Friday, March 13
Tulsa, Okla.
6:30 p.m.
North Dakota State
at
Oral Roberts
Photo by: Jacob Funk
NDSU Baseball Opens Summit League Play with Three-Game Series at Oral Roberts
3/11/2015 3:15:00 PM | Baseball
Complete NDSU Weekly Release (PDF)
Live Stats (all games) | Live Video (all games)
THIS WEEK: The North Dakota State baseball team (4-9, 0-0 Summit League) will open Summit League play with a three-game series at Oral Roberts (7-7, 0-0 Summit League) in Tulsa, Okla., Friday, March 13, through Sunday, March 15. Game one is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Friday, while game two is slated for 2 p.m. Saturday. The final game of the series is scheduled for Sunday at 1 p.m.
MEDIA COVERAGE: Live statistics and live video will be available for all games at Oral Roberts this weekend. Please visit www.GoBison.com for links.
THE SERIES: The three-game slate at ORU will be meetings 22-24 all-time. The Golden Eagles lead the series, 6-15, and have won the last two meetings. The last NDSU win in the series was a 4-3 victory in 10-innings in The Summit League tournament played at ORU during the 2012 season.
SCOUTING ORAL ROBERTS: Oral Roberts is 7-7 entering the weekend after defeating Oklahoma on March 10 in Norman, 5-1. Through 14 games, Anthony Sequeira leads the Golden Eagles offensively, hitting .396 with 19 hits, four doubles, one home run and 11 RBI. Audie Afenir is second on the team with a .370 batting average and has a team-high five doubles. ORU is slated to start RHP Guillermo Trujillo (1-2, 5.32, 22.0 IP, 26 H, 17 R, 13 ER, 10 BB, 13 SO) Friday, RHP Kurt Giller (2-2, 2.78, 22.2 IP, 18 H, 9 R, 7 ER, 4 BB, 22 SO) Saturday and RHP Xavier Altamirano (2-1, 2.82, 22.1 IP, 16 H, 8 R, 7 ER, 5 BB, 18 SO) Sunday. As a team, Oral Roberts is hitting .281, while holding opponents to .263. The Golden Eagles have a team ERA of 4.06.
CATCHING UP WITH THE BISON: The Bison are 4-9 entering the weekend league series at Oral Roberts after taking three of four games at Northern Colorado last weekend. NDSU dropped the first game of the series before winning the next three. Through 13 contests, Taylor Sanders and Paul Funk are each hitting a team-best .379 with 11 hits and four doubles, while John Skrbec has a team-high five doubles and 11 RBI. Juan Gamez leads the Bison in home runs with two. On the mound, Parker Trewin leads the Bison starting rotation with a 2.50 ERA in 18 innings of work. Trewin has 24 strikeouts with just six walks and has allowed only five earned runs on 10 hits. David Ernst leads NDSU in innings pitched, going 19 and two-thirds, while reliever Jay Flaa has a team-best 29 strikeouts. As a team, the Bison are hitting .247. NDSU has a team ERA of 5.89.
TREWIN REACHES CAREER MILESTONE: Bison lefty Parker Trewin struck out a career-high 11 batters in NDSU's game against Mount St. Mary's on Saturday, Feb. 28, in Punta Gorda, Fla., marking the second time in his NDSU career he has reached double-digit strikeouts.
GOING, GOING, GAMEZ: NDSU junior catcher Juan Gamez has hit two grand slams so far this season. The Tucson, Ariz., native recorded his first grand slam against Kansas on Feb. 27, before delivering what proved to be the game-winning grand slam at Northern Colorado on March 7.
FLAALESS: Right-handed reliever Jay Flaa has surrendered just one earned run in his past four appearances on the mound for the Bison. The senior from Mandan, N.D., has allowed more than one hit in just one game this season. Flaa leads the team in strikeouts (29) and ERA (2.30).
CURRENT HITTING STREAKS: Taylor Sanders is currently on a six-game hitting streak, while John Skrbec has hit safely in the last five games.
CURRENT ON-BASE STREAKS: Danny Regan has gotten on-base safely in the last nine games for NDSU. Taylor Sanders has reached base safely in the last eight contests.
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, junior shortstop Aiden Hook and junior left fielder Jon Hechtner 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 170-202 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:
Live Stats (all games) | Live Video (all games)
THIS WEEK: The North Dakota State baseball team (4-9, 0-0 Summit League) will open Summit League play with a three-game series at Oral Roberts (7-7, 0-0 Summit League) in Tulsa, Okla., Friday, March 13, through Sunday, March 15. Game one is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Friday, while game two is slated for 2 p.m. Saturday. The final game of the series is scheduled for Sunday at 1 p.m.
MEDIA COVERAGE: Live statistics and live video will be available for all games at Oral Roberts this weekend. Please visit www.GoBison.com for links.
THE SERIES: The three-game slate at ORU will be meetings 22-24 all-time. The Golden Eagles lead the series, 6-15, and have won the last two meetings. The last NDSU win in the series was a 4-3 victory in 10-innings in The Summit League tournament played at ORU during the 2012 season.
SCOUTING ORAL ROBERTS: Oral Roberts is 7-7 entering the weekend after defeating Oklahoma on March 10 in Norman, 5-1. Through 14 games, Anthony Sequeira leads the Golden Eagles offensively, hitting .396 with 19 hits, four doubles, one home run and 11 RBI. Audie Afenir is second on the team with a .370 batting average and has a team-high five doubles. ORU is slated to start RHP Guillermo Trujillo (1-2, 5.32, 22.0 IP, 26 H, 17 R, 13 ER, 10 BB, 13 SO) Friday, RHP Kurt Giller (2-2, 2.78, 22.2 IP, 18 H, 9 R, 7 ER, 4 BB, 22 SO) Saturday and RHP Xavier Altamirano (2-1, 2.82, 22.1 IP, 16 H, 8 R, 7 ER, 5 BB, 18 SO) Sunday. As a team, Oral Roberts is hitting .281, while holding opponents to .263. The Golden Eagles have a team ERA of 4.06.
CATCHING UP WITH THE BISON: The Bison are 4-9 entering the weekend league series at Oral Roberts after taking three of four games at Northern Colorado last weekend. NDSU dropped the first game of the series before winning the next three. Through 13 contests, Taylor Sanders and Paul Funk are each hitting a team-best .379 with 11 hits and four doubles, while John Skrbec has a team-high five doubles and 11 RBI. Juan Gamez leads the Bison in home runs with two. On the mound, Parker Trewin leads the Bison starting rotation with a 2.50 ERA in 18 innings of work. Trewin has 24 strikeouts with just six walks and has allowed only five earned runs on 10 hits. David Ernst leads NDSU in innings pitched, going 19 and two-thirds, while reliever Jay Flaa has a team-best 29 strikeouts. As a team, the Bison are hitting .247. NDSU has a team ERA of 5.89.
TREWIN REACHES CAREER MILESTONE: Bison lefty Parker Trewin struck out a career-high 11 batters in NDSU's game against Mount St. Mary's on Saturday, Feb. 28, in Punta Gorda, Fla., marking the second time in his NDSU career he has reached double-digit strikeouts.
GOING, GOING, GAMEZ: NDSU junior catcher Juan Gamez has hit two grand slams so far this season. The Tucson, Ariz., native recorded his first grand slam against Kansas on Feb. 27, before delivering what proved to be the game-winning grand slam at Northern Colorado on March 7.
FLAALESS: Right-handed reliever Jay Flaa has surrendered just one earned run in his past four appearances on the mound for the Bison. The senior from Mandan, N.D., has allowed more than one hit in just one game this season. Flaa leads the team in strikeouts (29) and ERA (2.30).
CURRENT HITTING STREAKS: Taylor Sanders is currently on a six-game hitting streak, while John Skrbec has hit safely in the last five games.
CURRENT ON-BASE STREAKS: Danny Regan has gotten on-base safely in the last nine games for NDSU. Taylor Sanders has reached base safely in the last eight contests.
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, junior shortstop Aiden Hook and junior left fielder Jon Hechtner 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 170-202 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)
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Sunday, June 01
Sunday, June 01
Friday, May 30
