Baseball | 4/30/2018 7:40:00 PM

North Dakota State vs. Mayville State
Tuesday, May 1 | 6:30 p.m. | Fargo, N.D. (Newman Outdoor Field)
Radio: Bison 1660 AM & 92.7 FM (Jeff Culhane, pxp; Keith Brake, color)
Live Stats | Live Audio | Live Video

NDSU Game Notes | NDSU Baseball on Twitter

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         SCENE SETTER: The North Dakota State baseball team (17-19) is slated to host the Mayville State University Comets (29-10) in a non-league game Tuesday, May 1, at Newman Outdoor Field.
 
         MEDIA COVERAGE: Tuesday's game will air live on Bison 1660 AM and 92.7 FM with Jeff Culhane and Keith Brake calling the action. Live statistics, live audio and live video will also be available for the contest at www.GoBison.com.
 
         SERIES HISTORY: Tuesday's contest will mark the 62nd meeting in the all-time series that dates all the way back to 1947. The Comets lead the series, 33-28. The last time the two teams met was during the 2015 season, with NDSU edging MSU in Fargo, 8-7.
 
         BISON NOTES: NDSU enters Tuesday with an overall record of 17-19 after winning two of three games against the Omaha Mavericks in a Summit League series April 27-29 at Newman Outdoor Field ... Through 36 games, the Bison are led at the plate by senior infielder Mason Pierzchalski (.283 avg., 10 R, 39 H, 8 2B, 2 3B, 2 HR, 24 RBI, 14 BB, 1 SB) and redshirt junior outfielder Jayse McLean (.276, avg., 28 R, 35 H, 5 2B, 3 3B, 6 HR, 22 RBI, 20 BB, 6 SB) ... Redshirt sophomore left-hander Mitch O'Connor (8.40 ERA, 0-3, 15.0 IP, 21 H, 14 R, 14 ER, 8 BB, 10 SO) is slated to get the start for North Dakota State Tuesday ... As a team, NDSU is ranked fifth in The Summit League in hitting (.239 avg.), second in pitching (4.37 ERA) and first in fielding (.977 fielding percentage) ... North Dakota State was picked to finish third in The Summit League preseason poll.
 
         SCOUTING THE OPPONENT: Mayville State comes into Tuesday with an overall record of 29-10 after defeating Minnesota-Morris, 7-1, April 29 ... The Comets won the North Star Athletic Association regular season title with a 17-3 conference mark ... Through 39 games, Mayville State is led in the batter's box by junior infielder/pitcher Riley Nelson (.350 avg., 30 R, 43 H, 4 2B, 1 HR, 21 RBI, 16 BB, 10 SB), junior utility player Zachary Foster (..347 avg., 27 R, 42 H, 9 2B, 5 HR, 26 RBI, 7 BB, 3 SB) and junior infielder Jonathan Pluth (.341 avg., 30 R, 45 H, 6 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 27 RBI, 14 BB, 6 SB) ... On the mound, MSU is paced by senior RHP Mason Swegarden (1.52 ERA, 8-1, 3 CG, 2 SHO, 1 SV, 71.0 IP, 48 H, 13 R, 12 ER, 9 BB, 62 SO) ... As a team, the Comets have a .301 batting average, 3.94 ERA and .954 fielding percentage ... Mayville State is under the direction of 37th season head coach Scott Berry.
 
         SUMMIT LEAGUE WEEKLY HONORS: Player of the Week: OF Carter Thompson (April 30), 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)
 
         THOMPSON'S BIG WEEKEND: Sophomore Carter Thompson earned his first-career Summit League Player of the Week honor after slugging 1.444, including three homers in NDSU's series victory vs. Omaha. He hit .444, recorded an OPS of 1.888 with four RBI and four runs scored without striking out in nine at-bats vs. the Mavericks. Thompson drove in seven runs during the week and only struck out once. He went 3-for-4 with two home runs, three runs scored and two RBI vs. the Mavs April 29.
 
         FOLMAN CLOSING IN CAREER SAVES RECORD: Kevin Folman is currently fourth in career saves at North Dakota State with 14. He is just four saves away from tying Neil Wagner for most career saves (18 from 2003-05). With one more save, he will tie Chris Bartosiewski (1994-97) and Kyle Kingsley (2010-13) for second in career saves.
 
         FEARING ASCENDING NDSU CAREER RECORD CHARTS: Drew Fearing is the all-time leader in walks at NDSU with 88 and continues to climb the career record charts in other categories entering Tuesday. The Osakis, Minn., native is second in fielding assists (462), tied for fourth in stolen bases (41), sixth in games started (177) and ninth in games played (179) and 10th in fielding chances (802).
 
         BISON SWINGING FOR THE FENCES AT RECORD PACE: Through four home games at Newman Outdoor Field this season, NDSU has clubbed five homers, tying last season's total of five in 15 fewer games. Carter Thompson and Matt Elsenpeter hit three home runs vs. Omaha, including going back-to-back.
 
         TURNING TWO: The Bison lead The Summit League and rank 53rd in NCAA Division I baseball in double plays turned through 36 games this season with 37. NDSU is 11th in double plays per game with 1.03 turned per game. North Dakota State set a new single-season record with 53 double plays in 2017.
 
         PIERZCHALSKI AMONG LEAGUE LEADERS: After 36 games, Mason Pierzchalski is second in The Summit League with eight doubles, fifth in RBI (24), 10th in slugging percentage (.424) and hits (39).
 
         ELSENPETER ACCELERATING IN LEAGUE PLAY: Matt Elsenpeter is hitting a team-high .348 in NDSU's 19 Summit League games. The Watertown, Minn., native has eight runs, 24 hits, three doubles, one homer and nine RBI in league action heading into Wednesday.
 
         GETTING ON BASE ... THE PAINFUL WAY: NDSU is second in The Summit League with 34 hit batters through 36 games. Individually, Bennett Hostetler is fifth in the league with seven HBP, while Matt Elsenpeter is tied for 10th with five HBP.
 
         TRIPLE LEADERS:  Through 36 games, NDSU leads The Summit League with 13 triples. Bennett Hostetler has a team and league-best four triples.
 
         DEFENDING AT A HIGH LEVEL: Through 19 Summit League games, the Bison have only committed 14 errors for an impressive .979 fielding percentage. On the season, NDSU leads The Summit League and ranks 30th nationally with a .977 fielding percentage in 36 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 264-292 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)