Friday, May 15
Fargo, N.D.
3 p.m.
North Dakota State
vs
Omaha
Photo by: Tyler Ingham
NDSU Baseball Closes Out Regular Season With Pivotal Series Against Omaha
5/14/2015 1:37:00 PM | Baseball
Complete Game Notes (PDF)
Live stats: Game 1 (Friday) | Game 2 (Friday) | Game 3 (Saturday)
Live video (all games)
THIS WEEKEND: The North Dakota State University baseball team (18-28, 9-18 Summit League) will wrap up the 2015 regular season with a pivotal three-game Summit League series against the Omaha Mavericks (18-28, 11-16 Summit League) May 15-16 at Newman Outdoor Field. The two teams will open the series with a 3 p.m. doubleheader on Friday, May 15, before playing the series finale at 1 p.m. on Saturday, May 16. Saturday's game will also be Senior Day, and Bison seniors David Ernst, Jay Flaa, Trevor Jaunich, Trent Keefer, John Skrbec and Parker Trewin will be honored prior to first pitch.
MEDIA COVERAGE: Live stats and live video will be available for all games at GoBison.com. Live updates will also be available via the NDSU baseball Twitter account (@NDSUbaseball).
THE SERIES: The three games against the Mavs will be meetings 58-60 in the all-time series. The Bison lead Omaha in the series, 29-28, but dropped three games earlier this season in Omaha, Neb., March 20-22.
SUMMIT LEAGUE TOURNAMENT BERTH ON THE LINE: The Bison will be battling Western Illinois this weekend for the fourth and final spot in The Summit League baseball tournament. NDSU is currently a game back of WIU (10-17) in the standings at 9-18, but the Leathernecks hold the tiebreaker by virtue of their 4-2 season series record against NDSU. The Bison will need to either sweep the Mavs or take two of three games from UNO, depending on WIU's league series at Summit League regular season champion Oral Roberts May 14-16. If ORU sweeps WIU, NDSU would only need to win two contests against UNO, but if WIU takes one game from ORU, the Bison would need to sweep the Mavs to gain entry into the league tournament. Should WIU win more than one contest at Oral Roberts, NDSU would be eliminated from postseason contention.
SCOUTING OMAHA: The Mavs enter the three-game series with the Bison at 18-28 overall and 11-16 in Summit League competition after dropping two of three games at Western Illinois last weekend. UNO has dropped 10 of its last 11 games. Cole Gruber (.403, 60 H, 7 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 17 RBI, 31 BB, 20 SB), Alex Schultz (.325, 63 H, 11 2B, 1 3B, 3 HR, 22 RBI, 19 BB, 10 SB) and Clayton Taylor (.299, 52 H, 6 2B, 2 3B, 6 HR, 36 RBI, 21 BB) lead Omaha at the plate through 46 games. RHP Tyler Fox (4-4, 3.17 ERA, 76.2 IP, 67 H, 29 R, 27 ER, 32 BB, 65 SO, .2389 OBA) is scheduled to start on the mound for the Mavs in game one Friday, while RHP Zach Williamsen (7-6, 4.12 ERA, 1 CG, 74.1 IP, 85 H, 41 R, 34 ER, 21 BB, 58 SO, .287 OBA) is slated to get the ball in game two. The Mavs haven't announced a starter for Saturday's contest. As a team, the Mavericks are hitting .281 and have a .968 fielding percentage to go along with a 5.36 team ERA. UNO is under the direction head coach Bob Herold, who is in his 16th season at Omaha. He is the winningest coach in UNO baseball history.
CATCHING UP WITH THE BISON: The Bison are 18-28 overall and 9-18 in Summit League play entering Friday's doubleheader against the Mavs. Through 46 games, Taylor Sanders (.361, 39 H, 8 2B, 1 HR, 18 RBI), Ben Petersen (.350, 57 H, 7 2B, 3 HR, 21 RBI, 5 SB) and JT Core (.308, 28 H, 8 2B, 17 RBI) lead the Bison in the batter's box. The Bison are scheduled to throw RHP Sean Terres (0-1, 4.11 ERA, 15.1 IP, 18 H, 7 R, 7 ER, 12 BB, 11 SO) in game one and LHP Trent Keefer (3-6, 5.37 ERA, 1 CG, 60.1 IP, 84 H, 56 R, 36 ER, 16 BB, 50 SO) in game two Friday. RHP David Ernst (2-9, 5.16 ERA, 2 CG, 75.0 IP, 97 H, 62 R, 43 ER, 36 BB, 44 SO) is slated to tow the rubber for the regular season finale Saturday. As a team, the Bison are hitting .264 and have a .951 fielding percentage to go along with a 5.03 team ERA.
CLOSING THE DOOR: Bison closer Trevor Jaunich is a perfect 2-0 with two saves and a 2.31 ERA in his last five relief appearances. The Delano, Minn., native has struck out nine batters and allowed no walks and just three earned runs during that span.
CLUTCH HITTING: Bison freshman Brayden Resch delivered two walk-off hits for the Bison last week. The Saskatchewan native hit the game-winning walk-off RBI single to center field in NDSU's 5-4 10-inning triumph over Minnesota on Tuesday, May 5, before hitting the game-winning RBI single through the right side in the Bison's 3-2 11-inning win over South Dakota State May 9.
NDSU IN THE NCAA STATISTICS: In the latest NCAA national statistics, the Bison rank 13th out of 301 Division I baseball programs in double plays per game with 1.04 and 38th in total double plays with 48. Individually, David Ernst is second in the nation in games started with 14, and Paul Funk is 34th in sacrifice bunts per game (0.26) and 36th in total sacrifice bunts (11).
BISON IN THE SUMMIT LEAGUE STATS: Entering Friday, Taylor Sanders (.361) ranks fourth and Ben Petersen (.350) ranks eighth in The Summit League individual batting statistics ... RHP Brian VanderWoude is second in individual pitching with a 2.59 ERA in 15 games ... Juan Gamez is third in home runs with seven in 42 games ... Danny Regan is tied for fifth in triples with two in 41 games ... Drew Fearing is tied for sixth in stolen bases with nine in 34 games ... John Skrbec is tied for eighth in walks with 26 in 46 games ... RHP David Ernst ranks fourth in innings pitched at 75.0 ... Ernst leads the league in starts with 14 and is tied for first in complete game with two ... LHP Trent Keefer and LHP Parker Trewin are tied for third in complete games with one each.
TURNING TWO: The Bison have turned 11 double plays in their last six games. North Dakota State tallied three double plays in its 3-2 extra-inning win over South Dakota State May 9. It marked the fifth time in 2015 the Bison have turned three double plays in a game. Through 46 games, the Bison lead The Summit League in double plays with 48.
WORKING THE COUNT: John Skrbec leads the Bison and is tied for eighth in The Summit League in walks with 26 in 46 games. The Grand Rapids, Minn., native has 78 career free passes, ranking him second in the NDSU career record books.
52 AND COUNTING: John Skrbec has started 52 consecutive games at third base dating back to last season. The Grand Rapids, Minn., native has manned the hot corner in all 46 of NDSU's games this season. Skrbec is eighth in NDSU career games played with 174 and is ninth in career games started with 158.
POWER SURGE: Juan Gamez leads the Bison and is third in The Summit League lead in home runs through 46 games with seven. Two of Gamez's homers have been grand slams.
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 weekend, Ernst has 51 career starts.
SWINGING FOR THE FENCES: NDSU and its opponents have hit a combined 12 home runs at Newman Outdoor Field this season. The Bison have three round-trippers at home, while their adversaries have nine. That's a stark comparison to last season, when only one ball was hit out of the park.
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 COACH: North Dakota State head coach Tod Brown (Arizona, 1994) is in his eighth season with a 184-222 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: Game 1 (Friday) | Game 2 (Friday) | Game 3 (Saturday)
Live video (all games)
THIS WEEKEND: The North Dakota State University baseball team (18-28, 9-18 Summit League) will wrap up the 2015 regular season with a pivotal three-game Summit League series against the Omaha Mavericks (18-28, 11-16 Summit League) May 15-16 at Newman Outdoor Field. The two teams will open the series with a 3 p.m. doubleheader on Friday, May 15, before playing the series finale at 1 p.m. on Saturday, May 16. Saturday's game will also be Senior Day, and Bison seniors David Ernst, Jay Flaa, Trevor Jaunich, Trent Keefer, John Skrbec and Parker Trewin will be honored prior to first pitch.
MEDIA COVERAGE: Live stats and live video will be available for all games at GoBison.com. Live updates will also be available via the NDSU baseball Twitter account (@NDSUbaseball).
THE SERIES: The three games against the Mavs will be meetings 58-60 in the all-time series. The Bison lead Omaha in the series, 29-28, but dropped three games earlier this season in Omaha, Neb., March 20-22.
SUMMIT LEAGUE TOURNAMENT BERTH ON THE LINE: The Bison will be battling Western Illinois this weekend for the fourth and final spot in The Summit League baseball tournament. NDSU is currently a game back of WIU (10-17) in the standings at 9-18, but the Leathernecks hold the tiebreaker by virtue of their 4-2 season series record against NDSU. The Bison will need to either sweep the Mavs or take two of three games from UNO, depending on WIU's league series at Summit League regular season champion Oral Roberts May 14-16. If ORU sweeps WIU, NDSU would only need to win two contests against UNO, but if WIU takes one game from ORU, the Bison would need to sweep the Mavs to gain entry into the league tournament. Should WIU win more than one contest at Oral Roberts, NDSU would be eliminated from postseason contention.
SCOUTING OMAHA: The Mavs enter the three-game series with the Bison at 18-28 overall and 11-16 in Summit League competition after dropping two of three games at Western Illinois last weekend. UNO has dropped 10 of its last 11 games. Cole Gruber (.403, 60 H, 7 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 17 RBI, 31 BB, 20 SB), Alex Schultz (.325, 63 H, 11 2B, 1 3B, 3 HR, 22 RBI, 19 BB, 10 SB) and Clayton Taylor (.299, 52 H, 6 2B, 2 3B, 6 HR, 36 RBI, 21 BB) lead Omaha at the plate through 46 games. RHP Tyler Fox (4-4, 3.17 ERA, 76.2 IP, 67 H, 29 R, 27 ER, 32 BB, 65 SO, .2389 OBA) is scheduled to start on the mound for the Mavs in game one Friday, while RHP Zach Williamsen (7-6, 4.12 ERA, 1 CG, 74.1 IP, 85 H, 41 R, 34 ER, 21 BB, 58 SO, .287 OBA) is slated to get the ball in game two. The Mavs haven't announced a starter for Saturday's contest. As a team, the Mavericks are hitting .281 and have a .968 fielding percentage to go along with a 5.36 team ERA. UNO is under the direction head coach Bob Herold, who is in his 16th season at Omaha. He is the winningest coach in UNO baseball history.
CATCHING UP WITH THE BISON: The Bison are 18-28 overall and 9-18 in Summit League play entering Friday's doubleheader against the Mavs. Through 46 games, Taylor Sanders (.361, 39 H, 8 2B, 1 HR, 18 RBI), Ben Petersen (.350, 57 H, 7 2B, 3 HR, 21 RBI, 5 SB) and JT Core (.308, 28 H, 8 2B, 17 RBI) lead the Bison in the batter's box. The Bison are scheduled to throw RHP Sean Terres (0-1, 4.11 ERA, 15.1 IP, 18 H, 7 R, 7 ER, 12 BB, 11 SO) in game one and LHP Trent Keefer (3-6, 5.37 ERA, 1 CG, 60.1 IP, 84 H, 56 R, 36 ER, 16 BB, 50 SO) in game two Friday. RHP David Ernst (2-9, 5.16 ERA, 2 CG, 75.0 IP, 97 H, 62 R, 43 ER, 36 BB, 44 SO) is slated to tow the rubber for the regular season finale Saturday. As a team, the Bison are hitting .264 and have a .951 fielding percentage to go along with a 5.03 team ERA.
CLOSING THE DOOR: Bison closer Trevor Jaunich is a perfect 2-0 with two saves and a 2.31 ERA in his last five relief appearances. The Delano, Minn., native has struck out nine batters and allowed no walks and just three earned runs during that span.
CLUTCH HITTING: Bison freshman Brayden Resch delivered two walk-off hits for the Bison last week. The Saskatchewan native hit the game-winning walk-off RBI single to center field in NDSU's 5-4 10-inning triumph over Minnesota on Tuesday, May 5, before hitting the game-winning RBI single through the right side in the Bison's 3-2 11-inning win over South Dakota State May 9.
NDSU IN THE NCAA STATISTICS: In the latest NCAA national statistics, the Bison rank 13th out of 301 Division I baseball programs in double plays per game with 1.04 and 38th in total double plays with 48. Individually, David Ernst is second in the nation in games started with 14, and Paul Funk is 34th in sacrifice bunts per game (0.26) and 36th in total sacrifice bunts (11).
BISON IN THE SUMMIT LEAGUE STATS: Entering Friday, Taylor Sanders (.361) ranks fourth and Ben Petersen (.350) ranks eighth in The Summit League individual batting statistics ... RHP Brian VanderWoude is second in individual pitching with a 2.59 ERA in 15 games ... Juan Gamez is third in home runs with seven in 42 games ... Danny Regan is tied for fifth in triples with two in 41 games ... Drew Fearing is tied for sixth in stolen bases with nine in 34 games ... John Skrbec is tied for eighth in walks with 26 in 46 games ... RHP David Ernst ranks fourth in innings pitched at 75.0 ... Ernst leads the league in starts with 14 and is tied for first in complete game with two ... LHP Trent Keefer and LHP Parker Trewin are tied for third in complete games with one each.
TURNING TWO: The Bison have turned 11 double plays in their last six games. North Dakota State tallied three double plays in its 3-2 extra-inning win over South Dakota State May 9. It marked the fifth time in 2015 the Bison have turned three double plays in a game. Through 46 games, the Bison lead The Summit League in double plays with 48.
WORKING THE COUNT: John Skrbec leads the Bison and is tied for eighth in The Summit League in walks with 26 in 46 games. The Grand Rapids, Minn., native has 78 career free passes, ranking him second in the NDSU career record books.
52 AND COUNTING: John Skrbec has started 52 consecutive games at third base dating back to last season. The Grand Rapids, Minn., native has manned the hot corner in all 46 of NDSU's games this season. Skrbec is eighth in NDSU career games played with 174 and is ninth in career games started with 158.
POWER SURGE: Juan Gamez leads the Bison and is third in The Summit League lead in home runs through 46 games with seven. Two of Gamez's homers have been grand slams.
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 weekend, Ernst has 51 career starts.
SWINGING FOR THE FENCES: NDSU and its opponents have hit a combined 12 home runs at Newman Outdoor Field this season. The Bison have three round-trippers at home, while their adversaries have nine. That's a stark comparison to last season, when only one ball was hit out of the park.
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 COACH: North Dakota State head coach Tod Brown (Arizona, 1994) is in his eighth season with a 184-222 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
