Friday, May 1
Fargo, N.D.
6:30 p.m.
North Dakota State
vs
Fort Wayne
Photo by: Richard Svaleson
Bison Welcome Fort Wayne to Newman Outdoor Field for Three-Game Series May 1-3
4/30/2015 3:57:00 PM | Baseball
Complete Game Notes (PDF)
Live Stats: Friday | Saturday | Sunday
Live Video (all games) | Live Audio (Friday and Saturday)
THIS WEEKEND: The North Dakota State University baseball team (13-26, 5-16 Summit League) will host the Fort Wayne Mastodons (25-16, 12-9 Summit League) in a three-game Summit League series Friday, May 1 - Sunday, May 3 at Newman Outdoor Field. The series opener will begin at 6:30 p.m. Friday, with games two and three taking place Saturday and Sunday at 1 p.m.
THE SERIES: The three-game series against IPFW will be meetings 34-36 in the all-time series. The Bison hold a narrow 17-16 advantage in the series after dropping two of three games at Fort Wayne April 3-5.
SCOUTING THE MASTODONS: Fort Wayne enters the three-game series with the Bison as the hottest team in The Summit League after winning its past eight games. The Mastodons are 25-16 overall and 12-9 in league action. IPFW is coming off a three-game series sweep at Omaha April 24-26 and a 13-8 non-league win over Goshen on Wednesday. Fort Wayne hasn't dropped a game since April 15. Through 41 games, Greg Kaiser (.366, 53 H, 13 2B, 3 3B, 7 HR, 35 RBI, .641 SLG%), Evan VanSumeren (.337, 56 H, 12 2B, 3 HR, 37 RBI, 4 SB), Shane Trevino (.319, 51 H, 10 2B, 4 3B, 6 HR, 44 RBI) and Brandon Soat (.307, 51 H, 12 2B, 3 3B, 5 HR, 40 RBI) lead the Mastodon offense. Fort Wayne is scheduled to start RHP Trevor Storie (4-4, 4.57 ERA, 63.0 IP, 73 H, 42 R, 32 ER, 25 BB, 38 SO) Friday, RHP Ryan Wells (4-5, 6.22 ERA, 1 CG, 55.0 IP, 72 H, 50 R, 38 ER, 25 BB, 55 SO) Saturday and RHP Evan Miller (5-2, 4.03 ERA, 58.0 IP, 42 H, 33 R, 26 ER, 33 BB, 71 SO) Sunday. Fort Wayne is hitting .291 overall and has a team ERA of 5.34. IPFW is under the direction of seventh season head coach Bobby Pierce (New Mexico State, 2002).
CATCHING UP WITH THE BISON: North Dakota State is 13-26 overall and 5-16 in Summit League play entering the three-game series with the Mastodons. The Bison are coming off a 1-0 win at North Dakota Tuesday and an 8-7 victory at home against Mayville State Wednesday. Through 39 contests, Taylor Sanders (.347, 34 H, 8 2B, 1 HR, 15 RBI), Ben Petersen (.346, 47 H, 6 2B, 3 HR, 19 RBI, 5 SB) and JT Core (.310, 22 H, 4 2B, 13 RBI) lead the Bison at the plate. RHP Sean Terres (0-0, 0.00 ERA, 6.2 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 5 BB, 4 SO), LHP Trent Keefer (3-5, 5.79 ERA, 1 CG, 51.1 IP, 71 H, 47 R, 33 ER, 15 BB, 40 SO) and RHP David Ernst (1-9, 6.36 ERA, 1 CG, 58.0 IP, 87 H, 60 R, 41 ER, 31 BB, 34 SO) are slated to pitch for NDSU this weekend. The Bison are hitting .258 overall and have a team ERA of 5.51.
NOTABLE STREAKS: Juan Gamez is on a seven-game hitting streak, going 11-for-22 at the plate for a .500 batting average, while John Skrbec has reached base safely the past 10 games with five hits and seven walks. Ben Petersen has collected at least one hit in his past four games.
WORKING THE COUNT: John Skrbec leads the Bison and is tied for fifth in The Summit League in walks with 24 in 39 games. The Grand Rapids, Minn., native has 76 career free passes, tying him for second in the NDSU career record books.
POWER SURGE: Juan Gamez leads the Bison and is tied for the Summit League lead in home runs through 39 games with seven. The Tucson, Ariz., native tallied his seventh round-tripper against Western Illinois on Saturday, April 25, a solo shot over the left field fence at Newman Outdoor Field. Two of Gamez's homers have been grand slams.
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.
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. Entering the three-game series against Fort Wayne, Ernst has 49 career starts.
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 179-220 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:
Live Stats: Friday | Saturday | Sunday
Live Video (all games) | Live Audio (Friday and Saturday)
THIS WEEKEND: The North Dakota State University baseball team (13-26, 5-16 Summit League) will host the Fort Wayne Mastodons (25-16, 12-9 Summit League) in a three-game Summit League series Friday, May 1 - Sunday, May 3 at Newman Outdoor Field. The series opener will begin at 6:30 p.m. Friday, with games two and three taking place Saturday and Sunday at 1 p.m.
THE SERIES: The three-game series against IPFW will be meetings 34-36 in the all-time series. The Bison hold a narrow 17-16 advantage in the series after dropping two of three games at Fort Wayne April 3-5.
SCOUTING THE MASTODONS: Fort Wayne enters the three-game series with the Bison as the hottest team in The Summit League after winning its past eight games. The Mastodons are 25-16 overall and 12-9 in league action. IPFW is coming off a three-game series sweep at Omaha April 24-26 and a 13-8 non-league win over Goshen on Wednesday. Fort Wayne hasn't dropped a game since April 15. Through 41 games, Greg Kaiser (.366, 53 H, 13 2B, 3 3B, 7 HR, 35 RBI, .641 SLG%), Evan VanSumeren (.337, 56 H, 12 2B, 3 HR, 37 RBI, 4 SB), Shane Trevino (.319, 51 H, 10 2B, 4 3B, 6 HR, 44 RBI) and Brandon Soat (.307, 51 H, 12 2B, 3 3B, 5 HR, 40 RBI) lead the Mastodon offense. Fort Wayne is scheduled to start RHP Trevor Storie (4-4, 4.57 ERA, 63.0 IP, 73 H, 42 R, 32 ER, 25 BB, 38 SO) Friday, RHP Ryan Wells (4-5, 6.22 ERA, 1 CG, 55.0 IP, 72 H, 50 R, 38 ER, 25 BB, 55 SO) Saturday and RHP Evan Miller (5-2, 4.03 ERA, 58.0 IP, 42 H, 33 R, 26 ER, 33 BB, 71 SO) Sunday. Fort Wayne is hitting .291 overall and has a team ERA of 5.34. IPFW is under the direction of seventh season head coach Bobby Pierce (New Mexico State, 2002).
CATCHING UP WITH THE BISON: North Dakota State is 13-26 overall and 5-16 in Summit League play entering the three-game series with the Mastodons. The Bison are coming off a 1-0 win at North Dakota Tuesday and an 8-7 victory at home against Mayville State Wednesday. Through 39 contests, Taylor Sanders (.347, 34 H, 8 2B, 1 HR, 15 RBI), Ben Petersen (.346, 47 H, 6 2B, 3 HR, 19 RBI, 5 SB) and JT Core (.310, 22 H, 4 2B, 13 RBI) lead the Bison at the plate. RHP Sean Terres (0-0, 0.00 ERA, 6.2 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 5 BB, 4 SO), LHP Trent Keefer (3-5, 5.79 ERA, 1 CG, 51.1 IP, 71 H, 47 R, 33 ER, 15 BB, 40 SO) and RHP David Ernst (1-9, 6.36 ERA, 1 CG, 58.0 IP, 87 H, 60 R, 41 ER, 31 BB, 34 SO) are slated to pitch for NDSU this weekend. The Bison are hitting .258 overall and have a team ERA of 5.51.
NOTABLE STREAKS: Juan Gamez is on a seven-game hitting streak, going 11-for-22 at the plate for a .500 batting average, while John Skrbec has reached base safely the past 10 games with five hits and seven walks. Ben Petersen has collected at least one hit in his past four games.
WORKING THE COUNT: John Skrbec leads the Bison and is tied for fifth in The Summit League in walks with 24 in 39 games. The Grand Rapids, Minn., native has 76 career free passes, tying him for second in the NDSU career record books.
POWER SURGE: Juan Gamez leads the Bison and is tied for the Summit League lead in home runs through 39 games with seven. The Tucson, Ariz., native tallied his seventh round-tripper against Western Illinois on Saturday, April 25, a solo shot over the left field fence at Newman Outdoor Field. Two of Gamez's homers have been grand slams.
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.
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. Entering the three-game series against Fort Wayne, Ernst has 49 career starts.
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 179-220 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)
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/ BaseballWednesday, March 11
Sunday, June 01
Sunday, June 01
Friday, May 30
