FARGO, N.D. – Clutch hitting helped the North Dakota State University baseball team (10-24) beat the University of North Dakota (14-19), 4-2, on a cool Wednesday night, April 22, in front of 344 spectators at Newman Outdoor Field. The win snapped a four-game losing streak to UND dating back to the 2013 season.
The Bison are scheduled to open a three-game Summit League series against the Western Illinois Leathernecks on Friday, April 24, at 6:30 p.m.
Ben Petersen went 2-for-5 at the plate with a double to lead the Bison offensively, while
Drew Fearing drove in two runs on what proved to be the game-winning hit in the bottom of the eighth inning.
Bison southpaw
Blake Stockert (2-1) tallied the win on the mound after surrendering just one earned run on two hits with three strikeouts and one walk in two innings of relief. Right-hander
Trevor Jaunich posted his first save of the season after throwing a scoreless ninth inning.
After North Dakota was able to take a 2-1 lead in the top of the eighth inning, the Bison put together a three-run rally in the bottom-half of the frame to gain a 4-2 advantage.
John Skrbec led-off the inning with a walk, before
JD Larimer singled and advanced to second on a fielding error. Skrbec moved from second to third on the miscue, bringing pinch-hitter
Brayden Resch to the plate, who delivered a sacrifice fly to centerfield, allowing Skrbec to cross home plate and tie the game at two and Larimer to advance to third.
Paul Funk and
Jon Hechtner worked back-to-back walks the next two at bats to bring Fearing to the plate with the bases loaded and two outs. The freshman from Osakis, Minn., delivered, smashing a single to left field that drove in Larimer and Funk to put the Bison on top.
Brett Harrison went 2-for-4 in the batter's box to leading North Dakota, while reliever Jeff Campbell (1-2) took the loss after giving up two earned runs on two hits in the eighth inning.