game
North Dakota State first baseman Vanessa Anderson tied the school single-game record for home runs in a game for the third time in her career ... Anderson hit a pair of home runs in the 9-2 win over South Dakota State (4-12-18) ... Seventeen NDSU players have achieved the feat 29 times ... Anderson is the second player to hit the mark on three occasions joining former Bison shortstop Logan Moreland.

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 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.

Quartet Take Aim at NDSU Career Charts
On the NDSU career charts, pitcher Jacquelyn Sertic is No. 3 in strikeouts/7 IP (7.84) and appearances (141); No. 4 in strikeouts (854) and batters faced (3202); No. 5 in starts (111), complete games (92), innings pitched (762.2) and wins (73); No. 7 in shutouts (20), and No. 8 in lowest opponent batting average (.221) ... Third baseman Julia Luciano is tied for No. 4 in times hit by pitch (14) ... Outfielder Katie Shoultz is No. 8 in fielding (.991), and No. 10 in stolen bases (57) and stolen base attempts (67) ... Infielder Zoe Stavrou is No. 7 in sacrifice flies (6).

The Scientist, Special K Notch Shutouts, Double-Figure Ks
North Dakota State's Jacquelyn Sertic #TheScientist has reached double-figure strikeouts 13 times in 2018 and 31 times in her career, the last coming with 10 strikeouts at South Dakota (4-22-18) ... Sertic has seven shutouts this season, last at South Dakota (4-22-18), and has 20 in her career ... Sertic has compiled a 73-43 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 second shutout of the season at South Dakota (4-21-18) and has five in her career ... Leddy has compiled a 29-23 record.

Sertic Candidate for Senior CLASS Award
North Dakota State 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.

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 3.476 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 596-329 record (.644) including 184-44 (.807) 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 ... Mueller was the 2006 and 2007 Division I Independent Coach of the Year.

Bison Announce 2018 Recruiting Class
North Dakota State head softball coach Darren Mueller announced that pitcher Paige Vargas (Mission Viejo, Calif. / Santa Margarita Catholic H.S.), catcher-outfielder Avery Wysong (Beaver Creek, Minn./Hills-Beaver Creek H.S.), middle infielder Nicole Licea (Corona,Calif. / Hillcrest H.S.) and shortstop Cameryn Maykut (Winnipeg, Manitoba / Shaftesbury H.S.) have all been admitted to NDSU and will join the softball softball program beginning in the fall of 2018.

Phase I of NDSU Softball Renovation Completed
Phase I of the $800,000 renovation of the North Dakota State softball facility that includes a new grandstand, press box, sound system and scoreboard has been completed according to NDSU deputy director of athletics Todd Phelps ... The new 552-seat grandstand features all chair-back seating ... There is a new cement backstop with a new protective netting system that stretches from dugout to dugout ... Located just beyond the centerfield fence is the new LED Daktronics scoreboard with an inning-by-inning and runs-hits-errors recap for both teams ... There is also a new Daktronics stadium sound system ... The new press box, located behind and above the grandstand offers an unobstructed view of home plate and playing field ... The heated press box can seat 8-10 people including separate space for television and radio ... A filming deck is located on top ... Designed by ICON Architectural Group of Grand Forks/West Fargo, the project was constructed by Key Contracting Inc. of West Fargo ... Electrical work was completed by Grotberg Electric Inc. of West Fargo ... The new dugout project was prior to last season by Masters Construction of Fargo ... Phase II of the renovation will commence at the end of the 2018 season.