FARGO, N.D. - North Dakota State clinched the No. 3 seed for the Summit League tournament with a doubleheader split against Western Illinois on Friday, May 20, at Newman Outdoor Field.

Matt Igara doubled, homered and drove in three runs to lead Western Illinois to a 4-2 win in the opening game, and NDSU's John Straka pitched a three-hit complete game to win the nightcap 9-1.  There was a 2 hour, 2 minute rain delay between games.

North Dakota State (20-30, 14-12) reached the 20-win mark for the second straight season and will face No. 2 seed South Dakota State in the 7 p.m. first-round game Thursday, May 26, at Sioux Falls Stadium in Sioux Falls, S.D.

Western Illinois (21-35, 13-14) earned the No. 4 seed with its victory and will face No. 1 seed Oral Roberts in the 2 p.m. opening game.

Igara hit his second home run of the series and fourth of the season to give Western Illinois a 1-0 lead in the fourth inning of Game 1, and the Fighting Leathernecks rallied for three runs with two outs in the fifth.

Back-to-back walks to Danny Marcuzzo and Anthony Kaskadden set up an RBI single for Chris Giglio, and Igara followed with a two-run double to give Western a 4-0 lead.

NDSU loaded the bases with no outs in the eighth, then got a two-out single up the middle from Zach Heidmann to cut the deficit in half.

Beau Below pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his third save of the year, and starter Ryan Wachholder got the win after allowing two runs on five hits with four walks and three strikeouts in seven innings.

Bison starter Luke Anderson took the loss with four runs on three hits, five walks and two strikeouts in seven innings.  Anderson dropped to 2-2 on the year.

The Leathernecks struck first in the nightcap thanks to a hit-by-pitch, a two-base throwing error, and a sac fly by Bryan Jordan, but Straka was in command after that.  He gave up a two-out single in the first and did not allow another hit until the sixth.

After a leadoff error in the second, Straka retired 14 straight batters before stranding a pair of runners in the sixth and tossing a 1-2-3 seventh.  He threw a season-high 94 pitches in his first complete game of the year.

Meanwhile, the NDSU offense started clicking again with timely hits.  The Bison scored seven of their nine runs with two outs.

Nic Obey's two-out single with the bases loaded in the first plated two runs, and the Bison went up 3-1 in the third when Zach Wentz doubled into the right-field corner and scored on Obey's single through the left side.

NDSU tacked on three runs in the fifth highlighted by Nick Colwell's two-out, two-run double, and the Bison got three more in the sixth on a single by Tyler Steen and a two-out, two-run single by Heidmann.

Heidmann and Obey each had two hits and three RBIs in the second game, Steen had two hits and scored twice, and Wentz scored three runs.

Jordan had two hits for Western Illinois, and starter Alexander Zarate allowed six runs, four earned, on seven hits with three walks and three strikeouts.  Zarate dropped to 4-5 with the loss.

North Dakota State and Western Illinois are scheduled to close out the regular season with a 1 p.m. game Saturday, May 21.