FARGO, N.D. - North Dakota State softball will wrap up non-conference play this weekend, traveling to Las Vegas, Nevada for a three-game series with UNLV at Eller Media Stadium. The Bison will open with a doubleheader against the Lady Rebels on Saturday, April 6, beginning at 4 p.m. CT. The teams will close the series on Sunday at 2 p.m. CT.
 
Game Coverage
All three games of the series between the Bison and Lady Rebels will be streamed live on The Mountain West Network and will also include live statistics. Links to the streams and stats will be available on the softball schedule page on gobison.com.
 
The Series
North Dakota State has faced UNLV just twice in program history heading into this weekend's three-game series. The Bison claimed the inaugural meeting between the two, winning 1-0 in nine innings at the Long Beach State Invitational on March 8, 2013. In the only other meeting, the Bison fell to the Lady Rebels 3-2, also in nine innings, on February 9, 2018 at the UNLV hosted Sportco Kickoff Classic.
 
Offense Propels Bison to Sweep of St. Thomas
The Bison had a dominant weekend to open up the home schedule, scoring 29 runs in a three-game sweep of St. Thomas. Ella Claus and Chloe Woldruff led the Bison offense, while Addie Bowers tossed a shutout in a 4-0 win in the opener. Emilee Buringa and Anjolee Aguilar-Beaucage had career games, each going 4-for-4 with four runs scored in a 13-4 win in game two. Bella Dean and Claus then homered to lead the Bison to a 12-9 win in the series finale to pick up the sweep.
 
Buringa, Aguilar-Beaucage Match NDSU Division I Era Record In Same Game
Emilee Buringa and Anjolee Aguilar-Beaucage each went 4-for-4 with four runs scored in game two of the series with St. Thomas. The duo recorded a hit and run scored in each inning that NDSU's offense came to the plate. It is tied for the most runs scored in the Division I era and the 11th and 12th times it has been done. Prior to Saturday, the most recent occurrence was by Cameron Maycut at UC Santa Barbara on February 11, 2022.
 
Series Sweeps
The Bison picked up their first series sweep of the season last week against St. Thomas. NDSU had two league sweeps last season at St. Thomas and at Kansas City. Since beginning Summit League play in 2008, NDSU has swept 43 series of at least three games. The Bison have 14 of the sweeps at home and 29 away from Fargo. NDSU has been swept only five times in league play, at Purdue Fort Wayne (2010), at Kansas City (2011), at South Dakota State (2021 & 2023) and at Omaha (2024).
 
The Bison Remain Perfect In Home Openers at Tharaldson
With a 4-0 victory over St. Thomas in the series opener last weekend, the Bison remained perfect in home openers at Tharaldson Park, improving to 5-0 since opening the stadium in the spring of 2019. NDSU is 39-9 overall in home openers and have won the last six and 28 of 30 overall.
 
Shutouts
NDSU recorded their second shutout of the season with Addie Bowers tossing a complete game effort in the series opener against St. Thomas. Bowers and Savy Williams each have one career shutout, while Piper Reed has combined for a pair of shutouts with former Bison pitchers Page Vargas and Lainey Lyle
 
Woldruff Hits Second Home Run In As Many Weeks
Junior outfielder Chloe Woldruff hit her first career home run at Omaha, with a two-run shot against the Mavericks. Woldruff became the fifth different Bison to hit their first home run this season, joining sophomore's Ava Chavarria, Ella Claus and Zoe King, and freshman Jasmyn Yessian. However, it didn't take long for the Lisbon, Iowa native to hit her second, hitting a solo shot in the series opener against St. Thomas.
 
Road Warriors
North Dakota State softball wrapped up a 35-game road swing to begin the season with the home opener last weekend against St. Thomas. The Bison traveled to six different tournaments/invitationals in four different states, along with three midweek non-conference games. The non-conference swing included two 10+ day trips to North Carolina and California. Last year, after moving the first home series due to snow, the Bison played 42 games away from home before their first pitch at Tharaldson Park on April 29.
 
Buringa On Iron Woman Run
Senior Emilee Buringa made her 160th start for the Bison last weekend and continues her run of consecutive games started, up to 142-straight games. Buringa has started every game for the Bison in the '22, '23 and now '24 seasons. Buringa has played in 171 career games for the Bison, with 160 starts.
 
Dean Back to Top of the League
With her seventh home run of the season and first in league action in the St. Thomas series, Bella Dean moved into a tie at the top of the Summit League in total home runs on the year. Last season, Dean led the league with nine home runs as a freshman, including seven in league play.
 
Aguilar-Beaucage Extends Reached Base Streak
Anjolee Aguilar-Beaucage extended her reached base streak to 13-straight games after reaching in all three games against St. Thomas. Her career best is a 14-game run last season. During the run, the senior has 14 hits, 10 runs scored and five RBI. She has five extra-base hits and four walks over the span and has seen her average climb from .227 to .273.
 
Bowers Fans Seven, Tosses First Career Shutout
Addie Bowers recorded her first career shutout in the home opener, leading the Bison to a 4-0 victory over St. Thomas. Bowers scattered five hits and also tossed a career high seven strikeouts in the victory.
 
Claus Records Career High 5 RBI
Ella Claus is coming off of a seven-RBI series against St. Thomas. Claus recorded a two-RBI double to put the Bison in front in a 4-0 win in game one. She then hit a three-run home run and had a two-RBI single in the 12-9 win in the finale. Five RBIs in a game is the most for the Bison this season and the most overall since Cameryn Maykut had six in a 15-9 win for the Bison against Utah State on February 13, 2022.
 
Buringa Leads League in Stolen Bases
Senior Emilee Buringa has 12 stolen bases so far this season, going 12-for-13 overall. Buringa's 12 stolen bases not only leads the Bison, but also leads the Summit League by two heading into the weekend. She swiped her 30th career bag in the series against St. Thomas.
 
Dean, Rudd Record First Career Triples
Both Bella Dean and Reanna Rudd hit their first career triples on Saturday against St. Thomas. Dean tripled in game one of the doubleheader, while Rudd recorded hers, and then scored on an error, in game two. Five different Bison have recorded a triple this season, including a first career hit on a triple from Macy Fry earlier this season.
 
Home Run Numbers Up from '23
The Bison have hit 24 home runs this season. Nine different Bison have at least one home run, with six Bison hitting multiple home runs this season. Last season, the Bison hit a total of 29 home runs, 13 in non-conference and 16 in league play. NDSU has 19 in non-conference so far this season and have five in league play with four league series remaining.
 
Speedy Bison Swiping Bags
North Dakota State has been aggressive on the base paths over the opening two months of the season, stealing 36 bags already after just 37 last season. NDSU's 36 stolen bases leads in the Summit League, while 36-for-44 (.818) overall is up considerably from a 37-for-53 (.698) campaign last year.