Friday, April 20
Omaha, Neb.
1 p.m.
North Dakota State
vs
Western Illinois
Players Mentioned
OF
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
C
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
P
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
P
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
P
/ Baseball
Photo by: Zachary Lucy
NDSU Baseball and Western Illinois Square Off in Three-Game Series in Omaha April 20-22
4/19/2018 10:17:00 AM | Baseball
Game 1: North Dakota State vs. Western Illinois
Friday, April 20 | 1 p.m. | Omaha, Neb. (Seymour Smith Park)
Live Stats
Game 2: North Dakota State vs. Western Illinois
Saturday, April 21 | 1 p.m. | Omaha, Neb. (Seymour Smith Park)
Live Stats
Game 3: North Dakota State vs. Western Illinois
Sunday, April 22 | 1 p.m. | Omaha, Neb. (Seymour Smith Park)
Live Stats
NDSU Game Notes | NDSU Baseball on Twitter
SCENE SETTER: North Dakota State University (13-16, 6-7 Summit League) is scheduled to take on the Western Illinois University Leathernecks (7-21, 5-6 Summit League) in a three-game Summit League series April 20-22 at Seymour Smith Park in Omaha, Neb. The series was originally slated to be played at Newman Outdoor Field in Fargo, but the prolonged winter weather conditions forced the two teams to relocate to Omaha for the weekend. All three games in the series are scheduled to start at 1 p.m. Friday, April 20, Saturday, April 21, and Sunday, April 22.
MEDIA COVERAGE: Live statistics will be available for all three games in the series. For links, please visit www.GoBison.com.
SERIES HISTORY: This weekend's series will be meetings 63-65 in the all-time series that dates back to 2005. Western Illinois leads the series, 33-29. NDSU lost two of three games against the Leathernecks in Macomb, Ill., earlier this season March 17-18.
BISON NOTES: NDSU enters the weekend with an overall record of 13-16 and a Summit League mark of 6-7 after dropping a doubleheader against South Dakota State April 12 in Sioux Falls, S.D. ... Through 29 contests, the Bison are led at the plate by senior infielders Mason Pierzchalski (.292 avg., 9 R, 33 H, 8 2B, 2 3B, 2 HR, 23 RBI, 11 BB, .988 fld%) and Drew Fearing (.269 avg., 16 R, 28 H, 4 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 11 RBI, 20 BB, 3 SB, .993 fld%), and redshirt junior outfielder Jayse McLean (.276 avg., 22 R, 29 H, 4 2B, 2 3B, 4 HR, 16 RBI, 16 BB, 4 SB) ... On the mound, North Dakota State is paced by sophomore RHP Riley Johnson (4.15 ERA, 3-4, 2 CG, 1 SHO, 56.1 IP, 31 R, 26 ER, 22 BB, 40 SO), senior LHP Blake Stockert (3-1, 1 CG, 35.2 IP, 39 H, 18 R, 17 ER, 12 BB, 27 SO) and senior RHP Kevin Folman (2-2, 4 SV, 25.2 IP, 19 H, 7 R, 4 ER, 6 BB, 28 SO) ... As a team, the Bison rank fourth in The Summit League in hitting with a .242 batting average, third in team pitching with an ERA of 4.71 and first in team fielding with a fielding percentage of .978 ... NDSU was picked to finish third in The Summit League preseason poll.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT: Western Illinois enters the weekend with an overall record of 7-21 and a Summit League tally of 5-6 after dropping a non-league game at Bradley Wednesday, 9-2 ... Through 28 games, WIU is led offensively by junior infielder Deion Thompson (.274 avg., 18 R, 29 H, 3 2B, 2 HR, 14 RBI, 17 BB, 14 SB) and junior utility player Bailey Montgomery (.256 avg., 8 R, 20 H, 5 2B, 1 HR, 15 RBI, 9 BB, 3 SB) ... On the mound, the Leathernecks are paced by junior RHP Ian Koch (4.26 ERA, 2-5, 50.2 IP, 57 H, 31 R, 24 ER, 32 BB, 45 SO) and senior RHP Ryan Dunne (4.60 ERA, 1-5, 1 CG, 47.0 IP, 41 H, 26 R, 24 ER, 17 BB, 53 SO) ... As a team, WIU ranks fifth in The Summit League in hitting with a .241 batting average, first in team pitching with a 4.43 ERA and fifth in team fielding with a .959 fielding percentage ... Western Illinois was picked to finish fourth in The Summit League preseason poll ... The Leathernecks are under the leadership of sixth season head coach Ryan Brownlee.
SUMMIT LEAGUE WEEKLY HONORS: Player of the Week: IF Mason Pierzchalski (March 4), OF Logan Busch (Feb. 26); Pitcher of the Week: LHP Blake Stockert (April 9), RHP Riley Johnson (Feb. 26, March 26)
FEARING BECOMES NDSU CAREER WALKS LEADER: With two walks against South Dakota State April 12, Drew Fearing became the all-time walks leader in NDSU baseball history with 84 free passes. He surpassed Chris Olson, who worked 82 walks from 1989-92.
FOLMAN CLOSING IN CAREER SAVES RECORD: Kevin Folman is currently fourth in career saves at North Dakota State with 13. He is just five saves away from tying Neil Wagner for most career saves (18 from 2003-05). With two more saves, he will tie Chris Bartosiewski (1994-97) and Kyle Kingsley (2010-13) for second in career saves.
TURNING TWO: The Bison lead The Summit League and rank 28th in NCAA Division I baseball in double plays turned through 29 games this season with 34. NDSU is fourth in double plays per game with 1.17 turned per game. North Dakota State set a new single-season record with 53 double plays in 2017.
PIERZCHALSKI AMONG LEAGUE LEADERS: After 29 games, Mason Pierzchalski leads The Summit League with eight doubles, is fifth in RBI (23), eighth in hits (33) and ninth in slugging percentage (.451).
ELSENPETER ACCELERATING IN LEAGUE PLAY: Matt Elsenpeter is hitting a team-high .347 in NDSU's 13 Summit League games. The Watertown, Minn., native has four runs, 17 hits, two doubles and seven RBI in league action heading into this week's series vs. WIU.
GETTING ON BASE ... THE PAINFUL WAY: NDSU ranks second in The Summit League with 28 hit batters through 29 games. Individually, Bennett Hostetler is fourth in the league with six HBP, while Matt Elsenpeter is tied for fifth with five HBP.
TRIPLE LEADERS: Through 29 games, NDSU leads The Summit League and ranks 52nd nationally with 10 triples. Bennett Hostetler, Tucker Rohde, Jayse McLean and Mason Pierzchalski lead the team with two triples each, while Drew Fearing and Alec Abercrombie have each hit one triple.
DEFENDING AT A HIGH LEVEL: Through 13 Summit League games, the Bison have only committed seven errors for an impressive .985 fielding percentage. On the season, NDSU leads The Summit League and ranks 21st nationally with a .978 fielding percentage in 29 games -- all away from Fargo.
NOTABLE HITTING STREAKS: Matt Elsenpeter is on a team-best five-game hitting streak entering the series vs. Western Illinois. Drew Fearing, Logan Busch, Tucker Rohde and Nick Emanuel have each compiled at least one hit in their last three contests.
NOTABLE REACHED BASE STREAKS: Logan Busch has reached base safely in his last 14 games, while Jayse McLean has gotten on base in his last nine contests and Bennett Hostetler has reached base in his last six 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 260-289 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:
Friday, April 20 | 1 p.m. | Omaha, Neb. (Seymour Smith Park)
Live Stats
Game 2: North Dakota State vs. Western Illinois
Saturday, April 21 | 1 p.m. | Omaha, Neb. (Seymour Smith Park)
Live Stats
Game 3: North Dakota State vs. Western Illinois
Sunday, April 22 | 1 p.m. | Omaha, Neb. (Seymour Smith Park)
Live Stats
NDSU Game Notes | NDSU Baseball on Twitter
SCENE SETTER: North Dakota State University (13-16, 6-7 Summit League) is scheduled to take on the Western Illinois University Leathernecks (7-21, 5-6 Summit League) in a three-game Summit League series April 20-22 at Seymour Smith Park in Omaha, Neb. The series was originally slated to be played at Newman Outdoor Field in Fargo, but the prolonged winter weather conditions forced the two teams to relocate to Omaha for the weekend. All three games in the series are scheduled to start at 1 p.m. Friday, April 20, Saturday, April 21, and Sunday, April 22.
MEDIA COVERAGE: Live statistics will be available for all three games in the series. For links, please visit www.GoBison.com.
SERIES HISTORY: This weekend's series will be meetings 63-65 in the all-time series that dates back to 2005. Western Illinois leads the series, 33-29. NDSU lost two of three games against the Leathernecks in Macomb, Ill., earlier this season March 17-18.
BISON NOTES: NDSU enters the weekend with an overall record of 13-16 and a Summit League mark of 6-7 after dropping a doubleheader against South Dakota State April 12 in Sioux Falls, S.D. ... Through 29 contests, the Bison are led at the plate by senior infielders Mason Pierzchalski (.292 avg., 9 R, 33 H, 8 2B, 2 3B, 2 HR, 23 RBI, 11 BB, .988 fld%) and Drew Fearing (.269 avg., 16 R, 28 H, 4 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 11 RBI, 20 BB, 3 SB, .993 fld%), and redshirt junior outfielder Jayse McLean (.276 avg., 22 R, 29 H, 4 2B, 2 3B, 4 HR, 16 RBI, 16 BB, 4 SB) ... On the mound, North Dakota State is paced by sophomore RHP Riley Johnson (4.15 ERA, 3-4, 2 CG, 1 SHO, 56.1 IP, 31 R, 26 ER, 22 BB, 40 SO), senior LHP Blake Stockert (3-1, 1 CG, 35.2 IP, 39 H, 18 R, 17 ER, 12 BB, 27 SO) and senior RHP Kevin Folman (2-2, 4 SV, 25.2 IP, 19 H, 7 R, 4 ER, 6 BB, 28 SO) ... As a team, the Bison rank fourth in The Summit League in hitting with a .242 batting average, third in team pitching with an ERA of 4.71 and first in team fielding with a fielding percentage of .978 ... NDSU was picked to finish third in The Summit League preseason poll.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT: Western Illinois enters the weekend with an overall record of 7-21 and a Summit League tally of 5-6 after dropping a non-league game at Bradley Wednesday, 9-2 ... Through 28 games, WIU is led offensively by junior infielder Deion Thompson (.274 avg., 18 R, 29 H, 3 2B, 2 HR, 14 RBI, 17 BB, 14 SB) and junior utility player Bailey Montgomery (.256 avg., 8 R, 20 H, 5 2B, 1 HR, 15 RBI, 9 BB, 3 SB) ... On the mound, the Leathernecks are paced by junior RHP Ian Koch (4.26 ERA, 2-5, 50.2 IP, 57 H, 31 R, 24 ER, 32 BB, 45 SO) and senior RHP Ryan Dunne (4.60 ERA, 1-5, 1 CG, 47.0 IP, 41 H, 26 R, 24 ER, 17 BB, 53 SO) ... As a team, WIU ranks fifth in The Summit League in hitting with a .241 batting average, first in team pitching with a 4.43 ERA and fifth in team fielding with a .959 fielding percentage ... Western Illinois was picked to finish fourth in The Summit League preseason poll ... The Leathernecks are under the leadership of sixth season head coach Ryan Brownlee.
SUMMIT LEAGUE WEEKLY HONORS: Player of the Week: IF Mason Pierzchalski (March 4), OF Logan Busch (Feb. 26); Pitcher of the Week: LHP Blake Stockert (April 9), RHP Riley Johnson (Feb. 26, March 26)
FEARING BECOMES NDSU CAREER WALKS LEADER: With two walks against South Dakota State April 12, Drew Fearing became the all-time walks leader in NDSU baseball history with 84 free passes. He surpassed Chris Olson, who worked 82 walks from 1989-92.
FOLMAN CLOSING IN CAREER SAVES RECORD: Kevin Folman is currently fourth in career saves at North Dakota State with 13. He is just five saves away from tying Neil Wagner for most career saves (18 from 2003-05). With two more saves, he will tie Chris Bartosiewski (1994-97) and Kyle Kingsley (2010-13) for second in career saves.
TURNING TWO: The Bison lead The Summit League and rank 28th in NCAA Division I baseball in double plays turned through 29 games this season with 34. NDSU is fourth in double plays per game with 1.17 turned per game. North Dakota State set a new single-season record with 53 double plays in 2017.
PIERZCHALSKI AMONG LEAGUE LEADERS: After 29 games, Mason Pierzchalski leads The Summit League with eight doubles, is fifth in RBI (23), eighth in hits (33) and ninth in slugging percentage (.451).
ELSENPETER ACCELERATING IN LEAGUE PLAY: Matt Elsenpeter is hitting a team-high .347 in NDSU's 13 Summit League games. The Watertown, Minn., native has four runs, 17 hits, two doubles and seven RBI in league action heading into this week's series vs. WIU.
GETTING ON BASE ... THE PAINFUL WAY: NDSU ranks second in The Summit League with 28 hit batters through 29 games. Individually, Bennett Hostetler is fourth in the league with six HBP, while Matt Elsenpeter is tied for fifth with five HBP.
TRIPLE LEADERS: Through 29 games, NDSU leads The Summit League and ranks 52nd nationally with 10 triples. Bennett Hostetler, Tucker Rohde, Jayse McLean and Mason Pierzchalski lead the team with two triples each, while Drew Fearing and Alec Abercrombie have each hit one triple.
DEFENDING AT A HIGH LEVEL: Through 13 Summit League games, the Bison have only committed seven errors for an impressive .985 fielding percentage. On the season, NDSU leads The Summit League and ranks 21st nationally with a .978 fielding percentage in 29 games -- all away from Fargo.
NOTABLE HITTING STREAKS: Matt Elsenpeter is on a team-best five-game hitting streak entering the series vs. Western Illinois. Drew Fearing, Logan Busch, Tucker Rohde and Nick Emanuel have each compiled at least one hit in their last three contests.
NOTABLE REACHED BASE STREAKS: Logan Busch has reached base safely in his last 14 games, while Jayse McLean has gotten on base in his last nine contests and Bennett Hostetler has reached base in his last six 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 260-289 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)
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