Friday, February 21
Los Angeles, Calif.
8 p.m.
North Dakota State
at
Southern California
NDSU center fielder Tim Colwell enters the season on a 12-game hitting streak.
Baseball Opens at Southern California Friday Night
2/20/2014 4:47:00 PM | Baseball
North Dakota State (0-0) at Southern California (4-0)
Friday, 6 p.m. PT - Live Video | Live Stats
Saturday, 2 p.m. PT - Live Video | Live Stats
Sunday, 1 p.m. PT - Live Video | Live Stats
NDSU Baseball Notes (PDF)
THIS WEEK: North Dakota State (0-0) opens its 78th season of baseball this weekend at Southern California (4-0) for a three-game series Friday at 6 p.m. PT, Saturday at 2 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m. at Dedeaux Field (2,500) in Los Angeles. It's just the third trip to California for the Bison, who played at Sacramento State in 2005 and 2006.
THE SERIES: This is the first meeting between North Dakota State and Southern California. NDSU is 1-5 against Pac-12 teams after playing its opening series at Arizona in 2011 and 2012. The Bison beat the No. 5-ranked Wildcats 8-2 in the middle game of the 2012 series as part of a school-record 40-win season.
ABOUT SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: The Trojans are off to a 4-0 start at home after sweeping a three-game series from Northwestern and beating Cal State Fullerton on Tuesday. USC was picked to finish ninth out of 11 baseball teams in the Pac-12 Conference after going 20-36 last year under first-year head coach Dan Hubbs (USC, 1993). The Trojans have 23 underclassmen on the roster. Senior first baseman Jake Hernandez is hitting a team-best .462 through four games followed by sophomore outfielder AJ Ramirez (.455), junior catcher Garrett Stubbs (.444) and sophomore outfielder Vahn Bozoian (.353), who has two home runs.
PRESEASON PICKS: North Dakota State was picked third in The Summit League in a preseason poll of the league's five head coaches. Defending regular season champion Omaha was first, tournament champion South Dakota State was second, Western Illinois fourth and Fort Wayne fifth. NDSU, with 8 of 9 starters back from last year's 26-27 team, was picked as Baseball America's team to beat in its Summit League preview.
BISON RETURN EIGHT STARTERS: The top eight hitters from last year's postseason lineup return for North Dakota State led by a pair of first team All-Summit League players in outfielder Kyle Kleinendorst (.333) and second baseman Wes Satzinger (.307). Center fielder Tim Colwell (.304) and utility player Jon Hechtner (.269) were also first team all-league selections last year. Third baseman John Skrbec (.253) was a second team pick.
PITCHING DEPTH TO BE TESTED: North Dakota State has key spots to fill on the pitching mound with the loss of All-Summit League second-teamer and Texas Rangers draft pick John Straka, left-handed reliever Jake Heck, setup man Simon Anderson and closer Kyle Kingsley. Junior right-hander David Ernst will be the opening night starter followed by a pair of left-handers in GateWay CC transfer Trent Keefer and fellow junior Parker Trewin. Two starters from last year's rotation, right-handed juniors Jay Flaa and Trevor Jaunich, are front-runners to take over the closing role out of the bullpen.
COLWELL ENTERS ON 12-GAME HIT STREAK: Center fielder Tim Colwell enters the 2014 season with a 12-game hitting streak, which was the longest hitting streak by a Bison player last year. Colwell hit .354 over the final 12 games and finished ninth overall in The Summit League with a .304 season batting average.
NEW PITCHING COACH: Former Minnesota volunteer assistant Tyler Oakes has joined the North Dakota State staff as pitching coach replacing Jake Angier, who was hired as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Sacramento State in November. Oakes was a three-time Academic All-Big Ten performer at Minnesota, where his father Todd Oakes has been the longtime pitching coach. He spent two seasons at South Dakota State (2010-11) as a graduate assistant before returning to Minnesota (2012-13).
FOUR STRAIGHT 20-WIN SEASONS: North Dakota State has reached the 20-win mark four straight seasons and qualified for three straight Summit League tournaments reaching the championship game each of the past two years. This is NDSU's seventh season in The Summit League after three seasons as a Division I independent.
THE SUMMIT LEAGUE: This is North Dakota State's seventh year in The Summit League, which has just five baseball teams for 2014 – NDSU, Fort Wayne, Omaha, South Dakota State and Western Illinois – after losing Oakland to the Horizon League. Denver, IUPUI and South Dakota do not have baseball. Oral Roberts, which won 15 straight league championships from 1998-2012, will return in 2015 after two years in the Southland Conference. Omaha, which won the regular season title in its first year of membership, is reclassifying from Division II and not eligible for postseason play until 2016.
THE COACH: North Dakota State head coach Tod Brown (Arizona, 1994) is in his seventh season with a 141-167 record, the second most wins in school history. Brown previously was the pitching coach and recruiting coordinator for eight seasons at Bowling Green, where he was part of two division titles and a regular-season title in the Mid-American Conference. Brown began his collegiate coaching career in 1999 as a volunteer assistant at Arizona. He was a left-handed pitcher for the Wildcats under Hall of Fame coach Jerry Kindall and a member of the 1992 Pac-10 champs.
Friday, 6 p.m. PT - Live Video | Live Stats
Saturday, 2 p.m. PT - Live Video | Live Stats
Sunday, 1 p.m. PT - Live Video | Live Stats
NDSU Baseball Notes (PDF)
THIS WEEK: North Dakota State (0-0) opens its 78th season of baseball this weekend at Southern California (4-0) for a three-game series Friday at 6 p.m. PT, Saturday at 2 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m. at Dedeaux Field (2,500) in Los Angeles. It's just the third trip to California for the Bison, who played at Sacramento State in 2005 and 2006.
THE SERIES: This is the first meeting between North Dakota State and Southern California. NDSU is 1-5 against Pac-12 teams after playing its opening series at Arizona in 2011 and 2012. The Bison beat the No. 5-ranked Wildcats 8-2 in the middle game of the 2012 series as part of a school-record 40-win season.
ABOUT SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: The Trojans are off to a 4-0 start at home after sweeping a three-game series from Northwestern and beating Cal State Fullerton on Tuesday. USC was picked to finish ninth out of 11 baseball teams in the Pac-12 Conference after going 20-36 last year under first-year head coach Dan Hubbs (USC, 1993). The Trojans have 23 underclassmen on the roster. Senior first baseman Jake Hernandez is hitting a team-best .462 through four games followed by sophomore outfielder AJ Ramirez (.455), junior catcher Garrett Stubbs (.444) and sophomore outfielder Vahn Bozoian (.353), who has two home runs.
PRESEASON PICKS: North Dakota State was picked third in The Summit League in a preseason poll of the league's five head coaches. Defending regular season champion Omaha was first, tournament champion South Dakota State was second, Western Illinois fourth and Fort Wayne fifth. NDSU, with 8 of 9 starters back from last year's 26-27 team, was picked as Baseball America's team to beat in its Summit League preview.
BISON RETURN EIGHT STARTERS: The top eight hitters from last year's postseason lineup return for North Dakota State led by a pair of first team All-Summit League players in outfielder Kyle Kleinendorst (.333) and second baseman Wes Satzinger (.307). Center fielder Tim Colwell (.304) and utility player Jon Hechtner (.269) were also first team all-league selections last year. Third baseman John Skrbec (.253) was a second team pick.
PITCHING DEPTH TO BE TESTED: North Dakota State has key spots to fill on the pitching mound with the loss of All-Summit League second-teamer and Texas Rangers draft pick John Straka, left-handed reliever Jake Heck, setup man Simon Anderson and closer Kyle Kingsley. Junior right-hander David Ernst will be the opening night starter followed by a pair of left-handers in GateWay CC transfer Trent Keefer and fellow junior Parker Trewin. Two starters from last year's rotation, right-handed juniors Jay Flaa and Trevor Jaunich, are front-runners to take over the closing role out of the bullpen.
COLWELL ENTERS ON 12-GAME HIT STREAK: Center fielder Tim Colwell enters the 2014 season with a 12-game hitting streak, which was the longest hitting streak by a Bison player last year. Colwell hit .354 over the final 12 games and finished ninth overall in The Summit League with a .304 season batting average.
NEW PITCHING COACH: Former Minnesota volunteer assistant Tyler Oakes has joined the North Dakota State staff as pitching coach replacing Jake Angier, who was hired as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Sacramento State in November. Oakes was a three-time Academic All-Big Ten performer at Minnesota, where his father Todd Oakes has been the longtime pitching coach. He spent two seasons at South Dakota State (2010-11) as a graduate assistant before returning to Minnesota (2012-13).
FOUR STRAIGHT 20-WIN SEASONS: North Dakota State has reached the 20-win mark four straight seasons and qualified for three straight Summit League tournaments reaching the championship game each of the past two years. This is NDSU's seventh season in The Summit League after three seasons as a Division I independent.
THE SUMMIT LEAGUE: This is North Dakota State's seventh year in The Summit League, which has just five baseball teams for 2014 – NDSU, Fort Wayne, Omaha, South Dakota State and Western Illinois – after losing Oakland to the Horizon League. Denver, IUPUI and South Dakota do not have baseball. Oral Roberts, which won 15 straight league championships from 1998-2012, will return in 2015 after two years in the Southland Conference. Omaha, which won the regular season title in its first year of membership, is reclassifying from Division II and not eligible for postseason play until 2016.
THE COACH: North Dakota State head coach Tod Brown (Arizona, 1994) is in his seventh season with a 141-167 record, the second most wins in school history. Brown previously was the pitching coach and recruiting coordinator for eight seasons at Bowling Green, where he was part of two division titles and a regular-season title in the Mid-American Conference. Brown began his collegiate coaching career in 1999 as a volunteer assistant at Arizona. He was a left-handed pitcher for the Wildcats under Hall of Fame coach Jerry Kindall and a member of the 1992 Pac-10 champs.
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