NDSU Softball Advances to the NCAA Tournament

North Dakota State took two games from top-seeded IUPUI to win its eighth Summit League Softball Championship, earning an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

The number two-seeded Bison (27-31) trounced the Jaguars from IUPUI in the first game this past Saturday, 13-4, forcing a winner-take-all game later that day. NDSU would come behind from an early 3-run deficit in the second game to beat the Jaguars, 5-3, and win the conference tournament championship.

In the first game, the Bison got 4 RBIs apiece from Bre Beatty and Zoe Stavrou, while KK Leddy tossed 6 1/3 innings, allowing just 3 earned runs on 9 hits while striking out 5.

The second game saw IUPUI take an early 3-0 lead in the 1st inning, but NDSU crept back in it with 2 runs in the bottom of the 2nd inning on RBI singles from Dani Renner and Stavrou. The Bison tied it in the in the 4th when Julia Luciano scored on a throwing error after a single by Madyson Camacho. Then, in the bottom of the 5th, Montana DeCamp came through with the go-ahead run scoring single. Tabby Heinz added an insurance run with a sac-fly RBI to make it 5-3. Jacquelyn Sertic threw all 7 innings for the complete game, allowing 3 runs on just 5 hits, and striking out 7.

NDSU learned Sunday night that they'll take on defending national champion Oklahoma in the first-round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday afternoon. The Sooners were this year's Big 12 champions. Tulsa and Arkansas are the other two teams in the regional.