NDSU Hosts Western Illinois in Summit League Series at The Ellig on May 5-6

Saturday, May 5

Fargo, N.D.

12 p.m.

North Dakota State

Western Illinois

Photo by: Carrie Snyder

NDSU Hosts Western Illinois in Summit League Series at The Ellig on May 5-6

5/3/2018 11:51:00 AM | Softball

NDSU Softball Release (5-3-18).pdf

North Dakota State (27-17, 7-3 Summit League) is scheduled to host Western Illinois (17-27, 9-3 SL) in a Summit League three-game series on May 5-6 at the Ellig Sports Complex ... The teams will play a noon doubleheader Saturday, May 5, and 11 a.m. single-game Sunday, May 6 ... Sunday is Senior Day at The Ellig ... NDSU will recognize seniors Morgan Milbrath, Dani Renner, Tabby Heinz, Katie Shoultz, Bre Beatty and Jacquelyn Sertic ... Saturday's first game and Sunday's game will be on Bison 1660 AM & 92.7 FM ... Video on GoBison.com/AllAccess.

The Series
This will be the 37th meeting with Western Illinois ... NDSU leads the series 27-9 ... The Bison won 2 of 3 during regular season last year, then split two games at Summit League tournament -- the Fighting Leathernecks taking the first, NDSU the second.

Quickly Around the Horn
In the NCAA RPI released April 30, North Dakota State was ranked No. 56 ... South Dakota State was No. 116, followed by South Dakota (185), Western Illinois (202), Omaha (211) and Fort Wayne (231) ... The Summit League was 18th out of 32 teams in the league rankings ... In the NCAA statistics report (4-30-18), North Dakota State is No. 8 in strikeout-to-walk ratio (4.54), No. 19 in fielding percentage (.973) and No. 34 in doubles per game (1.48) ... Individually, pitcher Jacquelyn Sertic is No. 9 in strikeouts (240), No 14 in shutouts (8) and strikeouts per 7 IP (9.5), and No. 27 in victories (20) ... North Dakota State recorded five straight shutouts in Summit League play (Jacquelyn Sertic 3, KK Leddy 2) in the series against South Dakota State and first two games against Fort Wayne ... The Bison had a streak of 40.2 scoreless innings ... 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 16 multi-hit and seven multi-RBI games ... Collectively, the Bison are batting .256 with a 2.58 earned run average and are fielding at .974 ... NDSU opponents are batting .238 with a 2.86 ERA and are fielding at .969 ... The Bison are averaging 3.59 runs scored per game, while opponents are averaging 3.00.

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.

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 during two shutout wins at South Dakota.

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 (144); No. 4 in strikeouts (874) and batters faced (3275); No. 5 in starts (114), complete games (94), innings pitched (780.1) and wins (74); No. 7 in shutouts (21), 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. 6 in fielding (.992), and No. 19 in stolen bases (58) and stolen base attempts (69) ... 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 14 times in 2018 and 32 times in her career, the last coming with 13 strikeouts vs. Fort Wayne (4-28-18) ... Sertic has eight shutouts this season, last vs. Fort Wayne (4-28-18), and has 21 in her career ... Sertic has compiled a 74-45 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 third shutout of the season vs. Fort Wayne (4-28-18) and has six in her career ... Leddy has compiled a 30-24 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 598-332 record (.643) including 186-45 (.805) 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.