Friday, May 8
Fargo, N.D.
6:30 p.m.
North Dakota State
vs
South Dakota State
Players Mentioned
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C/U
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Photo by: Tyler Ingham
Bison Face South Dakota State in Crucial Summit League Series Starting Friday Night
5/7/2015 1:52:00 PM | Baseball
Complete NDSU Game Notes (PDF) | Complete SDSU Game Notes (PDF)
Live Stats: Friday | Saturday | Sunday
Live Video (all games)
THIS WEEKEND: The North Dakota State University baseball team (17-26, 8-16 Summit League) will host Summit League rival South Dakota State (28-18, 15-9 Summit League) in a critical three-game series at Newman Outdoor Field May 8-10. The series opener is scheduled for Friday at 6:30 p.m., with games two and three slated for Saturday and Sunday at 1 p.m.
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-game series against the Jackrabbits will be meetings 164-166 in the all-time series dating back to 1956. The Jacks lead the series, 105-58, after posting a three-game series sweep of the Bison April 10-12 in Brookings, S.D.
SCOUTING SOUTH DAKOTA STATE: The Jackrabbits enter the weekend series with the Bison at 28-18 overall and 15-9 in Summit League competition after taking two of three games from Western Illinois May 1-3 in Brookings. Through 46 games, Zach Coppola (.395, 68 H, 5 2B, 1 3B, 28 RBI, 33 BB, 34 SB), Eric Danforth (.343, 48 H, 8 2B, 2 3B, 21 RBI) and Luke Ringhofer (.331, 44 H, 7 2B, 1 3B, 3 HR, 40 RBI, .466 SLG%, 22 BB) lead the Jacks at the plate. Coppola leads The Summit League in hits and stolen bases and is tied for third in walks entering Friday's game. The Jacks are slated to start RHP Adam Bray (6-3, 2.63 ERA, 2 CG, 75.1 IP, 65 H, 30 R, 22 ER, 17 BB, 62 SO) Friday, LHP Chris Anderson (6-2, 3.88 ERA, 62.2 IP, 71 H, 37 R, 27 ER, 27 BB, 47 SO) Saturday and RHP Ryan Froom (5-2, 3.00 ERA, 1 CG, 54.0 IP, 59 H, 24 R, 18 ER, 16 BB, 39 SO) Sunday. As a team, the Jackrabbits are hitting .294 and have a .967 fielding percentage to go along with a 4.03 team ERA. South Dakota State is under the direction head coach Dave Schrage, who is in his fourth season at SDSU.
CATCHING UP WITH THE BISON: The Bison are 17-26 overall and 8-16 in Summit League play after defeating Minnesota, 5-4 in 10 innings, on Tuesday, May 5, at Newman Outdoor Field, extending their season-best winning streak to seven games. Through 43 games, Ben Petersen (.351, 53 H, 6 2B, 3 HR, 20 RBI, 5 SB), Taylor Sanders (.350, 36 H, 8 2B, 1 HR, 17 RBI) and JT Core (.301, 25 H, 6 2B, 15 RBI) lead the Bison in the batter's box. The Bison are scheduled to throw RHP Sean Terres (0-0, 0.84 ERA, 10.2 IP, 11 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 7 BB, 8 SO) in the series opener Friday, LHP Trent Keefer (3-5, 5.74 ERA, 1 CG, 53.1 IP, 79 H, 53 R, 34 ER, 15 BB, 40 SO) in game two Saturday and RHP David Ernst (2-9, 5.64 ERA, 2 CG, 67.0 IP, 90 H, 61 R, 42 ER, 33 BB, 40 SO) in the series finale Sunday. As a team, the Bison are hitting .265 and have a .952 fielding percentage to go along with a 5.21 team ERA.
CLOSING THE DOOR: Bison closer Trevor Jaunich is a perfect 2-0 with one save and a 2.25 ERA in his last three relief appearances. The Delano, Minn., native has struck out seven batters and allowed no walks and no earned runs during that span. In NDSU's 5-4 triumph over Minnesota Tuesday, Jaunich entered the game with no outs and runners on first and third in the top of the eighth inning and proceeded to strikeout the side. He also worked around runners on second and third with two outs in the top of the 10th by inducing a pop-fly foul out.
ERNST NAMED SUMMIT LEAGUE PITCHER OF THE WEEK: RHP David Ernst was named The Summit League Pitcher of the Week for his performance April 27-May 3. Ernst gathered his first Pitcher of the Week award this season, and third of his career, after a complete game victory to conclude North Dakota State's series sweep of Fort Wayne. In the 2-1 win on Sunday, he yielded just three hits, two walks, and one earned run while fanning a season-high six batters. Ernst also threw two scoreless innings with three strikeouts in NDSU's mid-week non-league victory over Mayville State. For the week, he registered a 0.82 ERA with nine strikeouts in 11.0 innings of work while surrendering just five hits over that span.
BISON IN THE SUMMIT LEAGUE STATS: Entering Friday - Ben Petersen (.351) ranks fourth and Taylor Sanders (.350) ranks sixth in The Summit League individual batting statistics ... RHP Brian VanderWoude is second in individual pitching with a 2.76 ERA in 14 games ... Juan Gamez is tied for second in home runs with seven in 40 games ... Danny Regan is tied for fifth in triples with two in 38 games ... Drew Fearing ranks sixth in stolen bases with nine in 34 games ... John Skrbec is tied for sixth in walks with 25 in 43 games ... RHP David Ernst ranks fifth in innings pitched at 67.0 ... VanderWoude is fourth in strikeouts with 43 in 14 games (8.47/game) ... Ernst leads the league in starts with 13 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 ... VanderWoude is tied for second in opponent batting average at .236.
TURNING TWO: The Bison have turned six double plays in their last three games. North Dakota State tallied three double plays in its 6-4 win over Fort Wayne on May 1. It marked the fourth time in 2015 the Bison have turned three double plays in a game. Through 43 games, the Bison rank second in The Summit League in double plays with 43, one behind the Jackrabbits of South Dakota State, who lead the league with 44 DPs.
CONSISTENCY AT THE PLATE: Freshman infielder Drew Fearing hit .389 in five games last week, going 7-for-18 at the plate. The Osakis, Minn., native went a perfect 3-for-3 at the plate with a double, two runs scored, two walks and a stolen base in the 6-4 series-opening win over Fort Wayne on Friday.
WORKING THE COUNT: John Skrbec leads the Bison and is tied for sixth in The Summit League in walks with 25 in 43 games. The Grand Rapids, Minn., native has 77 career free passes, ranking him second in the NDSU career record books.
49 AND COUNTING: John Skrbec has started 49 consecutive games at third base dating back to last season. The Grand Rapids, Minn., native has manned the hot corner in all 43 of NDSU's games this season. Skrbec is tied for eighth in NDSU career games played with 171 and is ninth in career games started with 155.
POWER SURGE: Juan Gamez leads the Bison and is tied for the Summit League lead in home runs through 40 games with seven. Two of Gamez's homers have been grand slams.
STELLAR OUTING: Bison right-handed reliever Brian VanderWoude improved to 3-1 overall after pitching five innings in NDSU's 6-4 win over Fort Wayne on Friday, May 1. The Burnsville, Minn., native surrendered no earned runs on six hits while recording four strikeouts and two walks.
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 Tuesday's game with Minnesota, Ernst has 50 career starts.
SWINGING FOR THE FENCES: NDSU and its opponents have hit a combined 11 home runs at Newman Outdoor Field this season. The Bison have three round-trippers at home, while their adversaries have eight. 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 183-220 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)
THIS WEEKEND: The North Dakota State University baseball team (17-26, 8-16 Summit League) will host Summit League rival South Dakota State (28-18, 15-9 Summit League) in a critical three-game series at Newman Outdoor Field May 8-10. The series opener is scheduled for Friday at 6:30 p.m., with games two and three slated for Saturday and Sunday at 1 p.m.
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-game series against the Jackrabbits will be meetings 164-166 in the all-time series dating back to 1956. The Jacks lead the series, 105-58, after posting a three-game series sweep of the Bison April 10-12 in Brookings, S.D.
SCOUTING SOUTH DAKOTA STATE: The Jackrabbits enter the weekend series with the Bison at 28-18 overall and 15-9 in Summit League competition after taking two of three games from Western Illinois May 1-3 in Brookings. Through 46 games, Zach Coppola (.395, 68 H, 5 2B, 1 3B, 28 RBI, 33 BB, 34 SB), Eric Danforth (.343, 48 H, 8 2B, 2 3B, 21 RBI) and Luke Ringhofer (.331, 44 H, 7 2B, 1 3B, 3 HR, 40 RBI, .466 SLG%, 22 BB) lead the Jacks at the plate. Coppola leads The Summit League in hits and stolen bases and is tied for third in walks entering Friday's game. The Jacks are slated to start RHP Adam Bray (6-3, 2.63 ERA, 2 CG, 75.1 IP, 65 H, 30 R, 22 ER, 17 BB, 62 SO) Friday, LHP Chris Anderson (6-2, 3.88 ERA, 62.2 IP, 71 H, 37 R, 27 ER, 27 BB, 47 SO) Saturday and RHP Ryan Froom (5-2, 3.00 ERA, 1 CG, 54.0 IP, 59 H, 24 R, 18 ER, 16 BB, 39 SO) Sunday. As a team, the Jackrabbits are hitting .294 and have a .967 fielding percentage to go along with a 4.03 team ERA. South Dakota State is under the direction head coach Dave Schrage, who is in his fourth season at SDSU.
CATCHING UP WITH THE BISON: The Bison are 17-26 overall and 8-16 in Summit League play after defeating Minnesota, 5-4 in 10 innings, on Tuesday, May 5, at Newman Outdoor Field, extending their season-best winning streak to seven games. Through 43 games, Ben Petersen (.351, 53 H, 6 2B, 3 HR, 20 RBI, 5 SB), Taylor Sanders (.350, 36 H, 8 2B, 1 HR, 17 RBI) and JT Core (.301, 25 H, 6 2B, 15 RBI) lead the Bison in the batter's box. The Bison are scheduled to throw RHP Sean Terres (0-0, 0.84 ERA, 10.2 IP, 11 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 7 BB, 8 SO) in the series opener Friday, LHP Trent Keefer (3-5, 5.74 ERA, 1 CG, 53.1 IP, 79 H, 53 R, 34 ER, 15 BB, 40 SO) in game two Saturday and RHP David Ernst (2-9, 5.64 ERA, 2 CG, 67.0 IP, 90 H, 61 R, 42 ER, 33 BB, 40 SO) in the series finale Sunday. As a team, the Bison are hitting .265 and have a .952 fielding percentage to go along with a 5.21 team ERA.
CLOSING THE DOOR: Bison closer Trevor Jaunich is a perfect 2-0 with one save and a 2.25 ERA in his last three relief appearances. The Delano, Minn., native has struck out seven batters and allowed no walks and no earned runs during that span. In NDSU's 5-4 triumph over Minnesota Tuesday, Jaunich entered the game with no outs and runners on first and third in the top of the eighth inning and proceeded to strikeout the side. He also worked around runners on second and third with two outs in the top of the 10th by inducing a pop-fly foul out.
ERNST NAMED SUMMIT LEAGUE PITCHER OF THE WEEK: RHP David Ernst was named The Summit League Pitcher of the Week for his performance April 27-May 3. Ernst gathered his first Pitcher of the Week award this season, and third of his career, after a complete game victory to conclude North Dakota State's series sweep of Fort Wayne. In the 2-1 win on Sunday, he yielded just three hits, two walks, and one earned run while fanning a season-high six batters. Ernst also threw two scoreless innings with three strikeouts in NDSU's mid-week non-league victory over Mayville State. For the week, he registered a 0.82 ERA with nine strikeouts in 11.0 innings of work while surrendering just five hits over that span.
BISON IN THE SUMMIT LEAGUE STATS: Entering Friday - Ben Petersen (.351) ranks fourth and Taylor Sanders (.350) ranks sixth in The Summit League individual batting statistics ... RHP Brian VanderWoude is second in individual pitching with a 2.76 ERA in 14 games ... Juan Gamez is tied for second in home runs with seven in 40 games ... Danny Regan is tied for fifth in triples with two in 38 games ... Drew Fearing ranks sixth in stolen bases with nine in 34 games ... John Skrbec is tied for sixth in walks with 25 in 43 games ... RHP David Ernst ranks fifth in innings pitched at 67.0 ... VanderWoude is fourth in strikeouts with 43 in 14 games (8.47/game) ... Ernst leads the league in starts with 13 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 ... VanderWoude is tied for second in opponent batting average at .236.
TURNING TWO: The Bison have turned six double plays in their last three games. North Dakota State tallied three double plays in its 6-4 win over Fort Wayne on May 1. It marked the fourth time in 2015 the Bison have turned three double plays in a game. Through 43 games, the Bison rank second in The Summit League in double plays with 43, one behind the Jackrabbits of South Dakota State, who lead the league with 44 DPs.
CONSISTENCY AT THE PLATE: Freshman infielder Drew Fearing hit .389 in five games last week, going 7-for-18 at the plate. The Osakis, Minn., native went a perfect 3-for-3 at the plate with a double, two runs scored, two walks and a stolen base in the 6-4 series-opening win over Fort Wayne on Friday.
WORKING THE COUNT: John Skrbec leads the Bison and is tied for sixth in The Summit League in walks with 25 in 43 games. The Grand Rapids, Minn., native has 77 career free passes, ranking him second in the NDSU career record books.
49 AND COUNTING: John Skrbec has started 49 consecutive games at third base dating back to last season. The Grand Rapids, Minn., native has manned the hot corner in all 43 of NDSU's games this season. Skrbec is tied for eighth in NDSU career games played with 171 and is ninth in career games started with 155.
POWER SURGE: Juan Gamez leads the Bison and is tied for the Summit League lead in home runs through 40 games with seven. Two of Gamez's homers have been grand slams.
STELLAR OUTING: Bison right-handed reliever Brian VanderWoude improved to 3-1 overall after pitching five innings in NDSU's 6-4 win over Fort Wayne on Friday, May 1. The Burnsville, Minn., native surrendered no earned runs on six hits while recording four strikeouts and two walks.
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 Tuesday's game with Minnesota, Ernst has 50 career starts.
SWINGING FOR THE FENCES: NDSU and its opponents have hit a combined 11 home runs at Newman Outdoor Field this season. The Bison have three round-trippers at home, while their adversaries have eight. 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 183-220 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)
Wednesday, March 11
Sunday, June 01
Sunday, June 01
Friday, May 30
