Softball Set To Begin 2022 Campaign In Santa Barbara

Friday, February 11

Santa Barbara, Calif.

11:30 AM

North Dakota State Athletics

Utah State

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Softball Set To Begin 2022 Campaign In Santa Barbara

2/10/2022 10:46:00 AM | Softball

NDSU Notes

FARGO, N.D. - North Dakota State will open up the 2022 season schedule with a trip to the west coast of California to take on UC Santa Barbara and Utah State in the Santa Barbara Invitational. The Bison are slated for five games over three days, beginning with a match up against Utah State at 9:30 a.m. PT on Friday. The Bison will also play host UC Santa Barbara on Friday immediately following their first game. NDSU will play both teams again on Saturday before a 9 a.m. game against Utah State on Sunday to close out the weekend.

TICKETS & PARKING: All seating is general admission and tickets may be purchased at the gate on game day or in advance through ucsbgauchos.com. Single-day tickets are $14 for adults and $9 for Senior/Youth/Military. An all session pass is $28 adults and $18 for Senior/Youth/Military. A link for tickets is also available on the softball schedule page on gobison.com. Parking is available at the Campus Diamond in Parking Lot 30.

COVERAGE: Friday's game against UC Santa Barbara will be televised on ESPN+ and The Big West Network. Live stats for all games will be provided. Links for the broadcast, video stream and stats will be available on the softball schedule page on gobison.com.

THE SERIES (USU): NDSU has met Utah State five times, all neutral sites, in program history, with the Bison trailing 2-3 in the all-time series. The Aggies have won the last two meetings, including a 2-1 win in eight innings at the Cal State Fullerton Easton Invitational in 2017. The other four meetings came in 2010, with the Bison taking two of three in the span of eight days in Colorado and Texas. In 2011, Utah State won 6-4 at the Stacy Winsberg Memorial Tournament in Los Angeles, Calif.

THE SERIES (UCSB): The Bison hold a 2-0 record against UC Santa Barbara in the all-time series. The Bison claimed a 2-0 win at the Gaucho Classic in Santa Barbara in 2010. In the last meeting, the Bison won 7-1 over UCSB at the Long Beach State Invitational.

CALIFORNIA DREAMING: North Dakota State will open up the season in California for the fourth time in program history and the first time since the Cal State Fullerton Easton Invitational in 2017. The Bison last played in California in March of 2020 and are 56-45 all-time when playing in "The Golden State", including a perfect 3-0 mark in Santa Barbara. All three wins came in the Gaucho Classic in 2010, with the Bison defeating UC Santa Barbara (2-0), Drexel (10-3) and Memphis (6-1).

BISON PICKED RUNNERS UP IN SUMMIT: North Dakota State was picked to finish in a tie as the runners up in The Summit League in 2022 in a preseason poll of the league's eight head coaches. The Bison have won two of the last three regular season crowns and six of the last seven league tournament titles. NDSU had one first-place vote and finished tied for second on 38 points with Kansas City. South Dakota State was a unanimous first-place selection. Omaha, South Dakota, North Dakota, Western Illinois and St. Thomas rounded out the poll.

PLAYERS TO WATCH: North Dakota State junior right-handed pitcher Lainey Lyle and senior catcher Avery Wysong were among the Summit League preseason players to watch. Lyle, a 2021 All-Summit League Second Team selection, made 14 appearances last season with a 3.18 ERA. The Middleton, Idaho native tossed a no hitter against South Dakota and recorded six wins in 19.1 innings pitched. Wysong, also a 2021 All-Summit League Second Team selection, started 39 games last year, hitting .278 with a team high eight doubles and eight home runs. She also led the Bison with 27 RBIs.

WHO'S BACK: North Dakota State returns 14 of 21 players from last season, including eight of the 12 regular starters from a squad that finished third in the Summit League regular season. The Bison return four of their top seven bats from last season, including sophomore Emilee Buringa, who led the team with a .348 batting average. Senior Avery Wysong, who led the Bison in doubles, home runs, RBIs, and slugging percentage, also returns and provides consistency behind the plate for an experienced pitching staff that includes the return of Lainey Lyle (3.18 era, 79.1 IP) and Paige Vargas (3.84 era, 100.1 IP), who have run the circle a majority of the 2020 and 2021 seasons.

NEW FACES: NDSU welcomed four new comers to the team this season, including three true freshman and a transfer. Carley Goetschius, originally from Sioux Falls, S.D., transferred to the Bison from Northern Illinois. Goetschius played three seasons with NIU and enters 2022 with a .282 career batting average with seven doubles and nine home runs. Faith Daehlin, from Lakeville, Minn., and Chloe Woldruff, from Lispon, Iowa, join the Bison as freshman and will contribute in the field and at the plate. Savy Williams, from McKinney, Texas, is the final freshman and joins the pitching staff.

GRABLE, KOEHN JOIN STAFF: North Dakota State added two new staff members heading into this season with Kayti Grable joining the staff as an assistant coach and former Bison Sam Koehn as a graduate assistant. Grable joins the Bison after her most recent stop as an assistant coach with Valparaiso, where she spent three seasons. Koehn remains in Fargo and joins the staff after wrapping up her three-year career with the Bison, starting 122 of 123 games played at third base.

SEASON OPENERS: The Bison are 26-20 all-time in season openers, including a 10-7 mark in 17 seasons of Division I play. The Bison have lost two straight in season openers, but the losses came to No. 19 South Carolina in 2020 and No. 21 Arkansas in 2021. Against unranked competition, the Bison are 10-4 in the opener, including six wins in the last eight.

STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE: North Dakota State historically plays The Summit League's toughest non-conference schedule in preparation for league play. The Bison have another tough schedule lined up in 2022 that includes six tournaments, three hosted by Power 5 programs, and seven games against NCAA Tournament teams from last season.

NATIONALLY RANKED OPPONENTS: North Dakota State beat at least one nationally ranked opponent in seven straight seasons from 2012 to 2018 with the most recent Top 25 victory coming in 2018 over 10th-ranked LSU by a 1-0 score in nine innings. That is one of five Bison wins over Top 10 opponents including a 2-1 victory at No. 2 Alabama in 2016, the highest-ranked opponent NDSU has beaten. NDSU's first win over a nationally ranked Division I program came in 2009 with an 11-inning 1-0 victory at No. 9/10 Oklahoma en route to the NCAA regional championship.

GRAND SLAMS: The Bison have hit 12 grand slams in the Division I era, including one from current Bison Avery Wysong last season at Kansas City. Former Bison Melissa Chmielewski holds the lead for NDSU with four grand slams from 2007-10. Maritza Lopez-Portillo and Vanessa Anderson are the only other Bison with multiple grand slams in their career. NDSU has just one grand slam at home, Alyssa Reina against Fort Wayne on April 9, 2016. The Bison have three on the road and eight at neutral sites.

NO-HITTERS: North Dakota State pitchers have thrown 31 no-hitters including 14 against Division I opponents with Lainey Lyle's April 10 no-no last season being the first since 2019 when KK Leddy blanked South Dakota State 5-0. There have been eight perfect games by NDSU pitchers with the last one in 2015 by Krista Menke at Purdue Fort Wayne. There have been six no-hitters pitched against NDSU in Division I play since 2005. Illinois State's Morgan Day struck out 16 and walked one in the last no-hitter against North Dakota State in the championship game of the Middle Tennessee State University Invitational on March 14, 2021.

EXTRA INNINGS: NDSU is 13-5 in extra innings since 2017 and the Bison have a 41-31 record since beginning Division I play in 2005 including three 12-inning games against Colorado State in 2006 (W, 3-2); Kansas City in 2012 (L, 4-6) and Georgia Tech in 2017 (W, 8-6). The Bison are 7-2 in games that go at least 11 innings in the Division I era.

SERIES SWEEPS: Since beginning Summit League play in 2008, NDSU has swept 39 three-game series including 26 away from Fargo. The Bison have been swept only three times in league play with all three coming on the road against Purdue Fort Wayne (2010), Kansas City (2011) and South Dakota State (four games, 2021).

WIN STREAKS: The Bison have strung together win streaks of at least five games on 34 occasions since beginning Division I play in 2005, including a 20-game win streak during the 2019 season that stands as the program's division I era record. NDSU has reached 10-game win streaks six times (2007, 2009, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2019), with the streaks in 2013 (15 games) and 2019 being the longest. Over the program's history, the Bison have eight win streaks of at least 15 games and four that have reached 20, including the program record of 27 wins in April of 2000 when the Bison went on to claim the NCAA DII National Championship.

FIELD OF THE YEAR: Tharaldson Park, the on-campus home softball stadium for North Dakota State, was named the NCAA Division I winner of the 2020 Netting Professionals NFCA Field of the Year award, which recognizes the top fields/stadiums in the nation for their flawless grounds maintenance and exceptional playing surfaces. Tharaldson Park was dedicated in 2018 after a $2 million renovation including installation of a FieldTurf playing surface and seating for 735 spectators.

VICTORY MILESTONES: North Dakota State is approaching several milestone victories in the 2022 season. Entering the year, the Bison are 16 wins from the program's 1200th victory and just 17 wins from the program's 600th victory in Division I, which began in 2005. The Bison are averaging over 34 wins a year in the Division I era, which could also see Bison head coach Darren Mueller approach the 700-win milestone. He enters 2022 at 670. The Bison are also just seven wins in Summit League play away from 200. NDSU began league play in 2008, and are averaging nearly 15 league wins in the 13 seasons when league play was competed.

TOURNEY TOWN: North Dakota State has hosted the Summit League softball tournament nine times since becoming eligible for the NCAA Division I postseason in 2009. Western Illinois (2009, 2011) and Kansas City (2012) are the only other teams to have hosted the tournament over those 12 seasons. NDSU has won seven of the nine tournaments held in Fargo. Fort Wayne in 2013 and South Dakota State in 2021 are the only teams to have won the tournament in Fargo.

NCAA TOURNAMENT HISTORY: North Dakota State has advanced to NCAA regional play 10 of the past 12 seasons as the Summit League tournament champion. NDSU qualified for its first NCAA Division I tournament in 2009, the school's first year of Division I postseason eligibility, and the Bison swept through the Norman Regional that year to advance to Super Regional play at Arizona State. NDSU made seven NCAA Division II postseason appearances from 1998-2004 including a national championship in 2000.