FARGO, N.D. - North Dakota State softball (25-17, 7-4 Summit League) will return home for just the second time this season as the Bison welcome in South Dakota State (29-10, 10-2 Summit League) for a three-game Summit League series at Tharaldson Park on Saturday, April 23 and Sunday, April 24. Saturday's doubleheader is slated for a noon start with Sunday's series finale scheduled to begin at 11 a.m.
 
TICKETS AND PARKING: All seating is general admission and tickets can be purchased at the gate on game day. Adult General Admission tickets are $10. Youth General Admission (3-17 yrs) tickets are $5. Gates will open at Tharaldson Park 60 minutes prior to game time. No pets or outside food or beverage are allowed in the complex.
 
Sunday's game will be a $2 Sunday Special, with a $2 youth ticket deal for all kids (13 and under).
 
Parking is available in NDSU parking lot NQ to the north of Tharaldson Park on 17th Avenue. Parking is free of charge after 4:30 p.m. weekdays and all day Saturday, Sunday and holidays.
 
COVERAGE: All three games will be streamed live on NDSU All-Access. All games will also include live statistics. Links to the stream and stats will be available on the softball schedule page on gobison.com.
 
ON THE XTRA: Saturday's doubleheader will be televised across the state of North Dakota on WDAY Xtra. Zach Staton will have the call with analyst duties being covered by Kaitlin Cochran.
 
ON BISON 1660: The final game of the series with South Dakota State on Sunday will be on the radio, with the game being aired on Bison 1660 AM. Keith Brake will have the call from Tharaldson Park.
 
THE SERIES: North Dakota State will renew its most played series in program history when the Bison take on South Dakota State. The two programs have met 126 times on the softball diamond, dating back to a meeting in the first season for Bison softball on April 28, 1976. The Bison hold the lead in the all-time series, entering the weekend with a 76-50 record against the Jackrabbits.
 
SDSU enters with a four-game win streak in the series, but prior to that, the Bison won 25 of the previous 27 games, including a 19-game win streak, the longest by either team in the series. The longest win streak for SDSU in the series is six games on two occasions; first between 1987 and 1990, and then between 1993 and 1995.
 
FACING SDSU IN FARGO: North Dakota State has been quite successful when playing the Jackrabbits in Fargo, holding a 40-8 record. The Bison have just one loss to SDSU in Fargo in the Summit League era and twice overall in Division I. The Bison won 22 straight from 2006 into the 2019 season and have won 24 of their last 25 overall, including five victories in the Summit League Championship Tournament.
 
LAST TIME VS South Dakota State: The Bison were swept in a Summit League series for just the third time in program history last season as the Jackrabbits took all four games in Brookings in early May. SDSU claimed a pair of shutouts on day one with a 3-0 win in game one before a narrow 1-0 victory in game two. On day two, the Bison fell 2-0 before losing in a shootout 7-5 in the finale.
 
Offensively, Avery Wysong led the way for the Bison in the series with a pair of hits, including a solo home run. She also had a pair of walks and finished with two runs in the finale. Cameryn Maykut also had a pair of walks and a hit with a run scored. Dez Cardenas and Ciara Jensen each had an extra-base hit. In the circle, Lainey Lyle allowed just two earned runs in a complete game with five strikeouts in the opener. Paige Vargas then allowed just one run in her first start with 10 strikeouts in a 1-0 defeat.
 
VICTORY MILESTONES: North Dakota State picked up victory No. 200 in league games in the Summit League era with the victory over Western Illinois on Saturday. The Bison also picked up win No. 1200 in the program's history with a 3-2 win over Maryland at the Capital City Classic on March 18.
 
The Bison are also approaching another milestone victory in the 2022 season. NDSU is averaging over 34 wins a year in the Division I era, which could also see Bison head coach Darren Mueller reach the 700-win milestone. He entered 2022 at 670 and currently sits at 695.
 
SHUTOUTS: Paige Vargas and Mac Schulz teamed up for their second combined shutout of the season in the Bison's series opening win against Western Illinois. Vargas and Schulz have each contributed to shutouts  this season. In Georgia, Vargas tossed a five-inning shutout against UT Martin before Schulz went 5.2 innings and Vargas recorded the final four outs in the finale at Georgia Southern. It was the first combined shutout since 2019.
 
Schulz then tossed a five-inning shutout in a win over Portland State in Oregon. In the game against Virginia, Vargas tossed the fourth shutout of the season for NDSU and she picked up her third complete game shut of the season against Kansas City, as the senior struck out seven and allowed just three hits in a 1-0 victory in the home opener in Fargo. The Bison, who now have six shutouts on the season, had just three shutouts in all of 2021.
 
GIVE ME TWO: North Dakota State has recorded 82 doubles this season, which already ranks seventh in program history for doubles in a season after just 42 games, averaging 1.952 doubles per game. 82 doubles is also third in the Div. 1 era for NDSU, behind 97 doubles in 2015 and 86 in 2016. The program record is 156 in 80 games in 1998, averaging 1.950 over the season.
 
NOTABLE NCAA AND SUMMIT LEAGUE RANKINGS: The Bison lead the Summit League in three major statistical categories offensively, including in doubles with 82 on the year, which is also second in the NCAA. The Bison also lead the league in sacrifice flies with 14 on the year, which ranks 22 in the NCAA. Overall, the Bison rank in the top three in the league in all major offensive categories. NDSU is second in extra base hits (110), which is 38th nationally. NDSU is second in hits (325), runs (235) and runs per game (5.60), which are 45th, 48th and 55th nationally. They also rank second in the league and in the top 100 nationally in total bases (486) and walks (126).
 
Individually, Avery Wysong and Cameryn Maykut lead the Summit League and rank 36th nationally with 12 doubles.  Wysong is also tied for the league lead in doubles per game (.32). Maykut ranks 21st in the NCAA in RBIs (45) and 32nd in RBIs per game (1.07), both of which also sit atop the league. Emilee Buringa and Molly Gates are first and third in the league with .95 and .89 runs per game.
 
In the circle, Paige Vargas leads the league in complete games with 15. The senior ranks second in innings pitched (129.0), second in WHIP (1.070), third in era (2.06), third in strikeouts (126), third in strikeouts per seven innings (6.837), third in walks per seven innings (1.899), third in hits per seven innings (5.589), third in batting average against (.212), third in victories (13), and fifth in shutouts (3).
 
SERIES SWEEPS: Since beginning Summit League play in 2008, NDSU has swept 40 three-game series including a sweep of Western Illinois this season in Omaha. The Bison have 13 sweeps at home and 27 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).
 
GRAND SLAMS: The Bison have hit 14 grand slams in the Division I era, including two this season. The first came by Cameryn Maykut against Utah State. The second came by Carely Goetschius against Western Illinois. 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.
 
WIN STREAKS: The Bison have strung together win streaks of at least five games on 37 occasions since beginning Division I play in 2005, including three times this season. North Dakota State had 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 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.
 
GOING GOING GONE: In the NDSU's win against Omaha in early April, the Bison hit three home runs in a game for the second time this season. Emilee Buringa hit her sixth home run of the season with a two-run shot in the first of back-to-back home runs in the sixth inning. Buringa was followed up by Molly Gates, who hit her first career home run. In the seventh, Reanna Rudd joined the home run party, as she also hit her sixth of the season.
 
Earlier this year, the Bison hit three against Utah State to close out the opening weekend. Buringa and Rudd also homered in that game. The first was a grand slam from senior Cameryn Maykut in the second inning. Then in the sixth, Rudd and Buringa each hit their first collegiate home run.
 
Prior to this season, the Bison last hit three home runs in a game on April 27, 2019 when NDSU had three against Omaha in Fargo.
 
MAYKUT MOVES INTO NDSU TOP 10 FOR PUTOUTS: Senior Cameryn Maykut moved into the top 10 for career putouts against Kansas City. Makut currently sits at 659, 10th all time for the Bison.
 
VARGAS RANKS IN CAREER TOP 10 FOR STRIKEOUTS: Pitcher Paige Vargas has moved into the top 10 in career strikeouts for the Bison earlier this season and currently sits at 357, which is also sixth in D1 history. Her 5.55 strikeouts per seven innings also ranks 10th in Bison history. Vargas is seven strikeouts from reaching Sara Bosch (1996-98) at 364 for ninth overall.
 
LIFE ON THE ROAD: Two weeks ago, the Bison wrapped up a stretch of playing the first eight weekends on the road or at neutral sites to begin the 2022 season, including the first two Summit League weekends. North Dakota State played 37 games (originally scheduled to play 38) away from home, wrapping up with a visit to  Omaha. During the non-conference portion of the schedule, the Bison flew over 15,000 miles between the six weekend invitational events, playing in the pacific time zone three times, eastern time zone twice and mountain time zone once.
 
FANTASTIC FEBRUARY: The Bison had one of the best months of February in the program's 18 seasons in Division I, flipping the script from the 2021 campaign. NDSU was 10-4 this February after going 4-10 the season prior. The .714 win percentage was the fourth best in the D1 era, behind only the 2008 (.800), 2015 (.786) and 2007 (.750) seasons. It is NDSU's best February in the last seven seasons.
 
RUDD MATCHES SINGLE GAME HR RECORD: Reanna Rudd hit her second and third home runs of the season against Buffalo in New Mexico in back-to-back plate appearances. Rudd became the 18th different Bison to hit two homers in a game. It has been done 30 times overall by a Bison, including 21 times in the Division 1 era.
 
LICEA REACHES BASE 10-STRAIGHT PLATE APPEARANCES: Senior infielder Nicole Licea hit a new milestone in Albuquerque, as the Corona, California native reached base safely in 10-straight plate appearances over three games. Licea had five hits, four walks and a hit by pitch during the span. She also drove in two runs and scored four more as a result of reaching safely in 10-straight at bats.
 
BURINGA SNAGGED FIRST SUMMIT LEAGUE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Emilee Buringa was named the Summit League Softball Player of the Week on February 21. Buringa hit .636 (7-for-11), with a home run, a double, seven RBIs, and five runs scored. Buringa is the only Bison to earn Summit League softball honors this season and the first Bison to earn player of the week honors since Maddie Hansen won on April 8, 2019.
 
GATES HIT TOP 5 WITH 14-GAME HIT STREAK: Gates recorded a 14-game hit streak to begin the season, which tied for the fifth longest hitting streak in NDSU's Division 1 era and the longest streak for an NDSU player to begin the season. The 14-game streak by the sophomore also tied the longest by a non-senior Bison, matching a 14-game streak by Logan Moreland as a junior in 2015.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
EXTRA INNINGS: NDSU is 1-2 in extra innings this season and the Bison have a 42-33 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.
 
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, two 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.
 
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.
 
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.