NDSU Softball Starts California Trip with Silicon Valley Classic

Friday, March 8

Santa Clara, Calif.

5 p.m.

North Dakota State

Santa Clara

Photo by: Rick Claus

NDSU Softball Starts California Trip with Silicon Valley Classic

3/6/2024 11:18:00 AM | Softball

NDSU Notes

FARGO, N.D. - North Dakota State softball opens up a 10-game, 10-day trip to California with a stop in the bay area for the Silicon Valley Classic hosted by Santa Clara and San José State. The Bison will begin the weekend with a doubleheader at Santa Clara on Friday, before playing San José State twice and Loyola Marymount once over the weekend at San José State.

Game Coverage
Friday's games against Santa Clara will be streamed on ESPN+. A subscription to ESPN+ will be needed to view the games. Saturday's game against San José State will be streamed on the Mountain West Network. All five games will also include live statistics. Links to the streams and stats will be available on the softball schedule page on gobison.com.

California, the Second Home of the Bison
The Bison make their return to the Golden State, having played in 111 games in California since the first trip in 2006. It is the second most in the Div. I era, behind only North Dakota (139 in regular season, 173 total). In the 15 years NDSU has made a trip to California, the Bison average 7.4 games per season in the state. NDSU averages 7.72 regular season games at home in the span and 9.61 overall. The Bison roster is also full of California natives, with nine of the 19 current players calling California home before coming to Fargo. The Bison hold a 61-50 record in the state all-time. NDSU is also very familiar with the Bay Area, holding a 24-17 record in 41 games and a 5-0 record in nearby Stockton, where NDSU will visit during the midweek.

The Series (Santa Clara)
NDSU will face Santa Clara twice this weekend, meeting for the fourth and fifth times in series history. Santa Clara holds the advantage in the series, winning both games in a doubleheader (4-3; 8, 2-0) in Santa Clara on March 14, 2006, but the Bison picked up the win in their most recent meeting, a 9-1 victory in five innings at the Seattle Redhawk Invitational on April 6, 2019.

The Series (San José State)
The Bison are also slated to play San José State twice this weekend, renewing a series that hasn't been played since 2008. The Bison hold a 3-1 lead in the series. The two teams split a doubleheader (W 4-1, L 0-2) on March 15, 2006, but NDSU would claim both games in a doubleheader (7-0, 3-1) on March 4, 2008, the last time the two programs met. All four meetings have been at San José State.

The Series (Loyola Marymount)
NDSU faces Loyola Marymount for the fourth time in series history on Saturday. The Bison lead the series 2-1, including a 1-0 win in the last meeting on March 15, 2018 at LMU. The Bison won 5-0 in the first meeting on March 13, 2013 at LMU, but the Lions claimed the only neutral-site game, winning 5-2 at the Cal State Fullerton Easton Invitational on February 10, 2017.

Peak Performer Sweep
Sophomore infielder Bella Dean and freshman pitcher Madison Wihlm swept the Summit League TicketSmarter Peak Performer and Pitcher of the Week honors, respectively, this week after dominating weekends in Nashville at the Purple/Gold Challenge. Dean hit four home runs with 11 RBI and five runs scored. Wihlm posted a 2-0 record with a 0.56 era, allowing just four hits with nine strikeouts. It was Dean's second honor of the season and the first NDSU sweep of the awards since March of last season.

Multi-Home Run Games
Bella Dean became the first Bison with a multi-home run game this season, recording a pair against Georgetown in Nashville at the Purple/Gold Challenge. Dean is the 20th Bison to have a multi-home run game. Multi-home run games have happened 32 times overall, including 24 times in Division I. Reanna Rudd is the latest of 11 different Bison to have multiple multi-home run games, having done it in a pair of games in 2022.

Extra Innings
The Bison are 2-1 in extra-inning games this season, including a 4-3 win over Georgetown last weekend. All three games that have gone to extras this season have ended in the eighth inning. NDSU has a 44-37 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.

Program Win 1250
With North Dakota State's 3-1 win over UConn in North Carolina, the Bison picked up win 1250 all-time in the program's history. NDSU has 613 wins in the Division I era and 740 wins in Darren Mueller's tenure as head coach of the Bison.

Home Run Numbers Up from '23
Through the first four weeks of the season, the Bison have hit 17 home runs, led by Bella Dean with six. Anjolee Aguilar-Beaucage has three and three other Bison have a pair of home runs. In total, seven Bison have hit homers. Through the opening four weeks of the season last year, NDSU had just 10 home runs, before finishing with 29. NDSU's .77 home runs per game leads the Summit League. Dean also leads the Summit League with six and ranks 33rd nationally.

Yessian Throwing Out Baserunners
Freshman Jasmyn Yessian has caught four base runners attempting to steal so far this season, which ranks third in the Summit League and 65th overall nationally.

Rudd Proving to be Tough Out
Senior Reanna Rudd is off to a strong start to the '24 campaign, pacing the Bison as she is hitting .351 with a .441 on-base percentage. Rudd already has two home runs, matching all of the '23 season. But Rudd has also been good at putting the ball in play with just two strikeouts in 57 official at bats, which ranks at the top of the Summit League and 49th nationally.

Speedy Bison Swiping Bags
North Dakota State has been aggressive on the base paths over the opening few weeks, stealing 21 bags already, compared to 11 through 22 games last season. 21 stolen bases leads in the Summit League, while 21-for-28 (.750) overall is up from a 37-for-53 (.698) campaign last year.

Buringa Surpasses 125 Consecutive Starts
Senior Emilee Buringa made her 150th appearance for the Bison earlier this season and continues her run of consecutive games started, entering the weekend having started in 126-straight games in center field, starting every game for the Bison in the '22, '23 and now the '24 season. Buringa has played in 155 career games for the Bison, with 144 starts.