Baseball | 3/28/2018 12:49:00 PM
Updated Schedule (as of Thursday, March 29)
Game 1: North Dakota State at Oral Roberts
Friday, March 30 | 3 p.m. | Tulsa, Okla. (J.L. Johnson Stadium)
Live Stats |
Live Video
Game 2: North Dakota State at Oral Roberts
Friday, March 30 | 6:30 p.m. (approx.) | Tulsa, Okla. (J.L. Johnson Stadium)
Live Stats |
Live Video
Game 3: North Dakota State at Oral Roberts
Saturday, March 31 | 2 p.m. | Tulsa, Okla. (J.L. Johnson Stadium)
TV: ESPN3 & KGEB Tulsa
Live Stats |
Live Video
NDSU Game Notes |
NDSU Baseball on Twitter
SCENE SETTER: North Dakota State (11-11, 4-2 Summit League) is slated to travel to Tulsa, Okla., to take on Summit League preseason favorite and defending regular season and tournament champion Oral Roberts (13-10, 4-2 Summit League) Friday, March 30, and Saturday, March 31, at J.L. Johnson Stadium. The two teams will play a doubleheader starting at 3 p.m. Friday to open the series, with the series finale slated for a 2 p.m. first pitch Saturday. The schedule was altered due to potential weather issues Saturday. NDSU and ORU were originally supposed to play a single game Friday and a doubleheader Saturday.
MEDIA COVERAGE: Live statistics and live video will be available for every game. In addition, ESPN3/KGEB Tulsa will air Saturday's series finale. For links, please visit www.GoBison.com.
SERIES HISTORY: The three-game series at Oral Roberts will mark meetings 42-44 in the all-time series that dates back to 2008. The Golden Eagles lead the series, 29-12. Last season NDSU posted a 2-5 record against ORU, dropping all three games in Tulsa before winning two of three games in Fargo. The Bison also fell to the Golden Eagles in The Summit League tournament championship game in Tulsa.
BISON NOTES: North Dakota State enters the weekend with an overall record of 11-11 and a Summit League record of 4-2 after sweeping a three-game series at Fort Wayne March 23-25 ... Through 22 games, the Bison are led at the plate by senior infielders
Mason Pierzchalski (.333 avg., 8 R, 28 H, 7 2B, 2 3B, 2 HR, 19 RBI, .536 SLG%, 10 BB, 1 SB) and
Drew Fearing (.282 avg., 12 R, 22 H, 3 2B, 1 HR, 8 RBI, 14 BB, 2 HBP, 3 SB), and redshirt junior outfielder
Jayse McLean (.266 avg., 16 R, 21 H, 4 2B, 2 3B, 1 HR, 11 RBI, 11 BB, 2 HBP, 2 SB) ... On the mound, NDSU is led by sophomore RHP
Riley Johnson (4.21 ERA, 3-3, 2 CG, 1 SHO, 36.1 IP, 36 H, 22 R, 17 ER, 15 BB, 27 SO), senior LHP
Blake Stockert (2.57 ERA, 2-1, 21.0 IP, 20 H, 7 R, 6 ER, 8 BB, 16 SO) and senior closer
Kevin Folman (1.23 ERA, 1-0, 4 SV, 14.2 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 16 SO) ... Johnson is the reigning Summit League Pitcher of the Week ... North Dakota State has a .247 team batting average and 4.57 team ERA ... The Bison were picked to finish third in The Summit League preseason poll.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT: The Oral Roberts University Golden Eagles enter the weekend with an overall record of 13-10 and a Summit League tally of 4-2 after losing at Little Rock Tuesday in a non-league game, 5-2 ... Through 23 games, ORU is led offensively by sophomore infielder/pitcher Spencer Henson (.357 avg., 10 R, 30 H, 4 2B, 4 HR, 24 RBI, 9 BB, 1 SB), junior infielder Cal Hernandez (.337 avg., 15 R, 29 H, 4 2B, 1 HR, 13 RBI, 9 BB) and senior outfielder Noah Cummings (.283 avg., 16 R, 26 H, 3 2B, 1 3B, 4 HR, 23 RBI, 7 BB, 3 SB) ... On the mound, the Golden Eagles are paced by senior RHP Justin McGregor (2.73 ERA, 2-0, 33.0 IP, 25 H, 10 R, 10 ER, 12 BB, 28 SO), junior reliever Grant Townsend (2.70 ERA, 2-0, 23.1 IP, 14 H, 7 R, 7 ER, 8 BB, 34 SO) and senior closer Kyler Stout (4.09 ERA, 2-1, 5 SV, 11.0 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 6 BB, 21 SO) ... Henson leads The Summit League in RBI and is tied for the lead in home runs, while Cummings is also tied for the league lead in homers ... Townsend paces the league in ERA, and Stout is first in the league in saves ... Oral Roberts has Summit League-best .263 team batting average and a 4.65 team ERA ... ORU was picked first in The Summit League preseason poll ... Oral Roberts is under the direction of sixth season head coach Ryan Folmar.
SUMMIT LEAGUE WEEKLY HONORS: Player of the Week: IF
Mason Pierzchalski (March 4), OF
Logan Busch (Feb. 26);
Pitcher of the Week: RHP
Riley Johnson (Feb. 26, March 26)
TURNING TWO: The Bison lead The Summit League and rank seventh in NCAA Division I baseball in double plays turned through 22 games this season with 28. NDSU is fourth in double plays per game with 1.27 turned per game. North Dakota State set a new single-season record with 53 double plays in 2017.
PIERZCHALSKI AMONG LEAGUE LEADERS: Through 22 games,
Mason Pierzchalski leads The Summit League with seven doubles, is tied for third in both hits (28) and RBI (19), and tied for fifth in batting average (.333).
ELSENPETER ACCELERATING IN LEAGUE PLAY: Matt Elsenpeter is hitting a team-high .409 in NDSU's six Summit League games. The Watertown, Minn., native has three runs, nine hits, two doubles and three RBI in league action heading into this weekend's series at Oral Roberts.
HOSTETLER, FEARING HEATING UP AT THE PLATE IN LEAGUE ACTION: Bennett Hostetler and
Drew Fearing are both hitting over .300 through six Summit League games. Hostetler has a .318 average with five runs, seven hits, one double, one triple, three RBI and four walks while Fearing is hitting .300 with four runs, six hits, one double, four RBI and eight walks.
GETTING ON BASE ... THE PAINFUL WAY: A Summit League-high 23 NDSU batters have reached base via hit by pitch through 22 games this season. Individually,
Matt Elsenpeter is tied for third in the league with five hit by pitches while
Bennett Hostetler is tied for sixth with four hit by pitches and
Sean Noel is tied for ninth with three hit by pitches.
TRIPLE LEADERS: Through 22 games, NDSU leads The Summit League and ranks 25th nationally with nine triples.
Bennett Hostetler,
Tucker Rohde,
Jayse McLean and
Mason Pierzchalski lead the team with two triples each, while
Alec Abercrombie has hit one triple.
DEFENDING AT A HIGH LEVEL: Through six Summit League games, the Bison have only committed two errors for an impressive .991 fielding percentage. On the season, NDSU leads The Summit League with a .978 fielding percentage in 22 games.
NOTABLE HITTING STREAKS: Alec Abercrombie has tallied at least one hit in his last four games, while
Mason Pierzchalski,
Bennett Hostetler,
Matt Elsenpeter and
Tucker Rohde has each hit safely in their last three contests.
NOTABLE REACHED BASE STREAKS: Logan Busch has reached base safely in his last seven games.
JOHNSON THROWS SIXTH NO-HITTER IN PROGRAM HISTORY: Riley Johnson tossed the sixth no-hitter in NDSU program history, and the first no-hitter of the 2018 college baseball season in NDSU's 2-0 win over Central Connecticut State Feb. 23. Johnson was the first Bison to throw a no-no since Jay Mitchell accomplished the feat against Augustana (S.D.) in 2004. During his nine, no-hit innings, Johnson collected a career-high eight strikeouts while tallying only one walk. For his efforts, he was named one of Collegiate Baseball's National Players of the Week.
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
Logan Busch 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 is in his 11th season as the head coach for the Bison and has a 258-284 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)
