SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - North Dakota State softball's Bella Dean has been named the TicketSmarter Summit League Softball Peak Player of the Week, League officials announced on Monday.
 
Dean hit .375 with a pair of home runs this weekend at the Gopher Indoor Classic. The freshman jump started a pair of Bison comebacks with both of her home runs. On Friday, Dean homered in the fifth inning against Idaho State, which started a stretch of nine unanswered runs from the Bison to win 9-3.
 
On Sunday, Dean led off the seventh inning with a solo home run to tie the game at 2-2, before the Bison went on to win 4-2. She also drove in the opening run of the game with a double off the fence in left center. All of Dean's hits on the weekend were extra base hits, as she finished with a 1.250 slugging percentage. She also had a .444 on base percentage.
 
The award is the first for Dean and the third for the Bison this season after Paige Vargas was named the Peak Pitcher two weeks ago and Anjolee Aguilar-Beaucage was named Peak Performer last week.
 
Dean and the rest of the Bison are set to play in four games this week in Mississippi, beginning with a trip to Starkville to take on Mississippi State on Tuesday.