NDSU Hosts Dakota Wesleyan Tuesday, Travels to Omaha for Weekend Summit League Series

Tuesday, April 22

Fargo, N.D.

5 p.m.

North Dakota State

Dakota Wesleyan

Photo by: Jim Trewin

NDSU Hosts Dakota Wesleyan Tuesday, Travels to Omaha for Weekend Summit League Series

4/21/2014 4:45:00 PM | Baseball

SETTING THE SCENE: After winning a four-game series, 3-1, against Western Illinois last weekend, the North Dakota State baseball team will host Dakota Wesleyan Tuesday, April 22, at 5 p.m. in a non-conference contest at Newman Outdoor Field before traveling to Omaha, Neb., for a four-game Summit League series with the Omaha Mavericks Friday, April 25, through Sunday, April 27, at The Ballpark at Boys Town. The Bison will face the Mavs in a single game Friday at 2 p.m. before playing a doubleheader Saturday beginning at 12 p.m. NDSU will close out the four-game series with a single game Sunday at 12 p.m.

MEDIA COVERAGE: Tuesday's game against Dakota Wesleyan will be broadcast live on 96.3 KNDS FM and KNDSradio.com. Jonathan Lee and Ricky Paulson will have the call beginning at 5 p.m. A live, pay-per-view webcast will also be available at GoBison.com/allaccess. Live statistics for the game can be accessed at GoBison.com. For the Omaha series, live statistics and live audio will be available at OMavs.com.

THE SERIES: Dakota Wesleyan - Tuesday's game against the Tigers will be the fourth meeting in the all-time series. The Bison lead the series, 2-1. The last time the two teams met was during the 2011 season with NDSU defeating the Tigers, 13-0, in Fargo. Omaha - The four-game series with Omaha will be meetings 50-53 in the all-time series. NDSU carries a 26-23 lead in the series entering the weekend, but dropped a doubleheader to the Mavs earlier this season on April 12 in Fargo, 2-0 (10-innings) and 10-0.

THE OPPONENTS: Dakota Wesleyan - The Tigers enter Tuesday's game with an overall record of 21-19. Ben Ladner is hitting .354 and has driven in a team-high 33 runs on 46 hits. He has a team-best 12 doubles and a triple. Ben Spitznagel is hitting .393 with 55 hits, nine doubles, a team-high four triples and 23 RBI while Neil Nagel leads the Tigers in home runs with two. On the mound, Kyle Larson is 4-0 with a 1.80 ERA in nine appearances and starts. He has one complete game and a shutout in 50.0 innings of work. Larson has allowed 35 hits, struck out a team-high 28 batters and walked 18 and is holding opposing hitters to a .198 average. The Tigers have a team batting average of .302 and a team ERA of 3.77. Omaha - The Mavericks begin the week at 19-13 overall and 5-3 in Summit League play. Clayton Taylor, the Summit League co-Player of the Week, is hitting .377 with 43 hits in 114 at bats. He leads the team in RBI (31), home runs (5) and doubles (13). Caleb Palensky has a .310 average with 23 RBI and 10 doubles to go along with two round-trippers. Cole Gruber leads the Mavs and The Summit League in stolen bases, stealing 16 bases in 18 attempts. On the mound, Tyler Fox is 6-1 with a 2.18 ERA in nine appearances and starts. In 57.2 innings pitched, Fox has allowed 43 hits and struck out 42. He has allowed just 10 walks this season and his holding opponents to a .205 average. Steven Schoonover is 2-1 overall with an ERA of 0.67 in five appearances and starts and 27.0 innings of work. He has one complete game and a shutout with 12 strikeouts and just two walks. He is limiting opponents to a .189 average. Zach Williamsen is 1-2 with a 4.78 ERA in seven appearances and six starts. He has struck out 27 and walked nine in 32 innings pitched. As a team, the Mavs are hitting .287 and have a team ERA of 4.19.

WEEKLY HONORS: North Dakota State has five Summit League award winners this season. Tim Colwell was named co-Player of the Week after going 11-for-16 (.688) with three doubles, four runs-scored and one stolen base in a four-game series against Western Illinois April 18-20.   Kyle Kleinendorst was named co-Player of the Week after going 7-for-12 (.583) with three triples, two RBIs and five runs scored in a four-game series at Northern Colorado March 7-9. Wes Satzinger was co-Player of the Week after hitting 5-for-11 (.455) in three games at Murray State, where he homered and drove in two runs in a 4-1 win Friday, Feb. 28, and doubled twice with two runs scored in a 3-2 win Saturday, March 1. David Ernst was named Pitcher of the Week after allowing just three singles in seven scoreless innings in the 4-1 win at Murray State. Parker Trewin was tabbed Pitcher of the Week after pitching a career-high seven innings and striking out a career-best 10 batters with one walk and five hits in the Bison's 13-1 win over Maine March 16.

CATCHING UP WITH THE BISON: The Bison are 11-17 overall and 3-7 in Summit League play after going 3-1 against Western Illinois last weekend in Fargo. The Bison defeated WIU, 8-2, Friday, April 18, before splitting a doubleheader Saturday, April 19. NDSU lost the first contest, 6-5, in eight innings before bouncing back with a 4-2 victory in the second game. The Bison closed out the four-game series with a 6-3 win Sunday, April 20. Tim Colwell, the Summit League co-Player of the Week, is hitting a team-and league-high .389 with 42 hits in 108 at bats. He has six doubles, three triples, one homer and has driven in eight runs. Colwell is 6-for-7 in stolen base attempts. Wes Satzinger, who is hitting .344, leads the Bison in doubles (14) and RBI (18) and also has a home run. His 14 doubles is also tops in The Summit League. Kyle Kleinendorst has 17 RBI and leads NDSU in stolen bases, going 7-for-11, and triples (4). He has also drawn a team-high 16 walks. On the mound, David Ernst is 3-2 with a 2.25 ERA in nine appearances and starts. He has pitched two complete games in 56.0 innings of work with 23 strikeouts and 18 walks. Ernst has allowed 49 hits. Parker Trewin is 3-1 with a 2.61 ERA in eight appearances and seven starts for the Bison. He has one complete game in 38.0 innings pitched and has allowed 35 hits and 11 earned runs. Trewin has struck out a team-high 32 batters and walked 13. Trent Keefer is 3-4 with a 5.20 ERA in 36.1 innings pitched. Keefer has allowed 52 hits with 30 strikeouts and 16 walks. As a team, the Bison rank fifth in The Summit League in hitting with a .253 average and third in team pitching with a team ERA of 4.78.

PITCHING ENDURANCE: NDSU starting pitchers David Ernst and Parker Trewin both threw complete games last weekend against Western Illinois. Ernst went the full nine innings in the Bison's 8-2 victory over the Leathernecks Friday, April 18, striking out three and walking one. The Fargo native scattered six hits and allowed two earned runs to improve to 3-2 on the season. Trewin pitched the full seven-innings in NDSU's 4-2 win over WIU in the second game of a doubleheader Saturday, April 19. The Ramsey, Minn., native allowed seven hits and two earned runs while striking out five and walking one WIU batter to improve to 3-1 overall.

IMPRESSIVE DEBUT: NDSU freshman pitcher Reed Pfannenstein delivered an impressive performance in his inaugural collegiate start Sunday, April 20, against Western Illinois. Pfannenstein went seven innings and threw 75 pitches. The St. Cloud, Minn., native allowed four hits and one earned run while walking one and striking out four to pick up his first collegiate win of the season and move to 1-0 overall.

144 AND COUNTING: North Dakota State senior Tim Colwell has started in 144 consecutive games dating back to his freshman season in 2011, ranking him among the national leaders in consecutive games-started. He has started all 28 games this season, 53 games in 2013, 60 in 2012 and made 44 starts out of 47 contests in 2011.

COLWELL SELECTED AS CANDIDATE FOR SENIOR CLASS AWARD: Tim Colwell was one of 30 NCAA baseball student-athletes who excel both on and off the diamond selected Wednesday, March 19, as candidates for the 2014 Senior CLASS Award in collegiate baseball To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence – community, classroom, character and competition. The 30 candidates will be narrowed to 10 finalists midway through the regular season, and those 10 names will be placed on the official ballot. The Senior CLASS Award winner will be announced during the 2014 College World Series® in June.

RECORD CHASE: North Dakota State seniors Tim Colwell and Wes Satzinger continue to move up the Bison career record lists in several categories. Colwell ranks second in at-bats (737) and hits (257), third in total bases (337) and runs (151), and already owns the triples record (17). Satzinger ranks second in doubles (54), fifth in at-bats (644) and hits (200), eighth in sac bunts (14), and defensively is fourth in assists (396). Both players are tied for the career lead in sac flies (10).

SCORELESS STREAK: Starting pitcher David Ernst had a streak of 29 1/3 consecutive scoreless innings snapped March 8. Ernst pitched seven scoreless innings each of his first two starts at Southern California and Murray State before a one-out homer in the second at Northern Colorado. He pitched a two-hit shutout against Western Illinois in last year's Summit League tournament and blanked Fort Wayne the final five innings of his last regular season appearance of 2013.

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.

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 tournament is scheduled for May 22-24 at Sioux Falls Stadium in Sioux Falls, S.D. The four-team double-elimination tournament will not include Omaha, which is reclassifying from Division II and not eligible for postseason play in baseball until 2016.

THE COACH: North Dakota State head coach Tod Brown (Arizona, 1994) is in his seventh season with a 152-184 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.