Friday, February 15
Sacramento, Calif.
8 p.m.
North Dakota State Athletics
at
Sacramento State
Photo by: Carrie Snyder
Bison Baseball Set to Open Season in California
2/14/2019 6:44:00 PM | Baseball
Game 1: North Dakota State at Sacramento State
Friday, Feb. 15 | 8 p.m. (Central ) | Sacramento, Calif. (John Smith Field)
Live Stats
Game 2: North Dakota State at Sacramento State
Saturday, Feb. 16 | 5 p.m. (Central) | Sacramento, Calif. (John Smith Field)
Live Stats
Game 3: North Dakota State at Sacramento State
Sunday, Feb. 17 | 3 p.m. (Central) | Sacramento, Calif. (John Smith Field)
Live Stats
NDSU Game Notes (PDF) | NDSU Baseball on Twitter
Scene Setter:
The North Dakota State (0-0, 0-0 Summit) baseball team is scheduled to open the 2019 season this weekend with a three-game series at Sacramento State (0-0, 0-0 WAC). The series is slated to begin with a night game on Friday in Sacramento at John Smith Field. Saturday is scheduled for a late afternoon first pitch, with the series finale slated for Sunday afternoon.
Media Coverage:
Links for live video, stats and audio for all three games can be found at GoBison.com. The WAC Digital Network will provide a live video feed of all three games, while an audio only feed is available from Sacramento State.
Series History:
This will be the third trip to Sacramento for the Bison and the first since 2006. The Hornets own a 4-0-1 lead in the all-time series. Sacramento State won the first three games of a four-game set in 2005 before a 4-4 tie in extra innings in the series finale. NDSU also opened the season with the Hornets in 2006, dropping a 7-5 decision.
Previewing 2019:
North Dakota State is scheduled to play 25-straight games on the road or neutral site to start the season. That schedule includes three Summit League road series, as well as a trip to Nebraska before opening Summit League play at Omaha. NDSU is also scheduled to make a pair of trips to the Twin Cities to face Minnesota. The Bison return a pair of players that started all 50 games last season in captains Jayse McLean and Bennett Hostetler. McLean earned All-Summit League Second Team honors last season while hitting .250 with a team-high seven home runs. Hostetler hit .225 with 11 extra base hits and 19 RBI. Tucker Rohde started 47 games last year and has the top returning batting average for NDSU at .269. He drove in 21 runs on 46 hits, with nine of those going for extra bases. Parker Harm (51.1 IP) and Mitch O'Connor (35.0 IP) return for the pitching staff with the most innings tossed last season. Harm struck out 55, while O'Connor added 30 punch outs last season. Zach Smith made three starts last season and finished with a 5.62 ERA and 3-0 record in seven appearances. He'll get the ball to start the season on the bump.
Scouting the Hornets:
Sacramento State returns four starting position players and two of three starting pitchers from last season. The Hornets have notched 235 total wins over the last seven years, the sixth most among 24 NCAA Division I baseball programs in California. Sacramento State has won 30 or more games for seven-straight seasons. The last five years, the Hornets have opened the season with a Power 5 school, earning a series win or a split in each of them. Left fielder Matt Smith is the top returning offensive player for the Hornets with his .310 batting average from last season. Shortstop Keith Torres hit .268 with a .395 on-base percentage a year ago. Parker Brahms is scheduled to start the season opener on the hill. He tallied 113 strikeouts in 93.1 innings last year with a 4-5 record and 2.41 ERA. 2018 Collegiate Baseball Freshman All-American Scott Randall is slated to start Saturday's game. Randall had a 7-3 record with a 3.48 ERA in 75 innings last year. Austin Roberts is scheduled to start on Sunday. He had the lowest ERA for the Hornets last year at 1.83, the third lowest in school history.
Opening Series Streak:
NDSU has won three-straight season openers, including an 8-2 win over Incarnate Word last season. The Bison beat Mississippi Valley State 10-4 in 2017 and Arkansas-Pine Bluff 2-0 in 2016. NDSU went 3-0 against Arkansas Pine Bluff in the series in 2016, while going 4-0 in the series with Mississippi Valley State in 2017. The Bison split the four-game set with Incarnate Word last year.
Nine Consecutive 20-Win Seasons:
North Dakota State has reached the 20-win mark nine straight seasons. The Bison have qualified for seven Summit League tournaments, winning the tournament championship in 2014 and reaching the championship game in four of the last seven seasons. This is NDSU's 12th season in The Summit League after three seasons as a Division I independent.
Summit League Preseason Poll:
The Bison were picked to finish third in the Summit League Preseason Coaches Poll. Oral Roberts received all five of its possible first-place votes for 25 total points. South Dakota State received the final first-place vote and placed second with 21 points. North Dakota State followed in third (17 points) and Western Illinois was in fourth (12 points) while Omaha (9 points) and Fort Wayne (6 points) rounded out the poll. Jayse McLean and Parker Harm were named to the Summit League Players to Watch list.
McLean Voted to Google Cloud Academic All-America Team:
Jayse McLean was voted to the Google Cloud Academic All-America Division I Baseball Team, as selected by members of the College Sports Information Directors of America. It was McLean's inaugural selection to the team, as he was also named to the Google Cloud Academic All-District First Team earlier in the year. He was the first NDSU honoree since Tim Colwell in 2014 for the all-district team. McLean boasts a perfect 4.00 grade-point average majoring in mechanical engineering.
The Coach:
Tod Brown is in his 12th season as the head coach for the Bison and has a 272-298 (.477) 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, Feb. 15 | 8 p.m. (Central ) | Sacramento, Calif. (John Smith Field)
Live Stats
Game 2: North Dakota State at Sacramento State
Saturday, Feb. 16 | 5 p.m. (Central) | Sacramento, Calif. (John Smith Field)
Live Stats
Game 3: North Dakota State at Sacramento State
Sunday, Feb. 17 | 3 p.m. (Central) | Sacramento, Calif. (John Smith Field)
Live Stats
NDSU Game Notes (PDF) | NDSU Baseball on Twitter
Scene Setter:
The North Dakota State (0-0, 0-0 Summit) baseball team is scheduled to open the 2019 season this weekend with a three-game series at Sacramento State (0-0, 0-0 WAC). The series is slated to begin with a night game on Friday in Sacramento at John Smith Field. Saturday is scheduled for a late afternoon first pitch, with the series finale slated for Sunday afternoon.
Media Coverage:
Links for live video, stats and audio for all three games can be found at GoBison.com. The WAC Digital Network will provide a live video feed of all three games, while an audio only feed is available from Sacramento State.
Series History:
This will be the third trip to Sacramento for the Bison and the first since 2006. The Hornets own a 4-0-1 lead in the all-time series. Sacramento State won the first three games of a four-game set in 2005 before a 4-4 tie in extra innings in the series finale. NDSU also opened the season with the Hornets in 2006, dropping a 7-5 decision.
Previewing 2019:
North Dakota State is scheduled to play 25-straight games on the road or neutral site to start the season. That schedule includes three Summit League road series, as well as a trip to Nebraska before opening Summit League play at Omaha. NDSU is also scheduled to make a pair of trips to the Twin Cities to face Minnesota. The Bison return a pair of players that started all 50 games last season in captains Jayse McLean and Bennett Hostetler. McLean earned All-Summit League Second Team honors last season while hitting .250 with a team-high seven home runs. Hostetler hit .225 with 11 extra base hits and 19 RBI. Tucker Rohde started 47 games last year and has the top returning batting average for NDSU at .269. He drove in 21 runs on 46 hits, with nine of those going for extra bases. Parker Harm (51.1 IP) and Mitch O'Connor (35.0 IP) return for the pitching staff with the most innings tossed last season. Harm struck out 55, while O'Connor added 30 punch outs last season. Zach Smith made three starts last season and finished with a 5.62 ERA and 3-0 record in seven appearances. He'll get the ball to start the season on the bump.
Scouting the Hornets:
Sacramento State returns four starting position players and two of three starting pitchers from last season. The Hornets have notched 235 total wins over the last seven years, the sixth most among 24 NCAA Division I baseball programs in California. Sacramento State has won 30 or more games for seven-straight seasons. The last five years, the Hornets have opened the season with a Power 5 school, earning a series win or a split in each of them. Left fielder Matt Smith is the top returning offensive player for the Hornets with his .310 batting average from last season. Shortstop Keith Torres hit .268 with a .395 on-base percentage a year ago. Parker Brahms is scheduled to start the season opener on the hill. He tallied 113 strikeouts in 93.1 innings last year with a 4-5 record and 2.41 ERA. 2018 Collegiate Baseball Freshman All-American Scott Randall is slated to start Saturday's game. Randall had a 7-3 record with a 3.48 ERA in 75 innings last year. Austin Roberts is scheduled to start on Sunday. He had the lowest ERA for the Hornets last year at 1.83, the third lowest in school history.
Opening Series Streak:
NDSU has won three-straight season openers, including an 8-2 win over Incarnate Word last season. The Bison beat Mississippi Valley State 10-4 in 2017 and Arkansas-Pine Bluff 2-0 in 2016. NDSU went 3-0 against Arkansas Pine Bluff in the series in 2016, while going 4-0 in the series with Mississippi Valley State in 2017. The Bison split the four-game set with Incarnate Word last year.
Nine Consecutive 20-Win Seasons:
North Dakota State has reached the 20-win mark nine straight seasons. The Bison have qualified for seven Summit League tournaments, winning the tournament championship in 2014 and reaching the championship game in four of the last seven seasons. This is NDSU's 12th season in The Summit League after three seasons as a Division I independent.
Summit League Preseason Poll:
The Bison were picked to finish third in the Summit League Preseason Coaches Poll. Oral Roberts received all five of its possible first-place votes for 25 total points. South Dakota State received the final first-place vote and placed second with 21 points. North Dakota State followed in third (17 points) and Western Illinois was in fourth (12 points) while Omaha (9 points) and Fort Wayne (6 points) rounded out the poll. Jayse McLean and Parker Harm were named to the Summit League Players to Watch list.
McLean Voted to Google Cloud Academic All-America Team:
Jayse McLean was voted to the Google Cloud Academic All-America Division I Baseball Team, as selected by members of the College Sports Information Directors of America. It was McLean's inaugural selection to the team, as he was also named to the Google Cloud Academic All-District First Team earlier in the year. He was the first NDSU honoree since Tim Colwell in 2014 for the all-district team. McLean boasts a perfect 4.00 grade-point average majoring in mechanical engineering.
The Coach:
Tod Brown is in his 12th season as the head coach for the Bison and has a 272-298 (.477) 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 86-74 (.538) over the last three seasons (2016, 2017, 2018)
- 54-2 (.720) record at home in the last four seasons
- .525 winning percentage (197-178) over the last seven seasons
- Four Summit League championship game appearances in the past seven seasons
- Seven Summit League tournament appearances in the last eight 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)
Players Mentioned
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