Friday, March 6
Greeley, Colo.
3 p.m.
North Dakota State
at
Northern Colorado
Photo by: Jacob Funk
North Dakota State Goes to Northern Colorado for Weekend Four-Game Series
3/4/2015 4:44:00 PM | Baseball
North Dakota State (1-8) at Northern Colorado (1-3)
Jackson Field | Greeley, Colo.
Game 1: Friday, March 6 | 2 p.m. MT (3 p.m. CT)
Game 2: Saturday, March 7 | Noon MT (1 p.m. CT)
Game 3: Saturday, March 7 | 2 p.m. MT (3 p.m. CT)
Game 4: Sunday, March 8 | Noon MT (1 p.m. CT)
NDSU Notes (PDF) | Live Stats
NDSU baseball on Twitter: @NDSUbaseball
THIS WEEK: The NDSU baseball team (1-8) will travel to Greeley, Colo., Friday, March 6, through Sunday, March 8, for a four-game series with the Northern Colorado Bears (1-3). Action gets underway Friday with a single game at 2 p.m. MT (3 p.m. CT). NDSU and UNC will play a doubleheader on Saturday starting at noon MT (1 p.m. CT) before closing out the series with a single game Sunday at noon MT (1 p.m. CT).
MEDIA COVERAGE: Live statistics will be available for all games at Northern Colorado. Visit www.GoBison.com for links.
THE SERIES: The four-game series will be meetings 21-24 between the Bison and the Bears in the all-time series. The series is currently tied, 10-10. Last season, NDSU and Northern Colorado split a four-game series in Greeley, with the Bears winning the series opener and closer and the Bison claiming victory in the middle two contests.
SCOUTING NORTHERN COLORADO: Northern Colorado is 1-3 overall entering the week after losing three of four games at San Jose State Feb. 20-22. The Bears were picked to finish 10th out of 10 teams in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) preseason poll. Through four games, Northern Colorado is led by Cole Maltese, who is hitting .375 with six hits, one double, one triple, one home run, two RBI and 12 total bases. Ryan Yamane is hitting a team-high .455 with five hits, a double and two RBI, and Jake Garcia is hitting .400 with a double. On the mound, pitcher Nick Tanner (1-0) leads the Bears with a 1.12 ERA in eight innings of work. Tanner has allowed just one earned run on two hits with five strikeouts and five walks. He is holding opposing batters to a .080 average. Northern Colorado has a team batting average of .248 and a team ERA of 5.14.
CATCHING UP WITH THE BISON: The Bison enter the weekend series at 1-8 overall after dropping three of four contests in the Snowbird Baseball Classic in Port Charlotte, Fla., Feb. 27-March 1. NDSU's lone win was a 5-0 win over Big 12 Conference opponent Kansas on Feb. 27. The win over KU was the first-ever victory over a Big 12 baseball opponent for NDSU. Through nine games, Mason Pierzchalski leads NDSU offensively with a .333 batting average, nine hits, one double, six RBI and 10 total bases. Drew Fearing is hitting a team-high .348 with eight hits, two doubles, three RBI and 10 total bases, while Juan Gamez has one homer and five RBI for the Bison. John Skrbec leads NDSU in extra base hits with three doubles. On the mound, LHP Parker Trewin leads the Bison starting rotation with a 2.45 ERA in 11 innings pitched. The Ramsey, Minn., native has only allowed three earned runs on five hits with 16 strikeouts and four walks. Reliever Jay Flaa leads the Bison in strikeouts with 17, while fellow reliever Brian VanderWoude has yet to give up an earned run in nine innings of work.
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.
GAMEZ'S BIG HIT: NDSU junior catcher Juan Gamez recorded a grand slam in the Bison's 5-0 shutout win over Kansas Feb. 27. It was the first hit for Gamez as a Bison.
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 167-201 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:
Jackson Field | Greeley, Colo.
Game 1: Friday, March 6 | 2 p.m. MT (3 p.m. CT)
Game 2: Saturday, March 7 | Noon MT (1 p.m. CT)
Game 3: Saturday, March 7 | 2 p.m. MT (3 p.m. CT)
Game 4: Sunday, March 8 | Noon MT (1 p.m. CT)
NDSU Notes (PDF) | Live Stats
NDSU baseball on Twitter: @NDSUbaseball
THIS WEEK: The NDSU baseball team (1-8) will travel to Greeley, Colo., Friday, March 6, through Sunday, March 8, for a four-game series with the Northern Colorado Bears (1-3). Action gets underway Friday with a single game at 2 p.m. MT (3 p.m. CT). NDSU and UNC will play a doubleheader on Saturday starting at noon MT (1 p.m. CT) before closing out the series with a single game Sunday at noon MT (1 p.m. CT).
MEDIA COVERAGE: Live statistics will be available for all games at Northern Colorado. Visit www.GoBison.com for links.
THE SERIES: The four-game series will be meetings 21-24 between the Bison and the Bears in the all-time series. The series is currently tied, 10-10. Last season, NDSU and Northern Colorado split a four-game series in Greeley, with the Bears winning the series opener and closer and the Bison claiming victory in the middle two contests.
SCOUTING NORTHERN COLORADO: Northern Colorado is 1-3 overall entering the week after losing three of four games at San Jose State Feb. 20-22. The Bears were picked to finish 10th out of 10 teams in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) preseason poll. Through four games, Northern Colorado is led by Cole Maltese, who is hitting .375 with six hits, one double, one triple, one home run, two RBI and 12 total bases. Ryan Yamane is hitting a team-high .455 with five hits, a double and two RBI, and Jake Garcia is hitting .400 with a double. On the mound, pitcher Nick Tanner (1-0) leads the Bears with a 1.12 ERA in eight innings of work. Tanner has allowed just one earned run on two hits with five strikeouts and five walks. He is holding opposing batters to a .080 average. Northern Colorado has a team batting average of .248 and a team ERA of 5.14.
CATCHING UP WITH THE BISON: The Bison enter the weekend series at 1-8 overall after dropping three of four contests in the Snowbird Baseball Classic in Port Charlotte, Fla., Feb. 27-March 1. NDSU's lone win was a 5-0 win over Big 12 Conference opponent Kansas on Feb. 27. The win over KU was the first-ever victory over a Big 12 baseball opponent for NDSU. Through nine games, Mason Pierzchalski leads NDSU offensively with a .333 batting average, nine hits, one double, six RBI and 10 total bases. Drew Fearing is hitting a team-high .348 with eight hits, two doubles, three RBI and 10 total bases, while Juan Gamez has one homer and five RBI for the Bison. John Skrbec leads NDSU in extra base hits with three doubles. On the mound, LHP Parker Trewin leads the Bison starting rotation with a 2.45 ERA in 11 innings pitched. The Ramsey, Minn., native has only allowed three earned runs on five hits with 16 strikeouts and four walks. Reliever Jay Flaa leads the Bison in strikeouts with 17, while fellow reliever Brian VanderWoude has yet to give up an earned run in nine innings of work.
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.
GAMEZ'S BIG HIT: NDSU junior catcher Juan Gamez recorded a grand slam in the Bison's 5-0 shutout win over Kansas Feb. 27. It was the first hit for Gamez as a Bison.
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 167-201 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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/ BaseballWednesday, March 11
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Sunday, June 01
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