NDSU Softball Heads to Wisconsin, South Dakota State

FARGO, N.D. – North Dakota State softball heads on the road this week with a non-conference series at Wisconsin on Wednesday before a three-game Summit League series at South Dakota State on Friday and Saturday.
 
The Bison will face the Badgers in Madison, with the doubleheader set for 3 p.m. Wednesday evening. The Bison will then face the Jackrabbits in Brookings with a doubleheader on Friday beginning at 2 p.m. before the final game of the series Saturday at 11 a.m.
 
Game Coverage
Wednesday’s doubleheader will be streamed live on BIG+. All three games of the series between the Bison and Jackrabbits will be streamed live on The Summit League Network. A subscription to BIG+ and the Summit League Network will be needed to view the games. All games will also include live statistics. Links to the streams and stats will be available on the softball schedule page on gobison.com.
 
Series History – Wisconsin
The Bison have met Wisconsin eight times in series history, playing twice a season each year from 2005 to 2008 when NDSU made the jump to Division I. NDSU and Wisconsin are tied in the series 4-4, with NDSU winning the last two meetings at the Missou Classic in 2008. The other six games have been played in Madison, with NDSU going 2-4 at Wisconsin.
 
Series History – South Dakota State
North Dakota State and South Dakota State have met 136 times in series history heading into the weekend, the most played series for the Bison program. NDSU leads the series 76-60, including a 44-22 record in the Division I era. However, South Dakota State has won 14 straight games in the series, with the Bison having been held winless since prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
 
Hanta, Bison Lead League In Stolen Bases
Freshman Amai Hanta has entered league play with a splash, swiping seven bases in the series at Kansas City and four against North Dakota. She has 19 stolen bases on the year, which also ranks 54th nationally. Her stolen base percentage of .950 ranks ninth nationally. NDSU has recorded 39 stolen bases (in 46 attempts) this season, which also leads the league lead. The Bison closed out last season with 44 stolen bases, .815 per game. NDSU is averaging 1.03 stolen bases per game this season.
 
Tough Outs
The Bison lead the Summit League in fewest strikeouts at the plate this season. NDSU has just 124 strikeouts in 1078 total plate appearances, striking out just 11.5 percent of the time. The league average is 15 percent and South Dakota State is the second closest at 155, striking out 12 percent of the time. Zoe King also leads the Bison and the Summit League in Toughest to Strikeout Ratio, at one per 36.7 trips to the plate, which also ranks 20th nationally.
 
Turning Two
North Dakota State leads the Summit League and ranks 19th nationally this season with 21 double plays turned by the defense, including nine in the three Summit League series so far. NDSU’s .55 double plays turned per game also ranks eighth nationally. The Bison turned just 16 double plays last season. 21 double plays turned by the Bison defense is second most in NDSU history. The school record is 28 in 2009.
 
Extra Innings

With the 5-3 loss against North Dakota in eight innings on April 13, NDSU fell to 1-2 in extra-inning games this season. NDSU recorded an 8-6 win in nine innings over Iowa State on March 14 and fell 4-3 to East Texas A&M in eight innings on February 22 in the other games to go to extras. NDSU was 4-2 in extra-inning games last year. Five games ended in the eighth inning and one went to the ninth. NDSU is 47-39 all-time in extras in the DI era.