FARGO, N.D. - North Dakota State will make it's first-ever trip to Memphis, Tennessee as the Bison are set for the Blues City Classic, hosted by the University of Memphis. NDSU is set to play five games over three days, beginning with Drake and Texas-San Antonio on Friday. The Bison will take on SIU Edwardsville and host Memphis on Saturday before a final game against Texas-San Antonio on Sunday.
 
Game Coverage
All games from the Blues City Classic will have live stats provided. Links will be available on the softball schedule page on gobison.com.
 
A Look Back at Last Week
The Bison are coming off of a 2-2 weekend at the Plainsman Invitational last week in Alabama. After delays in travel due to a snow storm, the Bison took on Brown to open the weekend and got a complete-game shutout from Paige Vargas in a 6-0 victory. After a loss to host #20 Auburn, the Bison bounced back with another shutout of Brown, 2-0, with a combined effort from Piper Reed and Lainey Lyle. Carley Goetschius had two runs in the first victory and a two-run home run in the second win. NDSU would fall to Auburn in the weekend finale.
 
Summit League Peak Performer
Paige Vargas was named the Summit League Softball Peak Pitcher of the Week on Monday after her performance at the Plainsman Invitational. Vargas posted a complete game shutout against Brown, with seven strikeouts. She added seven more against Auburn. The award is the first for Vargas and the Bison this season and the second career honor for the senior.
 
The Series (Drake)
North Dakota State will take on Drake for the first of three times in 2023, as the teams are also scheduled to play twice next week at the Gopher Indoor Classic. NDSU and Drake will meet for the 11th time this week in Tennessee, with the teams splitting the series 5-5, dating back to a first-ever meeting in 1980 at the AIAW DII Region VI Tournament. In the Division I era, NDSU is 5-4 against Drake, but Drake has won the last two meetings, including in the NCAA Minneapolis Regional in 2019.
 
The Series (UTSA)
The Bison will face the Roadrunners twice this weekend and for the first time since 2019, when the Bison won 6-1 at the Texas State Bobcat Classic. NDSU leads the all-time series 2-1, also winning the first-ever meeting at the New Mexico State Hotel Encanto Invitational in 2008, 6-1. UTSA won 6-5 in eight innings in 2012.
 
The Series (SIUE)
North Dakota State will face SIU-Edwardsville for the first time since 2012 at the Easton Bama Bash when the Bison won 3-0 and 7-3 in the only meetings in the Division I era. The Bison are 4-0 all-time, also picking up wins over the Cougars in 1999 and 2001.
 
The Series (Memphis)
NDSU will also take an unblemished record into the weekend against Memphis, having won all five meetings. The Bison last faced the Tigers in 2013 with 4-0 and 4-1 victories at the LSU Purple & Gold Challenge. All five meetings have been at neutral sites, with the Bison winning 3-0 in 2006 at the Tar Heel Classic, 6-1 in 2010 at the Gaucho Classic and 2-0 in 2011 at the Stanford Nike Invitational.
 
Senior Leading By Example
Despite nine of the first 14 games coming against teams ranked or receiving votes, senior Carley Goetschius has started year two with the Bison on a blistering pace. Goetschius has 17 hits, including three doubles and two home runs along with three walks, reaching base in over 45 percent of her plate appearances. Getting on base, along with her performance at the plate, Goetschius has accounted for 16 of NDSU's 32 runs this season.
 
Vargas Off to Strong Start, In Top 10 for Several Bison Career Categories
Paige Vargas has had a strong start to 2023, posting a 1.63 era with four wins in nine appearances and six starts. Vargas has limited opponents to .172 at the plate with 45 strikeouts in 47.1 innings. Vargas has a walks and hits per inning pitched ratio of just .91 and pitched her first solo shutout of the season last week against Brown. She also contributed to a combined shutout in the opener.
 
Vargas surpassed 100 career appearances during week one in Mexico and is 10th on the all-time list at 107 appearances, 84 career starts, 540.0 innings pitched, and 62 complete games. With her shutout against Brown, Vargas moved into a tie for 9th with 17 complete game shutouts, matching KK Leddy. The senior surpassed 400 career strikeouts in Mexico and against Auburn, Vargas passed Leddy for seventh all-time in strikeouts at 428. She is ninth with 5.55 strikeouts per game.
 
One-Two Punch
Over the first three weeks of the season, Carley Goetschius and Anjolee Aguilar-Beaucage have provided a big spark at the top of the lineup. Hitting back-to-back in all 14 games, the duo have combined for 28 of NDSU's 72 hits on the season. Goetschius is hitting .415 with three doubles and two home runs, and has also reached on three walks, with a .455 on-base percentage. Aguilar-Beaucage is hitting .289 with three doubles and a .341 obp. The duo have combined to score 16 of the team's 32 runs and also batted in 13 runs.
 
New Bison Making Key Contributions
The 2023 season has seen five newcomers regularly in the batting lineup for the Bison, including four true freshman. Transfer Anjolee Aguilar-Beaucage has made the biggest splash, starting every game at shortstop, hitting .289 with three doubles, five RBIs and six runs scored. Freshman Bella Dean is splitting time at first base and also seeing time in the designated player spot, hitting .300 with a .364 on-base percentage, second on the team. Fellow true freshman Ella Claus, Zoe King and Ava Chavarria have all made at least nine starts.
 
Moore Hits Career Highs Against Oregon
Senior catcher Kaylee Moore had a career day against the Oregon Ducks, recording three hits, including two doubles. Moore's three hits came against three different Ducks pitchers and she also added an RBI and her spot in the lineup scored a run. It was Moore's first career three-hit game and was also the first two-double game as well.
 
Shutouts
After nine shutouts in 2022, the Bison picked up a shutout in game one of 2023 and added a pair of shutouts at the Plainsman Invitational. In the season opener against California Baptist, senior Paige Vargas tossed five scoreless innings before turning over the circle to freshman Piper Reed, who pitched two scoreless innings in her collegiate debut, as the duo combined for a shutout. At the Plainsman Invitational, Vargas picked up the first solo shutout of the season in a 6-0 win over Brown. The next day, Reed and Lainey Lyle combined for another shutout of Brown, with Reed going three scoreless before Lyle tossed the final four innings.