Baseball | 4/28/2015 9:51:00 AM

Complete Game Notes (PDF)
Live Stats: Tuesday | Wednesday
Live Video: Tuesday | Wednesday

THE GAMES: The North Dakota State University baseball team (11-26) will travel to Grand Forks, N.D., for a 6:30 p.m. game against North Dakota (16-20) on Tuesday, April 28, before returning home to Newman Outdoor Field to host Mayville State (33-18) at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, April 29.
 
THE SERIES:  North Dakota - Tuesday's game at North Dakota will be the 178th meeting in the all-time series. The Bison trail UND in the series, 78-100, after defeating North Dakota on April 22 in Fargo, 4-2. The last time the Bison won in Grand Forks was a 4-3 triumph during the 2012 season. ... Mayville State - Wednesday's scheduled game against Mayville State will be the 61st meeting in the all-time series and the first since 2012. The Bison trail the Comets, 27-33. The last time the time two teams met, MSU claimed a 6-5 win in 10 innings in Fargo during the 2012 season.
 
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS: North Dakota - UND enters Tuesday's game at 16-20 overall after winning two of three games at home against Sacramento State April 24-26. Through 36 contests, Jeff Campbell (.367, 51 H, 7 2B, 6 HR, 30 RBI, 15 BB), Tyler Follis (.410, 55 H, 30 R, 6 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 16 RBI, 14 BB, 4 SB) and Ryan Reese (.304, 31 H, 4 2B, 4 HR, 28 RBI, 19 BB, 4 SB) lead the UND offense. RHP Brett DeGagne is scheduled to make his second consecutive start against the Bison on Tuesday. Last week in Fargo, DeGagne pitched five and two-thirds innings and didn't allow an earned run on five hits with five strikeouts and three walks on 103 pitches. Overall, DeGagne is 0-2 with a 7.92 ERA. He has surrendered 22 earned runs on 28 hits with 26 strikeouts and 20 walks. UND is under the direction of seventh season head coach Jeff Dodson. ... Mayville State - The Mayville State University Comets are 33-18 overall and won the North Star Athletic Association regular season title with a conference record of 15-5 after winning three of four games against Valley City State (N.D.) April 25-26. Through 51 games, Aaron Miller (.350, 48 H, 11 2B, 4 HR, 43 RBI, 21 BB) and Nate Williams (.369, 58 H, 8 2B, 6 HR, 40 RBI, 20 BB) lead the Comets in the batter's box. Left-hander Garret Osterode leads MSU on the mound with a 2.19 ERA and perfect 4-0 record to go along with three saves. He has surrendered only six earned runs on 15 hits with 25 strikeouts and 11 walks. Mayville State is under the direction of head coach Scott Berry, who is in his 34th season.
 
CATCHING UP WITH THE BISON: North Dakota State enters Tuesday's game at UND at 11-26 overall after claiming a 9-4 victory against Western Illinois on Sunday, April 26, in Fargo. Through 37 games, Ben Petersen (.349, 45 H, 6 2B, 3 HR, 18 RBI), Taylor Sanders (.344, 33 H, 8 2B, 1 HR, 13 RBI), Juan Gamez (.275, 30 H, 3 2B, 7 HR, 24 RBI) and Drew Fearing (.267, 27 H, 4 2B, 9 RBI, 7 SB) lead the Bison at the plate, while right-handed reliever Brian VanderWoude (2-1, 2.72 ERA, 1 SV, 39.2 IP, 36 H, 20 R, 12 ER, 16 BB, 38 SO) leads the Bison on the mound and ranks third in The Summit League in pitching. NDSU is hitting .256 at a team and has a 5.65 team ERA.
 
A BANNER WEEK: Drew Fearing and Juan Gamez both hit over .400 in NDSU's four games last week. Fearing posted a team-high .444 average in four starts at second base, going 8-for-18 at the plate with five runs scored, three RBI, a double and two stolen bases, while Gamez tallied a .417 average in three starts behind the plate, going 5-for-12 with three runs scored, a pair of RBI and a home run. Gamez posted a team-best .667 slugging percentage in the three-game series against Western Illinois. Jon Hechtner also excelled at the plate last week, hitting .500 (4-for-8) in two starts in the outfield against Western Illinois Saturday and Sunday.
           
CAREER-MILESTONE: Bison right-handed reliever Brian VanderWoude struck out a career-best seven batters in a career-high five-and two-thirds innings pitched in game one of a doubleheader against Oral Roberts on Saturday, April 18. Eight days later on April 26 in the series finale against Western Illinois, VanderWoude made his first start of the season and only second start of his career. The Burnsville, Minn., native helped the Bison to a 9-4 victory and improved to 2-1 on the mound after scattering eight hits in five innings while striking out two and walking three.
           
WORKING THE COUNT: John Skrbec leads the Bison and ranks eighth in The Summit League in walks with 23 in 37 games. The Grand Rapids, Minn., native has 75 career free passes, tying him for fourth in the NDSU career record books.
 
RECORD SETTER: Right-hander David Ernst became the career leader in starts at North Dakota State with 46 after starting on the mound at South Dakota State Friday, April 10. The Fargo native passed former Bison great Jake Laber, who made 45 starts from 2005-08.  
           
POWER SURGE:  Juan Gamez leads the Bison and is tied for the Summit League lead in home runs through 37 games with seven. The Tucson, Ariz., native tallied his seventh round-tripper against Western Illinois on Saturday, a solo shot over the left field fence at Newman Outdoor Field. Two of Gamez's homers have been grand slams.
 
SWINGING FOR THE FENCES: NDSU and its opponents have hit a combined eight home runs at Newman Outdoor Field this season. The Bison have three round-trippers at home, while their adversaries have five. That's a stark comparison to last season, when only one ball was hit out of the park. 
 
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 177-220 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)