Game 1: North Dakota State at Abilene Christian
Friday, Feb. 24 | 4 p.m.
Abilene, Texas
Live Stats |
Live Video
Game 2: North Dakota State at Abilene Christian
Saturday, Feb. 25 | 2 p.m.
Abilene, Texas
Live Stats |
Live Video
Game 3: North Dakota State at Abilene Christian
Sunday, Feb. 26 | 1 p.m.
Abilene, Texas
Live Stats |
Live Video
NOTE: Game dates and times are subject to change
NDSU baseball on Twitter:
@NDSUbaseball
SCENE SETTER: The North Dakota State University baseball team (4-0) is scheduled to travel to Abilene, Texas, Feb. 24-26 for a three-game series at Abilene Christian University (0-4). The series opener is slated for Friday, Feb. 24, at 4 p.m., with game two scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 25, at 2 p.m. The series finale is slated for Sunday, Feb. 26, at 1 p.m.
MEDIA COVERAGE: Live statistics and live video will be available for all three games. For links, please visit www.GoBison.com.
SERIES RECORD: This is the first meeting between the Bison and Wildcats on the diamond.
BISON NOTES: The North Dakota State University Bison enter the weekend at 4-0 overall after sweeping a four-game series at Mississippi Valley State Feb. 17-19 in Itta Bena, Miss. ... Through four games, NDSU is led offensively by redshirt junior infielder
Matt Elsenpeter (.625 avg., 5 H, 2 R, 3 2B, 1 3B, 2 RBI, .700 OB%), junior infielder
Mason Pierzchalski (.438 avg., 7 H, 6 R, 1 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 5 RBI, .813 SLG%, .550 OB%), senior outfielder
Ben Petersen (.400 avg., 6 H, 6 R, 2 2B, 1 HR, 6 RBI, .733 SLG%, 4 BB), freshman infielder
Bennett Hostetler (.333 avg., 5 H, 2 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 2 SB) and junior infielder
Drew Fearing (.333 avg., 5 H, 6 R, 3 2B, 2 RBI, 2 SB) ... On the mound, NDSU is paced by redshirt senior LHP
Zach Mayo (1.80 ERA, 1-0, 5.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 7 SO), senior RHP
Reed Pfannenstein (3.60 ERA, 1-0, 5.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 SO), redshirt junior LHP
Chris Choles (0.00 ERA, 1 SV, 4.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 SO) and sophomore RHP
Jordan Harms (4.50 ERA, 4.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 5 SO) ... As a team, North Dakota State is hitting .319 while holding opponents to a .218 batting average. The Bison have a team ERA of 4.11 while their adversaries have a 7.71 ERA.
PIERZCHALSKI NAMED SUMMIT LEAGUE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: North Dakota State University junior infielder
Mason Pierzchalski was named Summit League Baseball Player of the Week for his opening weekend performance, Feb. 17-19.
- Earned his second career Player of the Week award
- Hit the eventual game-winning two-run triple in the top of the 10th inning in Saturday's 9-6 game one win at Mississippi Valley
- Had three multi-hit contests in the four-game series and scored at least one run in all four games
- For the week, he accounted for 12 runs (6 runs, 6 RBI) with seven hits, three walks and three extra base hits (2B, 3B, HR)
- Batted .438 (7-for-16) with a .550 on-base percentage and .812 slugging percentage
BISON 1660 TO BROADCAST MINIMUM OF 24 NDSU BASEBALL GAMES IN 2017: A minimum of 24 North Dakota State University baseball games will air live on Bison 1660 AM during the 2017 season, NDSU athletics and Radio FM Media announced Monday, Feb. 20. Bison 1660 will broadcast 24 regular season contests and all postseason games over the air, online at Bison1660.com, and on the Bison 1660 app. The inaugural North Dakota State baseball broadcast will be on Tuesday, Feb. 28 when the Bison take on Minnesota in Minneapolis at U.S. Bank Stadium. The "Voice of the Bison"
Jeff Culhane will call the action, with Bison 1660 on-air personality
Keith Brake providing color commentary. All broadcasts will feature a 30-minute pregame show.
Complete broadcast schedule
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT: The Abilene Christian University Wildcats enter the weekend at 0-4 overall after dropping four games to Michigan State Feb. 17-19 in Abilene, Texas ... Through four games, the Wildcats are paced at the plate by junior catcher
Luis Trevino (.571 avg., 8 H, 5 R, 3 2B, 5 RBI, .786 SLG%, .667 OB%), senior infielder
Russell Crippen (.389 avg., 7 H, 2 R, 1 2B, 1 HR, 4 RBI, .611 SLG%) and sophomore infielder
Koby Claborn (.357 avg., 5 H, 1 2B, 4 RBI) ... On the mound, ACU is led by redshirt junior LHP
Austin Lambright (0.00 ERA, 4.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 9 SO) and freshman RHP
Ryan Kotulek (3.00 ERA, 3.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 2 SO) ... As a team, the Wildcats are hitting .262 while their opponents are hitting .401. ACU has an 11.25 team ERA while its adversaries have a 3.50 team ERA ... ACU finished last season with an overall record of 16-37 and went 8-21 in Southland Conference play ... The Wildcats were picked to finish 12th out of 13 teams in the Southland Conference Preseason Coaches' and SID Polls ... Abilene Christian is under the leadership of 20th season head coach
Britt Bonneau.
NORTH DAKOTA STATE WELCOMES 14 NEWCOMERS IN 2017: Fourteen newcomers, including eight position players and six pitchers, join the Bison for the 2017 season. Position players include infielders
Bennett Hostetler (Bozeman, Mont.),
Charley Hesse (Mendota Heights, Minn.) and
Tucker Rohde (Scottsdale, Ariz.); outfielder
Carter Thompson (Fargo, N.D.); catchers
Nick Emanuel (Esko, Minn.),
Jake Malec (Proctor, Minn.) and
Calvin Kalthoff (Cold Spring, Minn.); and infielder/outfielder
Axel Twenge (Minnetonka, Minn.). ... Pitchers include left-hander
Mitch O'Connor (Bloomington, Minn.), and right-handers
Ryan Olson (Halstad, Minn.),
Riley Johnson (Apple Valley, Minn.),
Devin Foster (Broomfield, Colo.),
Austin Truso (Prior Lake, Minn.) and
Kyle Ferderer (Savage, Minn.).
DITCH AND KEEFER JOIN NDSU COACHING STAFF: In addition to 14 new student-athletes, the Bison also have two new coaches for 2017.
Jeff Ditch, who has coached college baseball for over 24 years, is the new hitting coach for North Dakota State, while former Bison left-handed pitcher
Trent Keefer is a volunteer assistant coach. Ditch joined the Bison after serving as head coach for 11 seasons at Indiana University-Pennsylvania, where he was the all-time winningest coach in program history, recording 253 wins. He also spent time at West Virginia, Cincinnati and Penn State as an assistant.
SEVEN CONSECUTIVE 20-WIN SEASONS: North Dakota State has reached the 20-win mark seven straight seasons. The Bison have qualified for five Summit League tournaments, winning the tournament championship in 2014 and reaching the championship game in three of the last five seasons. This is NDSU's 10th season in The Summit League after three seasons as a Division I independent.
PRESEASON PICKS: The North Dakota State University baseball team was picked to finish third in The Summit League Baseball Preseason Coaches' Poll released on Thursday, Feb. 9, by the league office. The Bison tallied 17 points in the poll, which was voted on by the league's six head coaches. Defending Summit League regular season and tournament champion Oral Roberts was picked first and tallied 25 points with five first-place votes, while South Dakota State was second with 18 points and received the final first-place vote. NDSU was third, followed by Omaha (13 points), Western Illinois (nine points) and Fort Wayne (eight points).
THE COACH: Tod Brown (Arizona, 1994) is in his 10th season as the head coach for the Bison with a 219-249 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 Summit League championship game appearances in the past five seasons
- Five Summit League tournament appearances in the last six years
- Winning percentage of .520 the past five seasons
- 20 All-Summit League honorees, including seven first team selections
- 19 players who signed professional contracts
- Coached three NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship recipients: Wes Satzinger (2014), John Straka (2013) and Kole Zimmerman (2008)
