NDSU Softball’s Vargas, Lyle Complimenting Each Other As Top Two Pitchers
Both are tops in the Summit League in many pitching categories
FARGO, N.D — North Dakota State softball has 26 wins this season, the most since 2019. Helping get there securing 19 of them by pitching gems in the circle are Paige Vargas and Lainey Lyle.
As the 1-2 punch for the Bison most weekends, Lyle and Vargas both have sub 3 ERA’s throwing 16 complete games, allowing opponents to only hit under .250 against them while combining for 181 strikeouts in just under 200 innings. Those numbers are all top seven in the Summit League.
After a down season for both last year struggling with confidence, this year was a fresh start knowing the momentum every time starts with them.
“I try to come out and just attack hitters right away. No freebees from them,” Vargas said. “Depending on how the game is going, getting those clutch outs or pitches is really vital to starting new momentum for us. My teammates can get it with their hitting. I feed off of that too so its a teamwork thing.”
“We’ve talked a lot about how our presence dictates the whole team’s attitude. If we have a bad attitude in the circle, that wears off on the team,” Lyle said. “We’ve worked on that a lot this year not letting outside factors dictate who we are. Just keeping a good composure. We’ve done a much better job of that then previous years.”>
More than just going out there and doing their jobs, both have learned how to use their different personalities to compliment each other.
“She comes across very calm. Obviously on the field she’s more intense,” Vargas said. “I just think sometimes the stuff she says is really funny. Some of the things especially to pump me or make me feel better. She just makes me laugh.”
“Its just my personality being a calm person. It goes into my pitching as well,” Lyle said. “Its what makes me effective while she’s more of an energetic, pumped up person while I’m more go with the flow type person.”
Vargas and Lyle look to play to their strengths this Friday against St. Thomas in the final regular season home series.
