FARGO, N.D. – North Dakota State (18-13) will open up The Summit League schedule for the 2022 season as the Bison make the trip south of the border to Vermillion, South Dakota to take on the South Dakota Coyotes in a three-game series at Nygaard Field.
THE SERIES: North Dakota State and the University of South Dakota have met on the softball time 92 times heading into this weekend’s Summit League opener. Currently the fourth most played series for the Bison, the series will move into third with the third game, surpassing NDSU’s series with St. Cloud State (94).
NDSU holds a 65-27 record against the Coyotes, dating back to the first-ever match up on April 11, 1981. Since South Dakota joined the Summit League in 2012, the Bison hold a 29-6 record against the Coyotes. The Bison are 28-14 against South Dakota in Vermillion all-time.
DOMINANCE VS THE YOTES IN VERMILLION: The Bison hold a perfect 14-0 record against USD in Vermillion in the Summit League era, which has featured three-game series sweeps in 2012, 2014, 2018, and 2019. North Dakota State currently holds a 25-game win streak over the Coyotes in Vermillion, dating back to a 3-0 win at the Dakota Dome Invitational on March 24, 1996.
LAST TIME VS SOUTH DAKOTA: The Bison met South Dakota last season in the home opening series for NDSU, as they welcomed in the Coyotes for a four-game series and won the series 3-1. NDSU opened the series with wins of 6-5 and 3-0 on Saturday, April 10 before a 3-1 win on Sunday to claim the series. However, the Coyotes avoided the sweep with a 6-5 win in the Sunday finale to close the series.
In the 3-0 win on Saturday, Lainey Lyle tossed a no-hitter, striking out seven and allowing just two walks. Paige Vargas picked up the other two wins and also had the loss in the final game. In one start and two relief appearances, she finished with a 2.17 era in 9.2 innings of work.
In two games in the USD series, Cameryn Maykut hit .500 with an on-base percentage of .667. She was 2-for-4 with two walks and a home run. Avery Wysong played every game against the Coyotes, hitting .385 with a home run, three RBIs and two runs.
EXTRA BASES: The Bison are 20th in the NCAA in total extra-base hits (84) on the season, which is 13 more than the next closest Summit League program of South Dakota State (71). North Dakota State has 64 doubles, four triples and 16 home runs. The 84 extra-base hits in 31 games this season has already surpassed last season’s total of 82 in 45 games. In comparison, Summit League programs St. Thomas, North Dakota and Western Illinois have a combined total of 84 extra-base hits this season in 79 games.
GIVE ME TWO: North Dakota State leads the NCAA in doubles, recording 64 doubles on the year in 31 games. Notre Dame (57) and Texas (56) are the next closest to the Bison. Individually, Avery Wysong has 11 doubles on the season, which is fifth in the nation and just three behind the national lead. Cameryn Maykut and Dez Cardenas are tied for 14th in the NCAA, just one behind Wysong with 10 each.
OTHER NOTABLE NCAA AND SUMMIT LEAGUE RANKINGS: Aside from leading the NCAA in doubles, NDSU leads the Summit League and also ranks 13th in the NCAA in hits (243), 15th in RBIs (172), 18th in runs (182), 18th in sacrifice flies (11), 33rd in walks (97), 36th in total bases (363), and 38th in scoring (5.87).
Individually, Avery Wysong leads the Summit League and ranks fifth nationally with 11 doubles. Cameryn Maykut ranks 6th in the NCAA in RBIs (37) and 19th in RBIs per game (1.19), both of which also sit atop the league. Dez Cardenas leads the league and ranks 53rd in the nation in hits with 35 on the campaign. Molly Gates leads the league and ranks 65th overall, averaging .96 runs per game. Emilee Buringa is tied for the league lead in total bases with 52.
In the circle, Paige Vargas leads the league and ranks 18th in the NCAA in innings pitched (94.2), 29th in victories (10) and 51st in strikeout-to-walk ratio (5.44).
VARGAS, SCHULZ PICK UP RECENT SHUTOUTS: Paige Vargas and Mac Schultz have each contributed to shutouts this season. In Georgia, Vargas tossed a five-inning shutout against UT Martin before Schulz went 5.2 innings and Vargas recorded the final four outs in the finale at Georgia Southern. It was the first combined shutout since 2019. Schulz then tossed a five-inning shutout in a win over Portland State in Oregon. In the game against Virginia, Vargas tossed the fourth shutout of the season for NDSU. The Bison had just three shutouts in all of 2021.
VICTORY MILESTONES: North Dakota State picked up victory No. 1200 in the program’s history with a 3-2 win over Maryland at the Capital City Classic on March 18. The Bison are also approaching other milestone victories in the 2022 season. NDSU is averaging over 34 wins a year in the Division I era, which could also see Bison head coach Darren Mueller reach the 700-win milestone. He entered 2022 at 670 and currently sits at 688. The Bison are also just seven wins in Summit League play away from 200. NDSU began league play in 2008, and are averaging nearly 15 league wins in the 13 seasons when league play was competed.
BURINGA GETTING ON, SCORING RUNS: Center fielder Emilee Buringa has been dominant at the plate as of late, currently riding an 8-game hit streak in which she has gone 10-for-26 (.385) at the plate with five walks (.484 on-base percentage). Not only is Buringa getting on base at nearly a 50 percent rate, the sophomore is converting it to runs as she has scored eight times in the eight-game streak, a conversion rate of over 50 percent of the times she is on base. Buringa has scored in five-consecutive games entering the series.
WOLDRUFF HAS CAREER WEEKEND: Freshman utility player Chloe Woldruff had a big weekend for the Bison in Maryland, leading the team at the plate, hitting .545. She recorded a pair of three-hit performances, including a two-double game against Army West Point. Woldruff had a run scored, as well as an RBI and was perfect in the field with one putout and seven assists. Woldruff has contributed in three places for the Bison this season, playing in left field, at third base and in the designated player role.
VARGAS CRACKS TOP 10: Pitcher Paige Vargas has moved into the top 10 in career strikeouts for the Bison with 329. Her 5.54 strikeouts per 7 innings also ranks 10th in Bison history.
MAYKUT ON PACE FOR HISTORIC SEASON: Senior Cameryn Maykut has drove in 37 RBIs through 31 games this season. The impressive start is currently sixth in the NCAA. Her 37 RBIs are currently more than 20 teams have totaled this season including Western Illinois (34). Maykut is on pace to have 62 RBIs during the regular season, which would be a new Div. 1 era record for the Bison, surpassing 59 by Melissa Chmielewski in 2010.
LIFE ON THE ROAD: The Bison are in the midst of playing the first eight weekends on the road or at neutral sites to begin the 2022 season, including the first two conference series. North Dakota State is slated to play 37 games (originally scheduled to play 38) away from home before opening up the home schedule on April 9 with a Summit League doubleheader against Kansas City.
During the non-conference portion of the schedule, the Bison are slated to fly over 15,000 miles between the six weekend invitationals, playing in the pacific time zone three times, eastern time zone twice and mountain time zone once.
FANTASTIC FEBRUARY: The Bison had one of the best months of February in the program’s 18th seasons in Division I, flipping the script from the 2021 campaign. NDSU was 10-4 this February after going 4-10 the season prior. The .714 win percentage was the fourth best in the D1 era, behind only the 2008 (.800), 2015 (.786) and 2007 (.750) seasons. It is NDSU’s best February in the last seven seasons.
RUDD MATCHES SINGLE GAME HR RECORD: Reanna Rudd hit her second and third home runs of the season against Buffalo in New Mexico in back-to-back plate appearances. Rudd became the 18th different Bison to hit two homers in a game. It has been done 30 times overall by a Bison, including 21 times in the Division 1 era.
LICEA REACHES BASE 10-STRAIGHT PLATE APPEARANCES: Senior infielder Nicole Licea hit a new milestone in Albuquerque, as the Corona, California native reached base safely in 10-straight plate appearances over three games. Licea had five hits, four walks and a hit by pitch during the span. She also drove in two runs and scored four more as a result of reaching safely in 10-straight at bats.
BURINGA SNAGS FIRST SUMMIT LEAGUE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Emilee Buringa was named the Summit League Softball Player of the Week on February 21. Buringa hit .636 (7-for-11), with a home run, a double, seven RBIs, and five runs scored. Buringa is the only Bison to earn Summit League softball honors this season and the first Bison to earn player of the week honors since Maddie Hansen won on April 8, 2019.
GOING GOING GONE: In the NDSU’s win against Utah State to close out the opening weekend, the Bison hit three home runs, the most in a game since April 27, 2019 when NDSU had three against Omaha. The first was a grand slam from senior Cameryn Maykut in the second inning. Then in the sixth, Reanna Rudd and Emilee Buringa each hit their first collegiate home run.
GATES HIT TOP 5 WITH 14-GAME HIT STREAK: Gates recorded a 14-game hit streak to begin the season, which tied for the fifth longest hitting streak in NDSU’s Division 1 era and the longest streak for an NDSU player to begin the season. The 14-game streak by the sophomore also tied the longest by a non-senior Bison, matching a 14-game streak by Logan Moreland as a junior in 2015.
BISON PICKED RUNNERS UP IN SUMMIT: North Dakota State was picked to finish in a tie as the runners up in The Summit League in 2022 in a preseason poll of the league’s eight head coaches. The Bison have won two of the last three regular season crowns and six of the last seven league tournament titles. NDSU had one first-place vote and finished tied for second on 38 points with Kansas City. South Dakota State was a unanimous first-place selection. Omaha, South Dakota, North Dakota, Western Illinois and St. Thomas rounded out the poll.
PLAYERS TO WATCH: North Dakota State junior right-handed pitcher Lainey Lyle and senior catcher Avery Wysong were among the Summit League preseason players to watch. Lyle, a 2021 All-Summit League Second Team selection, made 14 appearances last season with a 3.18 ERA. The Middleton, Idaho native tossed a no hitter against South Dakota and recorded six wins in 19.1 innings pitched. Wysong, also a 2021 All-Summit League Second Team selection, started 39 games last year, hitting .278 with a team high eight doubles and eight home runs. She also led the Bison with 27 RBIs.
WHO’S BACK: North Dakota State returns 14 of 21 players from last season, including eight of the 12 regular starters from a squad that finished third in the Summit League regular season. The Bison return four of their top seven bats from last season, including sophomore Emilee Buringa, who led the team with a .348 batting average. Senior Avery Wysong, who led the Bison in doubles, home runs, RBIs, and slugging percentage, also returns and provides consistency behind the plate for an experienced pitching staff that includes the return of Lainey Lyle (3.18 era, 79.1 IP) and Paige Vargas (3.84 era, 100.1 IP), who have run the circle a majority of the 2020 and 2021 seasons.
NEW FACES: NDSU welcomed four new comers to the team this season, including three true freshman and a transfer. Carley Goetschius, originally from Sioux Falls, S.D., transferred to the Bison from Northern Illinois. Goetschius played three seasons with NIU and enters 2022 with a .282 career batting average with seven doubles and nine home runs. Faith Daehlin, from Lakeville, Minn., and Chloe Woldruff, from Lispon, Iowa, join the Bison as freshman and will contribute in the field and at the plate. Savy Williams, from McKinney, Texas, is the final freshman and joins the pitching staff.
GRABLE, KOEHN JOIN STAFF: North Dakota State added two new staff members heading into this season with Kayti Grable joining the staff as an assistant coach and former Bison Sam Koehn as a graduate assistant. Grable joins the Bison after her most recent stop as an assistant coach with Valparaiso, where she spent three seasons. Koehn remains in Fargo and joins the staff after wrapping up her three-year career with the Bison, starting 122 of 123 games played at third base.
EXTRA INNINGS: NDSU is 1-2 in extra innings this season and the Bison have a 42-33 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.
GRAND SLAMS: The Bison have hit 13 grand slams in the Division I era, including one Cameryn Maykut against Utah State earlier this season. Fellow current Bison Avery Wysong hit a grand slam last season at Kansas City. Former Bison Melissa Chmielewski holds the lead for NDSU with four grand slams from 2007-10. Maritza Lopez-Portillo and Vanessa Anderson are the only other Bison with multiple grand slams in their career. NDSU has just one grand slam at home, Alyssa Reina against Fort Wayne on April 9, 2016. The Bison have three on the road and nine in neutral site games.
WIN STREAKS: The Bison have strung together win streaks of at least five games on 36 occasions since beginning Division I play in 2005, including twice this season. North Dakota State had a 20-game win streak during the 2019 season that stands as the program’s division I era record. NDSU has reached 10-game win streaks six times (2007, 2009, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2019), with the streaks in 2013 (15 games) and 2019 being the longest. Over the program’s history, the Bison have eight win streaks of at least 15 games and four that reached 20, including the program record of 27 wins in April of 2000 when the Bison went on to claim the NCAA DII National Championship.
STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE: North Dakota State historically plays The Summit League’s toughest non-conference schedule in preparation for league play. The Bison have another tough schedule lined up in 2022 that includes six tournaments, three hosted by Power 5 programs, and seven games against NCAA Tournament teams from last season.
NATIONALLY RANKED OPPONENTS: North Dakota State beat at least one nationally ranked opponent in seven straight seasons from 2012 to 2018 with the most recent Top 25 victory coming in 2018 over 10th-ranked LSU by a 1-0 score in nine innings. That is one of five Bison wins over Top 10 opponents including a 2-1 victory at No. 2 Alabama in 2016, the highest-ranked opponent NDSU has beaten. NDSU’s first win over a nationally ranked Division I program came in 2009 with an 11-inning 1-0 victory at No. 9/10 Oklahoma en route to the NCAA regional championship.
NO-HITTERS: North Dakota State pitchers have thrown 31 no-hitters including 14 against Division I opponents with Lainey Lyle’s April 10 no-no last season being the first since 2019 when KK Leddy blanked South Dakota State 5-0. There have been eight perfect games by NDSU pitchers with the last one in 2015 by Krista Menke at Purdue Fort Wayne. There have been six no-hitters pitched against NDSU in Division I play since 2005. Illinois State’s Morgan Day struck out 16 and walked one in the last no-hitter against North Dakota State in the championship game of the Middle Tennessee State University Invitational on March 14, 2021.
SERIES SWEEPS: Since beginning Summit League play in 2008, NDSU has swept 39 three-game series including 26 away from Fargo. The Bison have been swept only three times in league play with all three coming on the road against Purdue Fort Wayne (2010), Kansas City (2011) and South Dakota State (four games, 2021).
FIELD OF THE YEAR: Tharaldson Park, the on-campus home softball stadium for North Dakota State, was named the NCAA Division I winner of the 2020 Netting Professionals NFCA Field of the Year award, which recognizes the top fields/stadiums in the nation for their flawless grounds maintenance and exceptional playing surfaces. Tharaldson Park was dedicated in 2018 after a $2 million renovation including installation of a FieldTurf playing surface and seating for 735 spectators.
TOURNEY TOWN: North Dakota State has hosted the Summit League softball tournament nine times since becoming eligible for the NCAA Division I postseason in 2009. Western Illinois (2009, 2011) and Kansas City (2012) are the only other teams to have hosted the tournament over those 12 seasons. NDSU has won seven of the nine tournaments held in Fargo. Fort Wayne in 2013 and South Dakota State in 2021 are the only teams to have won the tournament in Fargo.
NCAA TOURNAMENT HISTORY: North Dakota State has advanced to NCAA regional play 10 of the past 12 seasons as the Summit League tournament champion. NDSU qualified for its first NCAA Division I tournament in 2009, the school’s first year of Division I postseason eligibility, and the Bison swept through the Norman Regional that year to advance to Super Regional play at Arizona State. NDSU made seven NCAA Division II postseason appearances from 1998-2004 including a national championship in 2000.
*Ben Dishong, NDSU Athletics
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