Rivalry Weekend: NDSU V UND Softball

THE BISON AND FIGHTING HAWKS MEET ON THE SOFTBALL FIELD THIS WEEKEND.

FARGO, N.D. (KVRR)–It is the Bison and the Fighting Hawks. No matter the sport or place, this rivalry is second to none. In this softball rivalry, this will be the first time the two teams will meet in Grand Forks since 2017.

Historically, the Bison have the edge in this rivalry. The Herd owns an 82-38-1 record all-time versus North Dakota and a season ago, the Bison won the series in Fargo two games to one.

However, when these teams meet, you can throw the records out the window. The football matchup in the fall, won by North Dakota, will be talked about for a long time to come. The basketball rivalries that followed added more drama. Now, we hit the softball diamond.

Junior pitcher Savy Williams says the team is well aware of the tension.

“I think it is always a little bit built up going into SDSU or UND and it makes the game more fun,” said Williams. “Everything just means more.”

Head Coach Darren Mueller echoed that sentiment.

“Oh, I think it is big,” said Mueller. “They hear about it from different sports and for every school you have your little rivalries. I try not to talk about it a whole lot because they can make things a little bit bigger than they are sometimes. They don’t need me to put fuel on the fire. We just have to take care of ourselves, even though we are getting into these rivalries. It’s good for us to see what we can do and it puts a little bit more on the line in those aspects too.”

So far this season, the Bison hold a 3-6 record in Summit League play while NoDak holds a 2-7 record. Those records sit both teams at the bottom of the conference.

Both squads spoke to what they need to do this weekend to come out victorious.

“I think we have to build off of what we have that was good,” said Mueller. “Some of our at bats we have to stay within the plan a little bit more. So, little things like that, but even some fundamentals things that we will touch on this week too.”

“I think we just need to come out and attack from the first pitch instead of waiting a little bit later in the game to start attacking,” said Williams. “I think we will be good.”

As for North Dakota, they are coming off an 8-0 win Wednesday versus Minot State. With that added momentum, they are ready for the Bison this weekend.

“I don’t think we need any motivation for the weekend,” said North Dakota head coach  Jordan Stevens. “[This game] is stand alone. That is going to be what it is. It is going to be exciting with our rivals down there. It did not matter what happened [versus Minot State], we would be ready to go for the weekend.”

Sophomore utility player Katelyn Neumayer is also ready for this rivalry.

“I envision just a really good game,” said Neumayer. “I think they have a good team coming in, and we have a pretty good team. We just have to come ready to play and I think we can pull off whatever we want.

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NDSU and UND will play a 3-game set. A doubleheader on Saturday and a single game Sunday to wrap it up. All games scheduled in Grand Forks to be streamed on the Summit League Network and Midco Sports.