NOTING THE SIOUX (9-33)

The University of North Dakota’s debut Division I softball season lasted just 85 days and ended with the Fighting Sioux on a six-game losing streak ... The home season was brief (eight days to be exact) but the Sioux came away with a 3-2 record and a scoring margin of 41-18 thanks to a 25-0 victory over Minnesota, Crookston on April 15 ... UND played in five tournaments and took part in 11 doubleheaders.

QUICK HITS: Nicole Puerling led the Sioux in batting average for the majority of the season and finished with a team-high 37-for-115 (.322). She also led the Sioux in home runs (nine), RBI (26), total bases (72), slugging percentage (.626), and on base percentage (.422) ... Abby Rehberger topped the team with 26 runs scored and eight doubles ... Puerling, Rehberger, and Maggie O'Neal had one triple apiece ... As a team, the Sioux finished with a .243 batting average (254-for-1,047) with 45 doubles and 27 home runs.

FROM THE CIRCLE:  Hannah-Rose Peters topped the UND pitching staff with a 4-10 record and a 5.31 ERA ... Erica Younan finished with a 3-16 record and an ERA of 6.72 to lead the Sioux with 23 appearances, 20 starts, 12 complete games, 108.1 innings pitched, and 85 strikeouts. She was the only player to register a shutout during the 2009 season ... As a staff, the Sioux finished with a 6.37 ERA with 25 complete games, 252.2 innings pitched and 132 batters retired.

IN HER MITS: Defensively, Erica Younan finished with a team-high .983 fielding percentage ... Hannah-Rose Peters led with 74 assists ... Nicole Puerling took part in a team-high eight doubleplays ... Kindra Bennett caught 14 runners stealing ... As a team, the Sioux finished with a .942 fielding percentage, 16 doubleplays and 18 batters caught stealing.

2009 INDEPENDENT SOFTBALL TOURNAMENT

North Dakota finished 6th at the 2009 Division I Independent Conference Softball Tournament after suffering losses on all four games. The Fighting Sioux opened tournament play with a 6-2 loss to South Dakota on Friday. It was the sixth loss to the Coyotes in 2009. On Saturday, Seattle (the eventual champions) defeated UND 9-0 in the final game of pool play. The Sioux then lost to Northern Colorado, 9-2, in their first game of bracket play. UND’s Sunday finale came down to the wire, but CSU Bakersfield was able to come from behind to take the 6-5 win.

I’VE BEEN EVERYWHERE MAN

Like the majority of the Sioux sports this year, the North Dakota softball team will be logged loads of miles both in the air and on the ground.

By the time they returned from the 2009 Division I Independent Softball Conference Tournament in Greeley, Colorado, head coach Sami Strinz and her squad had logged over 16,556 miles during the 85-day season

States visited ... Iowa, Tennessee, Kansas, California, Wisconsin, Utah, Missouri, South Dakota, and Colorado.

THE GRASS IS GREENER ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE FENCE

On April 15, 2009, Nicole Puerling hit a two-out, two-run home run and became the University of North Dakota’s round-trip leader. Her 24th career bomb came during a 25-0 victory over Minnesota, Crookston. It was a game that was marked with a total of four round-trips for the Sioux, including a grand slam by Abby Rehberger during her second at-bat in the first inning.

Prior to the Wednesday afternoon home opener, Puerling was tied at No. 1 with teammate Casie Hanson, who used 2009 as a redshirt season, at 23 career home runs. Puerling later tallied No. 25 against MSU, Moorhead in Game 36.

PUERLING WALKS HER WAY TO THE TOP

Last season, senior Nicole Puerling (Camarillo, Calif.), as well as Amber Roth and Abby Rehberger, tallied a season-high 23 walks. On April 26, 2009 - her final day in a Fighting Sioux jersey - Puerling took the reigns as the most walked player in UND history when she surpassed Karen Crane (2003-06) with walk No. 60.

Puerling finished second on the team this season with 18 walks, including a career-high four in Game 3 against Dayton (Feb. 08).

R-B-R-B-R-B-I, HIT THAT BALL AND MAKE IT FLY

Senior Nicole Puerling (Camarillo, Calif.) came into the 2009 season as UND’s all-time RBI leader  with 122 runs batted in. Rather than simply maintain her title, she made it a record almost impossible to break.

With an additional 26 runs batted in this season, Puerling graduated 36 RBI away from her closest contender, Jennifer Soderquist, with no worries ... Soderquist’s career was done in 2003 ... three years before Puerling even started hers.

The only current concerns are Casie Hanson and Abby Rehberger. Hanson, who redshirted the 2009 season, sits with at No. 5 with 80 RBI and one year left to play. Rehberger is eighth on the all-time list with 59 RBI. She also has one year left to play.

However, there may be some contention coming out of the 2009 freshman class. Erica Younan finished second on the team with 18 RBI. If she can manage an average of 40 runs batted in over the next three years, she may have a shot at the title.