FARGO, N.D. - After heading to the west coast to open up the season, North Dakota State is set to head to the southeast for the 2022 GATA Challenge hosted by Georgia Southern in Statesboro, Georgia. The Bison are slated for five games over three days, beginning with a match up against Maine at 9 a.m. on Friday. The Bison will also play host Georgia Southern on Friday at 2 p.m. NDSU will play UT Martin at 9 a.m. on Saturday, followed up by another meeting with Maine in the afternoon before playing host Georgia Southern again on Sunday at 8 a.m. to close out the weekend.
TICKETS: All seating at Eagle Field is General Admission with bleacher seating located behind home plate as well as bleacher seating in the outfield. Fans have the option to purchase a Day Pass or an All-Tournament Pass. All-Tournament Pass includes day passes to all 3 days of the GATA Challenge Tournament. Day Pass covers every game played during that day the pass was purchased for. Day Pass tickets are $10, while an All-Tournament Pass is $15. Ages 3 and under are free. Tickets are available at gseagles.com.
COVERAGE: Friday and Sunday's games against host Georgia Southern will be televised. Both games will be available on ESPN+. Live stats for all games will be also provided. Links for the broadcast and live stats will be available on the softball schedule page on gobison.com.
THE SERIES (MAINE): North Dakota State and Maine have never faced in softball. NDSU will play a school from the state of Maine for the first time in program history when the Bison take on the Black Bears on Friday. Heading into the week, NDSU has played teams from 44 states and Washington D.C. As a whole department, NDSU has faced Maine four times head-to-head, with two games in baseball and two in women's basketball. NDSU is 2-2 against Maine, with baseball winning in 2014 and 2016 in neutral site events. Women's Basketball lost both in a home-and-home in 2013 and 2015.
THE SERIES (GEORGIA SOUTHERN): The Bison have also never met Georgia Southern on the softball diamond. NDSU is 9-7 all-time against teams from Georgia, including a 5-4 record in the D1 era. As a department, the Bison have faced Georgia Southern seven times, holding a 4-3 record. Football is 3-0 from 2006-2012, while Men's Basketball won the only meeting in 2008. Volleyball has lost all three of the most recent meetings in 2018 and 2019.
THE SERIES (TENNESSEE-MARTIN): NDSU and Tennessee-Martin will face for just the second time in program history when the two teams meet Saturday. In the only other meeting, North Dakota State won in extra innings 5-1 (8) to defeat the Skyhawks on February 14, 2009 at the Southeastern Louisiana Lion Classic in Hammond, La.
SOME PEACHY MEMORIES IN GEORGIA: North Dakota State softball holds a few special memories in the state of Georgia, most notably lifting the 2000 NCAA Division II National Championship trophy.
Darren Mueller was an assistant coach on the national championship team, while current associate head coach
Gerice Olson was a senior on that team. 2000 was the first ever trip to Georgia for the Bison, who went 5-0 to claim the title. Overall, the Bison are 19-9 in the "Peach State" and 10-8 in the D1 era. The Bison have had some other memorable wins in Georgia, including knocking off No. 23 Georgia 3-0 in March of 2013. The Bison also outlasted Georgia Tech 8-6 in a 12-inning thriller in their last trip to Georgia in 2017, a game that holds several Bison single-game records.
CAREER WEEKEND FOR MAYKUT: Senior
Cameryn Maykut started 2022 off hot, hitting .412 at the Santa Barbara Campus Diamond Kickoff. In five games, the Winnipeg, Manitoba native recorded seven hits, four doubles, a grand slam, seven runs scored and 12 RBIs. She also had three walks and a hit by pitch for a .524 on base percentage. Maykut set (4) or matched (3) career best single game highs in seven major statistical categories and already surpassed her RBI total (10) in all of last season (30 games).
WALK IT OUT: Senior infielder
Nicole Licea had a stellar week as she returned home to the Los Angeles suburbs to open the season. The Corona, California native matched her career total in walks in just five games, as she drew nine walks, bringing her career total to 18. Licea also hit .500 (4-for-8) at the plate with two doubles and led the team in on-base percentage (.722) and OPS (1.472) for the weekend. Licea also plated eight runs. She had nine runs in all of 2019 and 2021.
GOING GOING GONE: In Sunday's win against Utah State, the Bison hit three home runs, the most in a game since April 27, 2019 when NDSU had three against Omaha. The first was a grand slam from senior
Cameryn Maykut in the second inning. Then in the sixth,
Reanna Rudd and
Emilee Buringa each hit their first collegiate home run.
GATES SMASHES LEADOFF ROLE: After sophomore
Molly Gates split time with 12 starts and 17 games played last season, the outfielder started all five games in the leadoff role to begin 2022, responding with a stellar weekend to lead the Bison with eight hits, including three doubles. Gates also had four walks and proved to be a run producer, driving in seven and plating six more herself.
EXTRA BASES: The Bison recorded 27 extra-base hits over the first weekend of the season, more than half of their 48 total hits. NDSU recorded 22 doubles, two triples and three home runs in five games, averaging over five extra-bases hits per game. The 22 doubles (4.4 per game) also outpaced singles (21) for NDSU.
ATOP THE NCAA RANKINGS: NDSU ranks first in the NCAA in doubles and doubles per game. Notre Dame is the next closest, with 19 doubles (3.8 per game). Two teams sit third with 15 doubles and three teams sit at 3.0 doubles per game.
OTHER NOTABLE NCAA RANKINGS: The Bison also rank second in walks with 34, behind only Drake (37). The Bison also sit third in scoring, averaging 9.8 runs per game. Individually,
Nicole Licea ranks second in walks per game, averaging 1.8.
Cameryn Maykut sits third in RBIs with 12, just one behind the national lead. Maykut, along with fellow senior
Avery Wysong, also sit third in doubles (4), one off the national lead.
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.
GRAND SLAMS: The Bison have hit 13 grand slams in the Division I era, including one
Cameryn Maykut against Utah State last weekend. Fellow current Bison
Avery Wysong hit a grand slam 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 nine in neutral site games.
EXTRA INNINGS: NDSU is 13-5 in extra innings since 2017 and the Bison have a 41-31 record in extras 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).
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.
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.
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.
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. The Bison are 13 wins from the program's 1200th victory. 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 entered 2022 at 670 and currently sits at 673. 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.
