Game 6: North Dakota State (0-5) vs. Kansas (2-5)
Friday, Feb. 27 | 2:30 p.m. ET (1:30 p.m. CT
North Charlotte Regional Park Field 6 | Port Charlotte, Fla.
Live Stats

Game 7: Mount St. Mary's (Md.) vs. North Dakota State
Saturday, Feb. 28 | 11 a.m. ET (10 a.m. CT)
South County Regional Park | Punta Gorda, Fla.

Game 8: Boston College vs. North Dakota State
Saturday, Feb. 28 | 3 p.m. ET (2 p.m. CT)
South County Regional Park | Punta Gorda, Fla.
Live Stats

Game 9: North Dakota State vs. Villanova
Sunday, March 1 | 10:30 a.m. ET (9:30 a.m. CT)
South County Regional Park | Punta Gorda, Fla.
Live Stats

NDSU Notes (PDF) | Snowbird Classic Information

NDSU baseball on Twitter: @NDSUbaseball

---

THIS WEEK:  The North Dakota State baseball team (0-5) travel to Port Charlotte and Punta Gorda, Fla., to play four games in the Snowbird Baseball Classic. The Bison open up against Kansas on Friday, Feb. 27, at 2:30 p.m. ET (1:30 p.m. CT) at North Charlotte Regional Park before playing two games on Saturday, Feb. 28, at South County Regional Park. NDSU battles Mount St. Mary's (Md.) in the first game at 11 a.m. ET (10 a.m. CT) before facing Boston College in game two at 3 p.m. ET (2 p.m. CT). North Dakota State concludes the classic with a single game on Sunday, March 1, at 10:30 a.m. ET (9:30 a.m. CT) against Villanova at South County Regional Park.
 
MEDIA COVERAGE: Be sure to check GoBison.com and follow @NDSUbaseball on Twitter for updates throughout the weekend. 
 
THE SERIES:  Kansas - Friday's game will be the 10th meeting in the all-time series. The Bison trail the Jayhawks, 0-9. The last meeting between the two programs was back in 2008. ... Mount St. Mary's - Saturday's game against Mount St. Mary's will be the first meeting all-time. ... Boston College - Saturday afternoon's game against the Eagles will be the second meeting in the all-time series. The Bison claimed victory in the lone meeting against Boston College back in 1995. ... Villanova - Sunday's Snowbird Classic finale against the Wildcats will mark the inaugural meeting between NDSU and Villanova on the baseball diamond.
 
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS:  Kansas - The Jayhawks are 2-5 overall entering Friday's game in Port Charlotte after falling against Oregon State on Feb. 22, 15-5. The KU offense is paced by Blair Beck, who is hitting .400 with eight hits in 20 at bats. Beck has two doubles, one triple, three home runs and six RBI and has a 1.050 slugging percentage through seven games. On the mound, Kansas is slated to start RHP Hayden Edwards against the Bison Friday. Edwards has a 8.10 ERA in 3.1 innings pitched. He has made two appearances with one start and allowed three earned runs on five hits with one strikeout and no walks. KU is hitting .283 as a team and has a team ERA of 7.91. ... Mount St. Mary's - Mount St. Mary's begins its 2015 season on Saturday morning against the Bison. Last season, Mount tallied a 17-24 overall record.  Mount St. Mary's returns its top two position players in Kroy Britton and Andrew Collins. Clow hit a team-high .369 and led Mount St. Mary's in hits with 52, while Britton paced Mount in doubles (9), homers (3) and RBI (27). On the mound, the top returning starting pitcher for Mount St. Mary's is Scott Nickerson, who tallied a 1-3 record with a 6.84 ERA in 11 appearances and six starts last season. Nickerson allowed 20 earned runs in 26.1 innings of work, striking out and walking 27 batters. As a team, Mount St. Mary's hit .259 and compiled a 6.31 team ERA. ... Boston College - The Eagles are 2-5 entering the Snowbird Classic after dropping a contest at LSU on Feb. 21, 16-2. Through seven games, BC is led offensively by Blake Butera, who is hitting .393 with 11 hits in 28 at bats. Michael Strem is hitting .379 with a team-high six doubles, and Chris Shaw has driven in a team-best 10 runs. Southpaw Jesse Adams is slated to start on the mound against the Bison Saturday. Adams has an ERA of 4.91 in 7.1 innings pitched. He has appeared in two games with one start, allowing four earned runs on seven hits with a team-high 10 strikeouts and only two walks. Boston College is hitting .265 as a team and has a 7.93 team ERA. ... Villanova -  The Wildcats enter the week at 1-5 overall after falling to Northwestern on Feb. 22, 7-5. Through six contests, Villanova is led offensively by Max Beerman, who is hitting .320 with a team-high three doubles, two triples, one home run and four RBI. Right-hander Ryan Doty is scheduled to start on the mound for the Wildcats against the Bison Sunday. Doty is 0-2 with a 5.19 ERA in two appearances and starts. He has seven strikeouts and three walks in 8.2 innings pitched and has allowed five earned runs on 11 hits. As a team, Villanova is hitting .242 and has a team ERA of 6.18.
 
CATCHING UP WITH THE BISON: North Dakota State enters the week at 0-5 overall after dropping a pair of games at Arizona on Feb. 17-18. The Bison fell in game one, 7-2, before dropping the second contest, 11-1. Brayden Resch and Taylor Sanders have each recorded four hits in 14 at bats and lead the Bison with a .286 batting average, while Mason Pierzchalski has a .278 average with a team-high five hits and five RBI. John Skrbec and Paul Funk lead North Dakota State in extra base hits with two doubles each. On the mound, LHP Parker Trewin leads the Bison starting rotation with a 0.00 ERA in one start and five innings pitched. The Ramsey, Minn., native hasn't allowed an earned run while striking out five and walking just one batter. Reliever Brian VanderWoude has a team-high 12 strikeouts with just two walks in eight innings pitched for NDSU. He has yet to allow an earned run and has only surrendered two hits. As a team, the Bison are hitting .204. North Dakota State has a team ERA of 6.00 through five games.
 
POSITION DEPTH TO BE TESTED: The Bison have key spots to fill in the lineup after the departure of Summit League Player of the Year Tim Colwell and fellow All-Summit League performers Michael Leach, Kyle Kleinendorst and Wes Satzinger. Senior third baseman John Skrbec (.200), junior shortstop Aiden Hook (.286) and junior left fielder Jon Hechtner (.000) are the lone returning position starters for the Bison. 
           
NEW FACES: Seven freshmen and seven transfers make up the 14 total newcomers joining the Bison this season. New freshmen include Brayden Resch (C/UTIL), Drew Fearing (INF), Mason Pierzchalski (INF), Jayse McLean (OF), Joe Vacinek (RHP), Colin Baumgard (RHP) and Blake Stockert (RHP). The new transfers are Danny Regan (INF/OF), Juan Gamez (C/UTIL), JT Core (C/UTIL), JD Larimer (INF), Taylor Sanders (C/OF), Riley Horn (LHP) and Nick Salentine (RHP/INF).
 
FIVE CONSECUTIVE 20-WIN SEASONS: North Dakota State has reached the 20-win mark five straight seasons. The Bison have qualified for four straight Summit League tournaments, winning the tournament championship last season and reaching the championship game each of the past three seasons. This is NDSU's eighth season in The Summit League after three seasons as a Division I independent.
 
PRESEASON PICKS:  Defending Summit League tournament champion North Dakota State was picked to finish fourth in The Summit League in a preseason poll of the league's six head coaches. For the second consecutive season, Omaha was tabbed to claim its third straight Summit League regular season baseball title. The Mavs received three of six first-place votes and a total of 23 points. Oral Roberts placed second with the other three first-place votes and 21 points. South Dakota State came in third with 17 points followed by the Bison with 15 points. Western Illinois (8 points) and Fort Wayne (6 points) rounded out the poll.
 
THE SUMMIT LEAGUE: This is North Dakota State's eighth year in The Summit League, which has six baseball teams for 2015 – NDSU, Fort Wayne, Omaha, Oral Roberts, 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, returns to the league this season after competing in the Southland Conference the past two years.
 
THE COACH:  North Dakota State head coach Tod Brown (Arizona, 1994) is in his eighth season with a 166-198 record.  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.
 
THE TOD BROWN FILE:

• 2014 Summit League tournament champions
• 2014 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament Corvallis Regional qualifiers     
• Won school-record 40 games in 2012
• Three straight Summit League championship game appearances
• Four consecutive Summit League tournament appearances
• Winning percentage of .518 the past four seasons
• 16 All-Summit League honorees, six first team selections
• 14 players who signed professional contracts
• Coached three NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship recipients: Wes Satzinger (2014), John Straka (2013) and Kole Zimmerman (2008)