Bison Face SDSU in Omaha for Final Summit League Road Trip

Saturday, April 13

Omaha, Neb. (Seymour Smith Park)

12 p.m.

North Dakota State Athletics

South Dakota State

NDSU Baseball National Anthem Starting Lineup

Photo by: Ryan Workman

Bison Face SDSU in Omaha for Final Summit League Road Trip

4/11/2019 5:10:00 PM | Baseball

Game 1: North Dakota State vs. South Dakota State
Saturday, April 13 | 12 p.m. | Omaha, Neb. (Seymour Smith Park)
Live Stats

Game 2: North Dakota State vs. South Dakota State
Saturday, April 13 | 4 p.m. | Omaha, Neb. (Seymour Smith Park)
Live Stats

Game 3: North Dakota State vs. South Dakota State
Sunday, April 14 | 1 p.m. | Omaha, Neb. (Seymour Smith Park)
Live Stats

NDSU Game Notes (PDF) | NDSU Baseball on Twitter

Scene Setter:
The North Dakota State (8-15, 6-6 Summit) baseball team hits the road for the final time in Summit League play this weekend, as they face the South Dakota State Jackrabbits (14-13, 7-5 Summit) in Omaha. The games were moved to a neutral site due to the blizzard in South Dakota. All three games will be played at Seymour Smith Park, the home of the Omaha Mavericks.

Media Coverage:
South Dakota State will provide live stats for all three games at BisonStats.com. With the games being moved to a neutral site, there will be no live video or audio for this series.

Series History:
The Jackrabbits own a 117-69 lead in the all-time series that dates back to a 17-8 NDSU victory in Brookings in 1956. Last year, the two teams split six games. The Jackrabbits picked up a 13-7 win in the Summit League Tournament that ended the Bison season. NDSU won three regular season games in Fargo May 18-19.

Last Time Out:
Max Meyer hit a two-run walk-off home run for Minnesota Tuesday night, as the Golden Gophers beat the North Dakota State baseball team 4-3 at Siebert Field.
The Bison were looking for their first win at Siebert Field, as NDSU fell to 8-15 on the year with its fourth walk-off loss of the season. Minnesota improved to 14-16 with the victory.
Minnesota struck first, as Jordan Kozicky doubled to right field in the first inning to score Eli Wilson. The Bison scored all three of their runs in the fourth inning. Charley Hesse reached on an infield single with the bases loaded, as Brock Anderson scored. Ben Tallman then walked on four pitches with the bases loaded to score Jack Simonsen. A full count walk by Jake Malec plated Carter Thompson, as the Bison led 3-1 after four innings.
Meyer drove in the rest of the runs for the Golden Gophers, as he had a single up the middle in the seventh inning that plated Cole McDevitt to cut the lead to one. With a full count in the bottom of the ninth, his game-winning home run drove in Jacob Hitz.
Hunter Koep led the Bison with two hits, while Bennett Hostetler and Hesse each had one. Mitch O'Connor had a no-decision in the start, throwing three innings and allowing one run on two hits, while striking one out. Blake Tritch struck out one in two innings, while Jake Drew and Alec Holcomb each had two strikeouts in an inning of work. Parker Harm suffered the loss in a third of an inning, striking out one and giving up two runs on a hit.

Last Time Against South Dakota State:
The North Dakota State University baseball team saw its 2018 season come to an end after falling to South Dakota State, 13-7, in The Summit League Baseball Championship on Friday, May 25, at J.L. Johnson Stadium.
North Dakota State caps its season with a 26-24 overall record, marking the third straight season the Bison have recorded at least 25 victories and the ninth consecutive season with at least 20 wins.
Sophomore Tucker Rohde went a perfect 4-for-4 at the plate with a double, solo homer and run scored, while senior Matt Elsenpeter hit a three-run homer and fellow senior Mason Pierzchalski added a two-run home run, leading NDSU.
Redshirt sophomore left-hander Mitch O'Connor (2-4) suffered the loss after allowing four earned runs on one hit with two walks in 2/3 of an inning.
Anthony Schneider led the Jackrabbits (18-31) in the batter's box, going 2-of-4 with four runs scored, three RBI and a home run.
Bryce Johnson (1-4) earned the victory after surrendering four earned runs on nine hits with three strikeouts and one walk in seven innings of work.

McLean Named Candidate for Senior CLASS Award:
Jayse McLean was one of 30 NCAA baseball student-athletes selected as candidates for the 2019 Senior CLASS Award.
To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition. An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School®, the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.
McLean graduated Summa Cum Laude with a 4.0 GPA. He is currently pursuing a master's degree in mechanical engineering. The 30 candidates will be narrowed to 10 finalists midway through the regular season, and those 10 names will be placed on the official ballot. Ballots will be distributed through a nationwide voting system to media, coaches and fans, who will select one candidate who best exemplifies excellence in the four C's of community, classroom, character and competition. The Senior CLASS Award winner will be announced during the 2019 College World Series® in June.

Loven Is Dealin':
Freshman Max Loven ranks 16th in the nation in walks allowed per nine innings at 1.06, while also ranking 17th in strikeout-to-walk ratio at 7.8.

Road Warriors:
The Bison are one of four teams in NCAA Division I Baseball that haven't played a home game this year. South Dakota State, Western Michigan and Seton Hall join the Bison as the only three that have not played at home this year. Seton Hall is doing renovations to Owen T. Carroll Field and will be playing its Big East home games had a pair of stadiums in the area. South Dakota State has had its home opener postponed three times. With the movement of this weekend's games to Omaha, SDSU is scheduled to open the home slate April 19 against Western Illinois. NDSU is currently scheduled to face Valley City State on April 16 in the new home opener. After a couple of postponements, Western Michigan will face Northern Illinois in a home series scheduled for April 12-14.

Scouting the Jackrabbits:
South Dakota State is 14-13 overall and 7-5 in the Summit League after dropping a three-game set to league-leading Omaha last weekend. Gus Steiger leads the way offensively for the Jackrabbits, hitting .331 in 124 at-bats. Steiger also has a team-high 24 RBI. Josh Falk leads the Jackrabbits with five home runs, while Steiger has a team-high nine doubles. Luke Ira and Logan Holtz each have a pair of doubles. Nick Smith ranks 19th in the nation, averaging a walk per game. On the mound, Riley McSherry had a team-leading 1.80 ERA in six appearances. Bret Barnett and Nic McCay lead South Dakota State with four wins apiece, as they are both 4-1 on the year. Barnett and Drew Beazley each have three saves. McCay leads the team with 48 strikeouts.

Double Vision:
Freshman Peter Brookshaw ranks 70th in the nation with .39 doubles per game. He has nine doubles on the season, which is the second most in the Summit League.

Getting the Bunt Down:
Junior Bennett Hostetler ranks 83rd in the country with .17 sacrifice bunts per game, while also ranking 145th with four sacrifice bunts on the season.

Nine-Straight 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.

Hesse Honored by College Sports Madness:
Redshirt sophomore Charley Hesse has been named the Summit League Player of the Week by College Sports Madness. Hesse hit .692 in the three-game sweep of Purdue Fort Wayne. He had a team-high nine hits, while driving in five runs with a pair of doubles.

Brown Making Moves in Summit League Record Books:
North Dakota State Head Coach Tod Brown moved up the charts of the Summit League record books this past weekend. Brown moved into fourth in Summit League history with 280 wins, passing former Oral Roberts coach Sunny Golloway for fourth on the list. Brown also joined Valparaiso's Paul Twenge as the only two coaches in Summit League history to have coached 300 or more league games.

McLean Voted to 2018 Google Cloud Academic All-America Baseball 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.