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NDSU softball closes regular season at SDSU Friday and Saturday

North Dakota State (16-24, 11-8 Summit) closes out the softball regular season this Friday and Saturday with a four-game series at Summit League champion South Dakota State (34-5, 17-1 Summit). Doubleheaders begin at 12 p.m. both days at Jackrabbit Softball Stadium in Brookings, South Dakota.

NDSU has a 76-46 lead in the all-time series with SDSU since 1976. The Bison won four of five meetings during the 2019 season including a pair of home wins in the Summit League tournament. NDSU has won eight straight at Jackrabbit Softball Stadium, but the Bison have not played in Brookings since the 2016 season.

Meanwhile, the Jackrabbits are 34-5 overall and have already won the Summit League regular season championship with a 17-1 record to earn the No. 1 seed for next week’s Summit League tournament in Fargo. SDSU leads the league in hitting (.333), pitching (2.00) and fielding (.976). The Jackrabbits have five players hitting .360 or better led by Emma Osmundson (.419) and Jocelyn Carillo (.414) while Cylie Halvorson is third in the league (.362) with a league-high 15 home runs and 48 RBIs.

Last week, North Dakota State won three of four at home against North Dakota. Lainey Lyle pitched all 11 innings for a 3-2 win in the series opener and Paige Vargas went all seven innings with a career-high 10 strikeouts in a 5-3 win to complete Saturday’s doubleheader sweep. Vargas had 15 strikeouts and allowed just two walks in 13 innings of work. Avery Wysong led the Bison with a .385 batting average and hit safely in all four games including a game-tying home run over the center field scoreboard in Saturday’s 5-3 win. North Dakota State is second in The Summit League with a .306 team batting average in league play.

Overall, Emilee Buringa leads the Bison with a .357 batting average and Madyson Camacho is second with a .345 average and 39 hits. Stephanie Soriano (.339) has a team-high 40 hits and eight doubles. Wysong (.290) has a team-best .570 slugging percentage, six home runs and 25 RBIs. Lyle has a team-low 2.97 ERA and has pitched five complete games with four wins in her last five starts. As for Vargas, she leads the Bison pitching staff with nine wins, 11 complete games in 15 starts, 83.1 innings and 63 strikeouts.

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