Bison Softball Opens With Wichita State at Arizona State's Wilson/DeMarini Invitational

complete release attached

North Dakota State (9-6) is scheduled to compete at Arizona State University's Wilson/DeMarini Invitational in Tempe on March 2-4 ... The host Sun Devils are ranked 5th nationally ... ASU is the defending NCAA national champion ... The Bison open against Wichita State (4-5) at 3 p.m. Central on Friday, March 2 ... North Dakota State is scheduled to play its first 35 games on the road including five tournaments ... The Bison will play teams from 20 different conferences including the Mid-Eastern Athletic, Missouri Valley, Mountain West and PAC 12 this weekend ... There are 13 first-time opponents on the Bison schedule including Boise State and Howard.

Arizona State Wilson/DeMarini Invitational
Farrington Stadium, Tempe, Ariz.
(All Times Central)
Friday, March 2
10 a.m.    Wichita State (4-5) vs. Howard (1-5)
12:30 p.m. Boise State (9-6) vs. Howard
3 p.m.    Wichita State vs. North Dakota State (9-6)
6 p.m.    #5 Arizona State vs. North Dakota State
8 p.m.    #5 Arizona State vs. Boise State
Saturday, March 3
10 a.m.     North Dakota State vs. Creighton (7-3)
Noon    Wichita State vs. Howard
2 p.m.    Boise State vs. Creighton
4:30    p.m.    Boise State vs. North Dakota State
6:30 p.m.    #5 Arizona State vs. Wichita State
8:30 p.m.    #5 Arizona State vs. Howard
Sunday, March 4
10 a.m.    Wichita State vs. Boise State
Noon    Howard vs. North Dakota State
2 p.m.    Howard vs. Creighton
4 p.m.    #5 Arizona State vs. Creighton

Ticket Information
For more information about tickets, contact the ASU Sun Devil Ticket Office at (480) 727-0000; email sundeviltickets@asu.edu; or visit TheSunDevils.com/tickets/asu-softbl-tix.html

The Series
This will be North Dakota State's first meeting with Boise State and Howard ... North Dakota State trails 1-0 in the series with Wichita State ... The Shockers are 4-5 and members of the Missouri Valley ... WSU is hitting .248, averaging 3.56 runs per game, fielding at .938 and have a 6.55 earned run average ... NDSU is 12-22 against current members of the Missouri Valley ... Members of the PAC 12, 5th-ranked Arizona State leads the series 3-0 ... The Sun Devils are 14-2, hitting .349, averaging 8.25 runs per game, fielding at .985 and have an 1.35 ERA ... NDSU is 2-15 against current members of the PAC 12 ... Members of Missouri Valley, Creighton leads the series 7-3 ... The Bluejays are 7-3 and hitting .322, averaging 7.2 runs per game, fielding at .965 and have a 2.79 ERA ... Boise State is a member of the Mountain West and is 9-6 overall ... The Broncos are hitting .283, averaging 3.87 runs per game, fielding at .969 and have a 2.41 ERA ... NDSU is 2-7 against current members of Mountain West ... Members of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, Howard University is 1-5 overall ... The Lady Bison are hitting .224, averaging 3 runs per game, fielding at .909, and have a 6.51 ERA ... The is NDSU's first meeting with a school from the MEAC.

Quickly Around The Horn
Designated player Cristina Borek has an eight-game hitting streak ... Infielder Brandi Enriquez is hitting .281 and has nine hits, she had only seven in 2011 ... Outfielder Taylor Mortensen and pitcher Whitney Johnson were named to the Easton Bama Bash all-tournament team ... Mortensen hit .375 (6-16) with two home runs, a pair of doubles, three runs scored and five RBI ... Mortensen led off the Alabama (2-25-12) and East Carolina (2-26-12) games with a home run ... Johnson compileda 1.57 ERA with one shutout, 26 strikeouts and 12 walks in 22.1 innings pitched ... With the 9-8 eight-inning win over East Carolina on Feb. 26, the Bison improved to 2-0 this season and 35-22 in extra innings under head coach Darren Mueller since 2002 ... North Dakota State is 48-43 overall in extra innings overall ... Whitney Johnson recorded a career-high with 19 strikeouts in the 3-1 win over Toledo (2-9-12) ... Lindsey Graham set the previous record with 16 vs. Oklahoma City (3-8-03) ... Johnson has five double-figure strikeout games this season and 23 in her career ... Johnson has two shutouts this season and has 22 in her career ... Johnson has a pair of one-hitters this season and 15 in her career ... With 648 career strikeouts, Johnson is one of NDSU four pitchers to record over 600 ... Collectively, the Bison are hitting .246 with a 1.59 earned run average and is fielding at .963 ... NDSU opponents are hitting .163 with a 2.08 ERA and fielding at .957 ... The Bison are averaging 4.13 runs scored per game, while opponents are averaging 2.87 ... The big inning has been the third and fifth for North Dakota State with 15 runs scored ... The Bison are 9-2 at neutral sites this season.