Bison Sweep Doubleheader Saturday at Omaha to Win Key Summit League Series

Saturday, April 26

Omaha, Neb.

12 p.m.

North Dakota State Athletics

14-18, 0

Omaha

21-15, 0

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
North Dakota State	0	0	0	0	0	4	1	5	3	0
Omaha	0	0	0	0	1	0	3	4	6	4

Photo by: Jim Trewin

Bison Sweep Doubleheader Saturday at Omaha to Win Key Summit League Series

4/26/2014 7:05:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

OMAHA, Neb. – The North Dakota State baseball team (15-18, 6-8 Summit) swept the Omaha Mavericks (21-16, 6-6 Summit) in an afternoon doubleheader, 5-4 and 9-7, Saturday, April 26, at the Ballpark at Boys Town. With the sweep, the Bison won the key weekend Summit League series against the Mavs, 3-1.

Kyle Kleinendorst, David Ernst and Nick Altavilla each had an RBI in game one to lead the NDSU offense.

Parker Trewin took the win on the mound in game one, pitching 6.2 innings, allowing five hits and striking out six, to move to 4-1 overall. Trevor Jaunich picked up his second straight save and fourth overall.

Caleb Palensky paced the Mavs in the first game, going 2-for-3 at the plate with an RBI.

Marcus Ethen pitched five innings and took the loss for Omaha to drop to 3-2 on the season.

The Mavericks committed four errors in the game.

Jon Hechtner went 3-for-4 with two RBI to pace the Bison at the plate in the game two win. Tim Colwell also had three hits in the contest, going 3-for-5 with an RBI and three stolen bases.

Reed Pfannenstein secured his second win of the season and moved to 2-0 overall on the mound after pitching five innings in game two, allowing four earned runs on six hits and striking out two. Kevin Folman pitched four innings in relief, striking out four, to pick up his first save of the season.

Palenksy led the Mavericks again in game two, going 2-for-4 with an RBI.

Cole Volkers suffered the loss on the mound for the Mavs to fall to 2-2 overall.

In game one, neither team scored a run until the Mavs took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the fifth inning on a Clayton Taylor double.

The Bison answered, plating four runs in the top of the sixth to take a 4-1 lead. Ernst batted in Colwell on a fielder's choice and Altavilla scored Hechtner on a fly ball to left field for the opening pair of NDSU runs in the inning before pinch-runner Logan Swann and Kleinendorst crossed home plate on a Maverick throwing error for two more Bison runs.

NDSU increased its lead to 5-1 in the seventh when Kleinendorst was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, scoring Aiden Hook.

Omaha scored three runs in the bottom-half of the inning to cut the Bison lead to 5-4, but Jaunich struck out Daniel Jewett to end the threat and secure the 5-4 triumph.

The Bison jumped out to a 3-1 lead in the second game after Ernst scored Colwell on a sacrifice bunt and Hechtner along with John Skrbec hit back-to-back RBI singles to the outfield.

NDSU's lead grew to 5-1 in the second when Colwell and Hook scored on an Omaha throwing error and expanded to 6-1 an inning later after an Andy Wicklund single plated Skrbec.

The Mavs scored three runs in the fourth to trim the Bison lead to 6-4 but an Ernst RBI double and Hechtner RBI single allowed NDSU to extend its lead to 8-4 in the top of the fifth.

Omaha answered, scoring a run in the bottom-half of the inning to pull within 8-5, but the Bison pushed their advantage to 9-5 in the top of the eighth after Michael Leach scored on a Colwell single up the middle.

The Mavs attempted to make a comeback in the bottom of the ninth, scoring two runs on a home run from pinch-hitter Danny Suiter, but Folman struck out the potential game-tying run to end the threat and seal the 9-7 win.

With the victory, NDSU improves to 15-18 overall and 6-8 in Summit League play while Omaha falls to 21-16 on the season and 6-6 in league competition.

The Bison are scheduled to host rival North Dakota in a non-conference game Tuesday, April 29, at Newman Outdoor Field in Fargo. First-pitch is slated for 6:30 p.m.