Bison Head to Minneapolis for Gopher Indoor Classic

Friday, March 10

Minneapolis, Minn.

2 p.m.

North Dakota State Athletics

Idaho State

Photo by: Connor Allen/Ole Miss

Bison Head to Minneapolis for Gopher Indoor Classic

3/9/2023 3:21:00 PM | Softball

NDSU Notes

FARGO, N.D. - North Dakota State will make it's first-ever trip to the Gopher Indoor Classic as the Bison are set for five games over three days inside U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.

The Bison open up with Idaho State and host Minnesota on Friday, before facing Drake on Saturday. NDSU will then take in Idaho State and Drake again on Sunday to close out the weekend.

Game Coverage
All games from the Gopher Indoor Classic will be streamed on Big Ten Network +. The games will also 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 3-1 weekend at the Blues City Classic, as the bats came alive to score 33 runs in four games. After the first game against Drake was canceled due to weather, the Bison fell in the opener late to Texas-San Antonio 3-2. The next day, NDSU totaled 24 runs in a 9-1 victory over SIU-Edwardsville before a smashing 15-4 victory over host Memphis. The Bison hit six home runs on the day, including four against Memphis. NDSU closed out the weekend by avenging the first game loss to Texas-San Antonio, defeating the Roadrunners 7-4.

Summit League Peak Performers
Anjolee Aguilar-Beaucage is the latest Bison to be named a Summit League Peak Performer of the Week, picking up her first honor this week after a three-home run weekend at the Blues City Classic, including a pair of home runs in the game against host Memphis. Aguilar-Beaucage is the second Bison to be named a peak performer this season.

Paige Vargas was named the Summit League Softball Peak Pitcher of the Week last week 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 second for Vargas in her career.

The Series (Idaho State)
NDSU faces the Bengals twice this weekend and were slated to meet each other twice more next week before the Idaho State Tournament was canceled. The teams have met just once before, with the Bison walking away 7-4 winners at the New Mexico Invitational in Albuquerque on February 28, 2014.

The Series (Minnesota)
North Dakota State will face Minnesota for the first time since falling 0-3 in the NCAA Minneapolis Regional in May of 2019. It will be the 30th meeting all time, dating back to April of 1978. The Bison are 2-27 against the Gophers, who have won the last eight overall. The last NDSU victory came in April of 2015, when the Bison upset No. 10 Minnesota 5-4 in a doubleheader split.

The Series (Drake)
After their game last week was canceled due to weather, winds and power outages, North Dakota State will take on Drake twice this week at the Gopher Indoor Classic. NDSU and Drake will meet for the 11th and 12th times this week, 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.

Senior Leading by Example
Senior Carley Goetschius has started year two with the Bison on a blistering pace, hitting .407 with six extra-base hits. Goetschius has 22 hits, including four doubles and two home runs along with three walks, reaching base in 44 percent of her plate appearances. Getting on base, along with her performance at the plate, Goetschius has accounted for 22 of NDSU's 65 runs this season. Goetschius set a new career high in hits in a game, going 4-for-4 at the plate against Memphis.

Anj Goes Deep in Career Weekend
Anjolee Aguilar-Beaucage set many personal career highs over the weekend, as she helped fuel an explosive week at the plate for the Bison. With two career home runs coming into the weekend, Aguilar-Beaucage hit three on Saturday, including two in the victory over Memphis. The weekend saw her match or set six new career single game his, with three hits, two home runs, five RBIs and three runs scored all against Memphis leading the way.

Moore Hits Career Highs Against Oregon, Matches at Memphis
Senior catcher Kaylee Moore had a career day against Oregon, 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. The catcher then matched it at Memphis recording three hits and setting a new career high with two runs scored. Moore has set or matched six career single-game highs through the first month of the 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 2.18 era with five wins and two saves in 12 appearances and eight starts. Vargas has limited opponents to .194 at the plate with 59 strikeouts in 57.2 innings. Vargas has a walks and hits per inning pitched ratio of just .99 and pitched a solo shutout 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 110 appearances, 86 career starts, 550.1 innings pitched, and 62 complete games. In 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, now sitting at 442. She is ninth with 5.62 strikeouts per game.

One-Two Punch
Over the first month 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 18 games, the duo has combined for 38 of NDSU's 109 hits on the season. Goetschius is hitting .407 with four doubles and two home runs, and has also reached on three walks, with a .439 on-base percentage. Aguilar-Beaucage is hitting .320 with three doubles and three home runs and a .393 obp. The duo has combined to score 26 of the team's 65 runs and also batted in 23 runs.

Freshman Displaying Patience at the Plate
Ella Claus has started 13 of the last 16 games and played in 15 of 18 overall for the Bison. The freshman has reached base in 9 of her last 11 games as well, posting an on base percentage of .368 on the season. A large portion of that has come with free bases, recording eight on the season. In the five-inning win at Memphis, Claus reached base safely in all three of her plate appearances, doing so all three times via the walk. It's the first three walk performance of the season for the Bison and one shy of the school record.

Two-Homerun Games
North Dakota State players have had two-home run games 3 times in program history, including 23 times in the Division I era. 19 different Bison players have had multi-homerun games, including 11 to do it multiple times. Anjolee Aguilar-Beaucage is the last Bison with a multi-home run game, hitting two at Memphis in early March of 2023. Reanna Rudd, the last Bison with multiple multi-home run games, had two last season, hitting two against Buffalo in February of 2022 at the Lobo Classic, before hitting two against North Dakota in May of 2022.