Friday, April 19
Fort Wayne, Ind.
5 p.m.
Purdue Fort Wayne
vs
North Dakota State
Photo by: Lucas Carter
Softball to Battle Bison for First Place in League Standings
4/18/2013 4:05:00 PM | Softball
FORT WAYNE, Ind. - The remaining two undefeated teams in the Summit League this season square off in Fort Wayne, with an edge on the other for the 2013 Summit League regular season title at stake, as the IPFW Mastodons (23-8, 7-0 Summit League) put their nine-game win streak on the line against the North Dakota State Bison.
Opponent: North Dakota State Bison (19-13, 6-0 Summit League)
When: April 19, 2013, 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. | April 20, 2013, 12 p.m.
Where: Fort Wayne, Ind. | IPFW Softball Field
All-Time Series: North Dakota State leads 14-8
Live Stats: IPFW Live Stats
ABOUT IPFW
IPFW heads into the series with North Dakota State riding a current nine-game winning streak, including three games that have gone extra innings in that span.
In the team's last series, a sweep of Oakland in Rochester, Mich., Ashleigh Bousquet was 4-of-9 at the plate with two home runs and four runs scored, while Kayti Hanson batted .375 with a pair of runs scored. Miranda Kramer picked up three wins in the three games, not allowing a run while striking out 27 in 17.1 innings of work, while Megan Flenniken struck out nine in 7.2 innings, without allowing an earned run.
Currently, Kramer has been the pitcher of record for IPFW in each of the last seven games, improving her record from 9-4 to 16-4 over the span of eight days. Kramer has a 1.64 ERA with 155 strikeouts in 110.2 innings, while opponents bat just .201 against her. Megan Flenniken is 6-4 with a 2.61 ERA, striking out 85 in 85.2 innings this year, as the pair has walked just 18 and 26 batters, respectively.
Offensively the team has five players batting over .300 on the season, led by Larissa Franklin (.411) and Ashleigh Bousquet (.406), each of whom are hitting over .400 on the year. Brittany Kachur (.357), Dani Pugh (.340), and Alex Bousquet (.315) round out the remaining three players hitting over .300. Franklin and Alex Bousquet have each scored 26 times, while Ashleigh Bousquet leads the team in home runs (6), RBI's (31), total bases (69), slugging percentage (.719), and on-base percentage (.513). Franklin and Alex Bousquet each have double-figure steals, led by Franklin's 20, and Bousquet's 12.
ABOUT NORTH DAKOTA STATE
The Bison come into the weekend series having won six straight games, all in Summit League play, and are still waiting for their first true home game of the 2013 season.
In their last series, the Bison swept the Western Illinois Leathernecks, including a 13-1 win in the finale. In that last game, Maritza Lopez-Portillo was a perfect 3-for-3, while Jenina Ortega was 3-for-4. Two others, Logan Moreland and Alex Sobrero each went 2-for-4, as Lopez-Portillo drove in five, and Cheyenne Garcia scored three times. Whitney Johnson went the full five innings, striking out four and scattering three hits, walking one, and allowing one run.
For the season the team is led by Ortega who hits .367, while three others, Moreland (.287), Garcia (.273), and Brandi Enriquez (.271) each bat over .270 on the year. Garcia has scored 21 times to lead the team, while Amanda Grable has hit five home runs, while Lopez-Portillo and Ortega have each hit four, while the latter each have 19 RBI's to lead the team, with Grable and Garcia each driving in 18.
Whitney Johnson has been stellar in the pitching circle for the Bison, with a 14-6 record and a 1.64 ERA. She has struck out 147 in 132.1 innings of work, while walking 56 and eight shutouts. Krista Menke is 4-7 with a 5.02 ERA and 38 strikeouts in 54.1 innings, while Tabby Bayers is 1-0 with a 5.53 ERA and 12 strikeouts in 19 innings of work.
ALL-TIME SERIES
IPFW and North Dakota State have met 22 times in each program's history, with the Bison holding a 14-8 advantage in the series, including going 4-2 last season in six meetings, three of which came in the Summit League Tournament.
QUICK HITTERS
• IPFW has out-scored its opponents 165-to-92 this season, and has struck out 243 batters against just 50 walks
• These two teams met last season in the Summit League Championship game
• Ashleigh Bousquet's 113 career RBI's sit in a tie for 12th in Summit League history with Jentry Jo Johnson of Southern Utah (2001-04), and are a career school record
• North Dakota State pitcher Whitney Johnson is five strikeouts away from breaking the Summit League career mark in the category, currently with 876 strikeouts in her career, and will pass current Western Illinois head coach Holly Killion (1997-00) who ended her four-year career with 880.
• North Dakota State pitcher Whitney Johnson is five strikeouts away from breaking the Summit League career mark in the category, currently with 876 strikeouts in her career, and will pass current Western Illinois head coach Holly Killion (1997-00) who ended her four-year career with 880.
~ Feel the Rumble ~
Huge Dubs!
Saturday, May 10
Mastodon Softball walks off NKU
Friday, April 25
Softball Win over IUPUI
Monday, April 15
Winning 'Dons are Happy 'Dons!
Sunday, February 25
