Game 1: North Dakota State vs. Central Michigan
Friday, March 11 | 3 p.m. ET (2 p.m. CT)
North Charlotte Regional Park Field 6 | Port Charlotte, Fla.
Live Stats

Game 2: North Dakota State vs. Western Michigan
Saturday, March 12 | 10 a.m. ET (9 a.m. CT)
North Charlotte Regional Park Field 6 | Port Charlotte, Fla.
Live Stats

Game 3: North Dakota State vs. Michigan State
Sunday, March 13 | 12 p.m. ET (11 a.m. CT)
North Charlotte Regional Park Field 3 | Port Charlotte, Fla.
Live Stats

NDSU Notes (PDF) | Snowbird Baseball Classic Information

NDSU baseball on Twitter: @NDSUbaseball

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            SCENE SETTER: The North Dakota State baseball team (8-3) continues its Florida road trip with three games in the Snowbird Baseball Classic March 11-13 in Port Charlotte. The Bison face Central Michigan on Friday, March 11, at 3 p.m. ET, Western Michigan on Saturday, March 12, at 10 a.m. ET, and Michigan State on Sunday, March 13, at noon ET. All games will be played at North Charlotte Regional Park.
 
            MEDIA COVERAGE: Live statistics will be available for all games this weekend in the Snowbird Baseball Classic. For links, please visit www.GoBison.com.
 
            SERIES RECORDS: Central Michigan - Friday's contest against the Chippewas will be the third meeting in the all-time series. The Bison lead the series, 2-0, after defeating Central Michigan, 7-3, in the RussMat Central Florida Invitational during the 2010 season ... Western Michigan - Saturday's contest against the Broncos will be the first-ever meeting between NDSU and WMU on the diamond ... Michigan State - Sunday's game against the Spartans will mark the inaugural meeting between NDSU and MSU in baseball.
 
            CATCHING UP WITH THE BISON: North Dakota State enters the weekend at 8-3 overall after going 2-2 in the Snowbird Baseball Classic last weekend ... The Bison defeated Maine, 4-3, and Boston College, 4-2, but lost to St. Bonaventure twice, 6-1 and 2-0 ... Through 11 games, infielders Mason Pierzchalski (.293, 12 H, 4 R, 2 2B, 7 RBI, 4 BB) Drew Fearing (.282, 11 H, 7 R, 1 2B, 6 RBI, 6 BB, 3 SB) and Brayden Resch (.278, 10 H, 7 R, 1 2B, 1 HR, 9 RBI, 9 BB), and outfielder Jayse McLean (.281, 9 H, 4 R, 1 2B, 5 RBI, 6 BB) lead the Bison offensively, while RHP Reed Pfannenstein (1.93 ERA, 1-0, 14.0 IP, 11 H, 3 ER, 9 SO, 6 BB), LHP Zach Mayo (1.74 ERA, 0-0, 10.1 IP, 13 H, 2 ER, 18 SO, 3 BB) and RHP Brian VanderWoude (3.60 ERA, 3-0, 10.0 IP, 9 H, 4 ER, 9 SO, 4 BB) pace North Dakota State on the mound ... As a team, the Bison are hitting .221, and have a Summit League-low team ERA of 2.65.
 
            SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS: Central Michigan - The Chippewas enter Friday at 2-10 overall after defeating Butler on Wednesday, 8-3, in the Snowbird Baseball Classic ... Through 12 games, infielder Zach McKinstry (.327, 16 H, 4 2B, 7 RBI) and infielder/outfielder Daniel Jipping (.270, 10 H, 3 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 7 RBI) lead CMU at the plate, while LHP Nick Deeg (5.19 ERA, 0-3, 17.1 IP, 21 H, 10 ER, 21 SO, 3 BB) and RHP Sean Renzi (7.50 ERA, 1-2, 12.0 IP, 16 H, 10 ER, 16 SO, 10 BB) pace Central Michigan on the mound. As a team, the Chippewas are hitting .281 and have 7.35 team ERA ...Central Michigan is under the leadership of 14th season head coach Steve Jaksa ... Western Michigan - The Broncos are 1-9 entering the weekend after beating Georgetown on Wednesday in the Snowbird Baseball Classic, 12-4 ...  WMU will take on Illinois State and St. Joseph's before battling the Bison ... Through 10 contests, the Broncos are paced offensively by infielder Grant Miller (.357, 15 H, 3 2B, 6 RBI, 3 BB) ... RHP Jack Szott (1.98 ERA, 0-1, 13.2 IP, 14 H, 3 ER, 7 SO, 2 BB) and LHP Keegan Akin (2.00 ERA, 0-2, 18.0 IP, 13 H, 4 ER, 23 SO, 5 BB) lead the Western Michigan pitching staff. WMU is hitting .257 and has a team ERA of 5.63 ... Western Michigan  is under the direction of sixth season head coach Billy Gernon ... Michigan State - The Spartans are 10-1 entering the weekend after defeating Florida Gulf Coast on Wednesday in the Snowbird Baseball Classic, 7-6 ... Through 11 games, utility player Alex Troop (.390, 16 H, 10 R, 6 2B, 1 HR, 13 RBI, 8 BB), infielder Jordan Zimmerman (.400, 18 H, 15 R, 5 2B, 7 RBI, 6 SB) and outfielder/LHP Brandon Hughes (.341, 15 H, 12 R, 1 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 11 RBI) lead MSU in the batter's box, while RHP Walter Borkovich (0.93 ERA, 3-0, 19.1 IP, 10 H, 2 ER, 13 SO, 6 BB) and LHP Cam Vieaux (1.10 ERA, 1-1, 16.1 IP, 16 H, 2 ER, 14 SO, 2 BB) lead the Spartans on the mound. Michigan State is hitting .332 and has a team ERA of 1.56 ... MSU is led by eighth season head coach Jake Boss Jr.
 
            SOPHOMORE SLUGGERS: Sophomores Mason Pierzchalski (.293), Drew Fearing (.282), Jayse McLean (.281) and Brayden Resch (.278) lead the Bison in batting average through 11 games.
 
            PATROLLING THE BASE PATHS: NDSU catcher Juan Gamez has thrown out a team-high eight opposing base runners in 14 stolen base attempts against this season.
 
            SHUTTING THE DOOR: Four different North Dakota State relievers have tallied at least one save through seven contests. Sean Terres leads the Bison with three saves, while Blake Stockert, Jordan Harms and Dalton England each have one save.
 
            MAKING A COMEBACK: Bison left-handed pitcher Zach Mayo has a 1.74 ERA with a team-high 18 strikeouts and just three walks in three appearances, including two starts, and 10.1 innings pitched this season after sitting out all of last season due to injury.
 
            NOTABLE HITTING AND ON BASE STREAKS: Hitting - None; On Base - Brayden Resch: 10
 
            WEEKLY HONORS: North Dakota State right-handed relief pitcher Luke Lind was named The Summit League Pitcher of the Week for his performance during the season-opening weekend Feb. 19-21. Lind collected his first Pitcher of the Week award after notching his first career win in NDSU's 8-7 extra inning win at Arkansas-Pine Bluff. He struck out a career-high five batters over 4.2 innings of work while allowing no runs and surrendering just four hits.
 
            NDSU WELCOMES EIGHT NEWCOMERS IN 2016: Eight newcomers, including six pitchers and two position players, join the Bison for the 2016 season ... Pitchers include right-handers Dalton England (Gilbert, Ariz.), Alex Rogers (Nanaimo, British Columbia), Logan McShane (Greenfield, Wis.), Nick Salentine (Fargo, N.D.), Jordan Harms (Hitterdal, Minn.) and Blake Tritch (Chaska, Minn.) ... Position players are Alec Abercrombie (Shoreview, Minn.) and Logan Busch (Inver Grove Heights, Minn.).
 
            PRESEASON PICKS: North Dakota State was picked to finish fifth in The Summit League in a preseason poll of the league's six head coaches. Oral Roberts was picked first after claiming the league's regular season and postseason tournament championships last season. The Golden Eagles received all five of its possible first-place votes. Fort Wayne, last season's tournament runner-up, was picked second. South Dakota State was slotted third with the final first-place tally, followed by Omaha, the Bison and Western Illinois. NDSU welcomes back second team All-Summit League outfielder Ben Petersen.

            SIX CONSECUTIVE 20-WIN SEASONS: North Dakota State has reached the 20-win mark six straight seasons. The Bison have qualified for five straight Summit League tournaments, winning the tournament championship in 2014 and reaching the championship game in three of the last four seasons. This is NDSU's ninth season in The Summit League after three seasons as a Division I independent.
 
            THE COACH:  North Dakota State head coach Tod Brown (Arizona, 1994) is in his ninth season with a 194-227 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
• Five consecutive Summit League tournament appearances
• Winning percentage of .518 the past four seasons
• 18 All-Summit League honorees, six first team selections
• 18 players who signed professional contracts
• Coached three NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship recipients: Wes Satzinger (2014), John Straka (2013) and Kole Zimmerman (2008)

 
            UP NEXT: The Bison wrap up their Florida road swing with a game against Army on Tuesday, March 15, at Jack Russell Stadium in Clearwater.