FARGO, N.D. – North Dakota State (26-20, 8-7 Summit League) softball is set wrap up the regular season this weekend, as the Bison close out the home schedule with a three-game series against Summit League newcomers St. Thomas (13-34, 7-11 Summit League) at Tharaldson Park. The Bison will host North Dakota’s largest softball tailgate party, as well as senior day on Saturday in the home finale for 2022.
WEEKEND SCHEDULE:
Game 1 | Friday, May 6 | 12 p.m.
Game 2 | Friday, May 6 | 2 p.m.
Game 3 | Saturday, May 7 | 11 a.m.
THE SERIES: While St. Thomas is new to the Summit League and NCAA Division I, the Bison softball program does have a history with the Tommies prior to NDSU’s move to Division I, as the two teams met twice in the 1990s in invitational play. The teams each picked up a victory, sharing a 1-1 split in the all-time series.
St. Thomas made the trip to Fargo in April of 1992, defeating the Bison 8-7 in a nine-inning thriller at the NDSU Invitational. The two teams met again in March of 1996, as the Bison avenged the loss with an 8-3 win in a game that was called after six innings at the Augustana Invitational in South Dakota.
RUDD MATCHES SINGLE GAME HR RECORD, AGAIN: Reanna Rudd hit her seventh and eighth home runs of the season in back-to-back plate appearances against North Dakota on Sunday in the first game of the doubleheader. It is the second time Rudd has hit two home runs in the same game this season, and the 31st time it has been done by a Bison in program history (22 times in the Division 1 era).
Rudd hit her second and third home runs of the season against Buffalo in New Mexico, also in back-to-back plate appearances. Rudd became the 18th different Bison to hit two homers in a game earlier this year and with her two against UND, she became the 11th Bison to do it multiple times.
VARGAS IN TOP 10 FOR SEVERAL BISON CAREER CATEGORIES: Pitcher Paige Vargas moved into the top 10 in career appearances in the circle two weeks ago, as she has made 93 appearances. Vargas has been cracking the top 10 in career numbers in several categories this season, including strikeouts for the Bison earlier this season. She currently sits 10th at 362, which is also sixth in D1 history, and is just two strikeouts from reaching Sara Bosch (1996-98) at 364 for ninth overall. Vargas is averaging 5.46 strikeouts per seven innings, which also ranks 10th in Bison history.
GOING GOING GONE: In the NDSU first game against North Dakota, the Bison hit at least four home runs in a game for just the 11th time in program history. Skylar Padgett started off the slugging with a grand slam in the second inning. Reanna Rudd would add a two-run home run in the third, before a solo shot from Avery Wysong in the fourth and a solo shot from Rudd in the fifth. The four homers is tied for the most in the Division I era and is second all time, behind only one five home run game against St. Cloud State in 2000.
GIVE ME TWO: North Dakota State has recorded 89 doubles this season, which already ranks six in program history for doubles in a season after just 46 games, averaging 1.935 doubles per game. 89 doubles is also second in the Div. 1 era for NDSU, only behind 97 doubles in 2015. The program record is 156 in 80 games in 1998, averaging 1.950 over the season.
NOTABLE NCAA AND SUMMIT LEAGUE RANKINGS: The Bison lead the Summit League in three major statistical categories offensively, including in doubles with 89 on the year, which is also third in the NCAA and just three off the national lead. NDSU’s 1.935 doubles per game is tops in the NCAA. The Bison also lead the league in fewest double plays on the year, having grounded in to just five all season.
Overall, the Bison rank in the top three in the league in nearly every major offensive categories. NDSU is second in extra base hits (122), second in RBIs (237), runs per game (5.52), walks (142), hit by pitches (22), and sacrifice flies (14). Defensively, the Bison are second in the league in strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.23).
Individually, Cameryn Maykut and Avery Wysong lead the league in doubles with 13 each, while Dez Cardenas and Molly Gates are tied for third in the league with 12 doubles each. Maykut ranks 29th in the NCAA in RBIs (48) and 38th in RBIs per game (1.04), both of which also sit atop the league. Emilee Buringa and Molly Gates are second and fourth in the league with .91 and .88 runs per game.
VICTORY MILESTONES: North Dakota State picked up victory No. 200 in league games in the Summit League era with the victory over Western Illinois three weeks ago. The Bison also picked up win 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 another milestone victory 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 696.
MAYKUT IN NDSU TOP 10 FOR PUTOUTS: Senior Cameryn Maykut moved into the top 10 for career putouts against Kansas City earlier this season. Maykut currently sits at 688, 10th all time for the Bison.
SHUTOUTS: Paige Vargas and Mac Schulz teamed up for their second combined shutout of the season in the Bison’s series opening win against Western Illinois. Vargas and Schulz 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 and she picked up her third complete game shut of the season against Kansas City, as the senior struck out seven and allowed just three hits in a 1-0 victory in the home opener in Fargo. The Bison, who now have six shutouts on the season, had just three shutouts in all of 2021.
LIFE ON THE ROAD: In early April the Bison wrapped up a stretch of playing the first eight weekends on the road or at neutral sites to begin the 2022 season, including the first two Summit League weekends. North Dakota State played 37 games (originally scheduled to play 38) away from home, wrapping up with a visit to Omaha. During the non-conference portion of the schedule, the Bison flew over 15,000 miles between the six weekend invitational events, playing in the pacific time zone three times, eastern time zone twice and mountain time zone once.
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.
*Ben Dishong, NDSU Athletics