Under the Radar: North Dakota State Baseball

The North Dakota State Bison baseball program was featured in an article by Aaron Fitt at Baseball America.

Below is an excerpt from the story:

North Dakota State opened its season at Arizona during alumni weekend for the Wildcats, who packed 4,000 fans (including more than 100 baseball alumni) into their new home, Hi Corbett Field. It was a homecoming for Bison coach Tod Brown, a Tucson native who played for Jerry Kindall at Arizona in the early 1990s and then served as a volunteer assistant for the Wildcats in 1999. But Brown wasn't only excited to see his old Arizona teammates; he thought his team had a chance to open some eyes in Tucson.

Wildcats coach Andy Lopez quickly came to that same conclusion.

"We had 4,000 people there Friday night, Terry Francona was back, this and that," Lopez said. "I looked at my staff pregame and said, 'These guys are here to play. They don't look intimidated at all.' I really give credit to coach Brown—that was not an easy weekend. I told my club, 'Those guys are going to beat some people.' "

After losing 3-1 in the opener at Arizona, the Bison pulled off an 8-2 upset Saturday, breaking a 2-2 tie with six runs in the eighth.

Click here to read the full article.

Morrison Selected to All-Star Game

ORU's Dominique Morrison

Oral Roberts' Dominique Morrison was selected to compete in the NABC Reese's Division I College All-Star Game, Friday at the Superdome in New Orleans, site of the Final Four. The Summit League Player of the Year will compete for the West squad and will be one of the 20 players chosen to participate. The game will be played at 4:30 p.m. CT and will be aired on tape delay Saturday at 1 p.m. ET on TruTV. Click here to view the team rosters and read ORU's release.

WIU's Molinari Earns Honor

WIU's Jim Molinari

Western Illinois' Jim Molinari was named as The Summit League men's basketball coach of the year by CollegeInsider.com. Molinari led the Fighting Leathernecks to their first winning season in 12 years, culminating in a Summit League Championship game berth and first-ever NCAA Division I Postseason Tournament appearance in the CBI. To read the entire WIU release, click here.

NDSU's Menke Named College Sports Madness.com National Pitcher of the Week

North Dakota State's Krista Menke added another honor to her Summit League Pitcher of the Week award. Menke was named the College Sports Madness.com National Pitcher of the Week after garnering her second second-straight weekly league honor in as many weeks and posting a 5-2 record with three shutouts and three two-hitters.  She struck out a season-high eight batters in the 3-1 win over UT-Arlington, picking up her first win of the week.  She then went on to win the next four consecutive games, including threw three-straight shutouts against UT-Arlington (2-0), IUPUI (6-0) and IUPUI (11-0) and matched her season-high eight strikeouts again in game two against IUPUI.  For the week, Menke fanned 45 batters, while yielding 30 hits, 12 walks and seven earned runs in 48.1 innings of work for a 1.01 ERA.

 

Click here to view the College Sports Madness.com Softball Players of the Week.

IPFW Volleyball Takes Part in Elementary School Fitness Challenge

Members from the men's and women's IPFW volleyball teams visited St. Joe Center Elementary School on Wednesday, March 21 for the Fitness Challenge.

The idea of the Fitness Challenge is to encourage kids stay active and fit, eat a well-balanced diet, get proper sleep, setting and reaching goals, and maintaining good sportsmanship. The students will also be provided with a fitness goals checklist to take home to parents to help them keep track of their activities.

This visit by the volleyball teams, and future visits by other IPFW student-athletes to Bloomingdale Elementary and Haley Elementary, are part of a series sponsored by K105 FM and Fred Toenges Shoes in which IPFW athletes will be stopping in to chat with third grade students at participating Fort Wayne Community Schools.

IPFW's Cronin Named Top Performer by NFCA

IPFW's Courtney Cronin added another honor to her Summit League Pitcher of the Week award.  Cronin was named one of the five Top Performers by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association after recording her second and third-straight shutouts with a streak of 19 consecutive scoreless innings for the week and 24-straight on the season. For the week, Cronin fanned 22 batters, while yielding five hits, no runs and five walks in 19 innings of work for a perfect 0.00 ERA and held her opponents to a tepid .081 batting average.  Her Pitcher of the Week honor marks the fifth time in league history that an individual has earned both Pitcher and Player of the Week honors in the same season as she was named Player of the Week on March 5. 

 

Click here to view the NFCA Player of the Week and Top Performers.

Go Behind the Scenes during South Dakota State's Men's Championship Run

SDSU celebrates its championship.

Jordan Conn of Grantland.com followed every move by the South Dakota State men's team during The Summit League Championship in Sioux Falls. Go behind the scenes as the Jackrabbits' championship run is chronicled from the opening game through the title celebration in his article titled "Cinderella's Diary". Click here to read.

OU Women's Basketball Makes an Early Impact in Sioux Falls

It had been a long week for the Oakland women's basketball team. The team had just gone through a tough practice and in two days it will be playing to extend the season with a run at The Summit League Championships.

However, the Golden Grizzlies exhibited a palpable excitement as they boarded the bus headed to two more gyms in Sioux Falls on Friday. The reason for the team's excitement was what waited in those gyms. The OU women's basketball team was headed to meet students at both Edison Middle School and the Bowden Youth Center, as part of their community outreach in Sioux Falls.

Click here to read the full recap.

SUU's Griffin Named Top Performer by NFCA

Southern Utah's Mikkel Griffin added another honor to her Summit League Player of the Week award.  Griffin was named one of the four Top Performers by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association after after leading the Thunderbirds to a 4-1 record last week with three multi-hit games.  For the week, Griffin tallied a .727 batting average (8-for-11), 1.727 slugging percentage and .850 on-base percentage with nine walks  She recorded five extra-bases hits, three home runs, two doubles, nine runs, seven RBI and three stolen bases.

Click here to view the NFCA Player of the Week and Top Performers.

NDSU's Johnson Featured by ESPN.com

Confined to the inside of a gym for the duration of preseason back home in Fargo, North Dakota State coach Darren Mueller is rarely sure exactly what he'll see when his team digs its cleats into dirt and grass for the first time.

At least he has the right pitcher for getting down to business.

In her first start of the season, junior Whitney Johnson struck out 19 batters in eight innings against Toledo and allowed just one hit and no earned runs to earn the win. She wasn't done. Johnson finished the weekend with a 3-1 record and piled up 44 strikeouts and six walks in 26 innings. In her lone loss, she allowed just one hit in six innings in a 1-0 defeat against tournament host Fresno State.

Click here to read the entire article.