Baseball | 2/21/2018 5:32:00 PM
Snowbird Baseball Classic
Game 1: North Dakota State vs. Central Connecticut State
Friday, Feb. 23 | 1 p.m. ET | Punta Gorda, Fla. (South County Regional Park)
Live Stats
Game 2: North Dakota State vs. Central Connecticut State
Saturday, Feb. 24 | 3 p.m. ET | Port Charlotte, Fla. (North Charlotte Regional Park)
Live Stats
Game 3: North Dakota State vs. Central Connecticut State
Sunday, Feb. 25 | 11 a.m. ET | Punta Gorda, Fla. (South County Regional Park)
Live Stats
NDSU Game Notes (PDF) |
NDSU Baseball on Twitter
SCENE SETTER: North Dakota State (2-2) is scheduled to travel to Punta Gorda and Port Charlotte, Fla., to play a three-game series against the Central Connecticut State Blue Devils (0-0) Feb. 23-25 in the Snowbird Baseball Classic. The series opener is slated for 1 p.m. ET Friday, Feb. 23, with game two scheduled for 3 p.m. ET Saturday, Feb. 24. The series finale is set for 11 a.m. ET on Sunday, Feb. 25. Games one and three of the series will be played at South County Regional Park in Punta Gorda, while game two will take place at North Charlotte Regional Park in Port Charlotte.
MEDIA COVERAGE: Live statistics will be available for all three games against Central Connecticut State. Please visit GoBison.com for links. For more information on the Snowbird Baseball Classic, please visit SnowbirdBaseball.info.
SERIES RECORD: The three-game series will mark the inaugural three meetings on the diamond for the Bison and Blue Devils.
BISON NOTES: North Dakota State enters the weekend with an overall record of 2-2 after splitting a four-game series at Incarnate Word Feb. 16-18 in San Antonio, Texas ... Through four games, senior infielders
Drew Fearing (.412 avg., 3 R, 7 H, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 1 BB) and
Mason Pierzchalski (.294 avg., 1 R, 5 H, 1 2B, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 2 BB), redshirt junior outfielder
Jayse McLean (.333 avg., 4 R, 5 H, 2 RBI, 3 BB), and senior outfielder
Logan Busch (.278 avg., 1 R, 5 H, 3 2B, 3 RBI, 1 SF) lead the Bison at the plate ... On the mound, NDSU is paced by sophomore LHP
Parker Harm (0.00 ERA, 1-0, 5.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 3 SO), senior LHP
Chris Choles (0.00 ERA, 1 SV, 4.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 SO), redshirt sophomore LHP
Mitch O'Connor (1.50 ERA, 0-0, 6.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 3 SO) and senior RHP
Kevin Folman (0.00 ERA, 0-0, 1 SV, 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO) ... As a team, the Bison are hitting .236 and have a 2.31 team ERA, while their opponents are hitting just .191 with a 3.41 team ERA ... Through four contests, North Dakota State ranks fourth in The Summit League in hitting (.236 avg.) and second in team pitching (2.31 ERA) ... NDSU was picked to finish third in The Summit League preseason poll.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT: The Central Connecticut State University Blue Devils will open their 2018 season Friday against the Bison in Florida ... Last season, CCSU posted a 36-22 overall record and won the Northeast Conference (NEC) Champion with a 21-7 conference record ... The Blue Devils advanced to the NCAA tournament before falling to No. 6 TCU and Dallas Baptist in the Fort Worth Regional ... Central Connecticut State returns its second-best hitter from last season in senior infielder Dean Lockery (.330 avg., 51 R, 74 H, 22 2B, 2 3B, 2 HR, 30 RBI, 52 BB, 6 SB) and sophomore infielder TT Bowens, who ranked second on the team with six homers in 2017 ... On the mound, CCSU welcomes back starting RHP Mike Appel (4.52 ERA, 4-4, 1 CG, 1 SH, 75.2 IP, 76 H, 49 R, 38 ER, 40 BB, 49 SO) and junior left-handed closer Jared Gallagher (2.35 ERA, 3-1, 8 SV, 38.1 IP, 32 H, 13 R, 10 ER, 17 BB, 26 SO) ... The Blue Devils were picked to finish second in the NEC preseason poll ... CCSU is under the direction of 19th season head coach Charlie Hickey.
BISON WELCOME 13 NEWCOMERS in 2018: Thirteen newcomers, including six position players, five pitchers and two utility players, join NDSU for the 2018 season. Position players include infielders
Tyler Hillman (Pella, Iowa),
Sean Noel (Mahtomedi, Minn.),
Ryan Cornell (Omaha, Neb.) and
Jack Simonsen (Sioux Falls, S.D.), and outfielders
Zach Solano (Rapid City, S.D.) and
Thomas Krause (Rochester, Minn.). Pitchers include RHP
Tom Ginther (Baraboo, Wis.), RHP
Jake Drew (Alexandria, Minn.), LHP
Christian Rawlings (Plano, Texas), RHP
Gabe Pilla (Bloomington, Minn.) and LHP
Mitch O'Connor (Bloomington, Minn.). Utility players include
Zach Smith (Rochester, Minn.) and
Hunter Koep (Northfield, Minn.).
TURNING TWO: North Dakota State set a new single-season record with 53 double plays in 2017. The Bison have already turned seven double plays through four games this season. Their opponents have only converted two.
FEARING'S CAREER MILESTONE: Senior
Drew Fearing hit his first career home run in NDSU's 4-3 extra-inning victory at Incarnate Word Feb. 17. The Osakis, Minn., native hit the first pitch he saw in the top of the eighth inning over the left field wall, tying the game. Fearing has a team-best .588 slugging percentage through four games.
MCLEAN OFF TO A FAST START: After sitting out all of last season due to injury, redshirt junior
Jayse McLean is off to a fast start at the plate through four games, hitting .333 with four runs scored, five hits, two RBI and three walks.
BROWN APPROACHING COACHING MILESTONE: Eleventh-season head coach
Tod Brown is one victory shy of winning his 250th career game at North Dakota State. Brown has a coaching record of 249-275 entering the series against CCSU.
PIERZCHALSKI PICKING UP WHERE HE LEFT OFF: After leading NDSU at the plate in 2017, senior
Mason Pierzchalski is picking up where he left off in the batter's box at the end of last season. The Sammamish, Wash., native has five hits, a double and homer, and a team-best four RBI in his first four games this season.
BUSCH FINDING THE GAPS: Senior
Logan Busch has five hits, including three doubles, in his opening four contests of the season.
NOTABLE HITTING STREAKS: Drew Fearing and
Jayse McLean are riding four game hitting streaks entering the series against Central Connecticut State.
RECORD-BREAKING DEFENSE: The Bison defense tied the program's single-season record for fielding percentage last season at .973. North Dakota State only committed 55 errors in 56 games.
EIGHT CONSECUTIVE 20-WIN SEASONS: North Dakota State has reached the 20-win mark eight straight seasons. The Bison have qualified for six Summit League tournaments, winning the tournament championship in 2014 and reaching the championship game in four of the last six seasons. This is NDSU's 11th season in The Summit League after three seasons as a Division I independent.
PRESEASON PICKS: North Dakota State was picked to finish third in The Summit League Baseball Preseason Poll released Thursday, Feb. 8, by the league office. The Bison tallied 17 points in the poll. Defending Summit League regular season and tournament champion Oral Roberts was named the preseason favorite with 25 points and five first-place votes, while South Dakota State was tabbed second with 20 points and the final first-place vote. NDSU was third, while Western Illinois (14 points), Omaha (nine points) and Fort Wayne (five points) rounded out the poll.
PRESEASON HONORS: North Dakota State senior outfielder was named to The Summit League's Players to Watch List for the 2018 season. Busch, a native of Inver Grove Heights, Minn., was a first team all-league honoree in 2017.
THE COACH: Tod Brown (Arizona, 1994) is in his 11th season as the head coach for the Bison and has a 249-275 record at NDSU. 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
- Won school-record 19 Summit League games in 2017
- Combined record of 60-50 (.545) over the last two seasons (2016 and 2017)
- 91-47 (.659) record at home since 2010
- .529 winning percentage over the last six seasons
- Four Summit League championship game appearances in the past six seasons
- Six Summit League tournament appearances in the last seven years
- 25 All-Summit League honorees, including eight first team selections
- 21 players who have signed professional contracts
- Coached three NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship recipients: Wes Satzinger (2014), John Straka (2013) and Kole Zimmerman (2008)
