Bison Baseball Set to Host Western Illinois

Friday, April 26

Fargo, N.D.

6:30 p.m.

North Dakota State Athletics

Western Illinois

NDSU Baseball Dugout - North Dakota State University plays Dakota State during the Tuesday, April 23, 2019 game in Fargo, N.D.

Photo by: Carrie Snyder

Bison Baseball Set to Host Western Illinois

4/25/2019 3:43:00 PM | Baseball

Scene Setter:
The North Dakota State (11-19, 8-10 Summit) baseball returns to Summit League play this weekend for a three-game set against Western Illinois (15-23, 9-9 Summit). The first game of the series is scheduled for Friday, April 26 at 6:30 p.m., while the teams will play single games on Saturday and Sunday starting at 1 p.m. each day at Newman Outdoor Field.

Media Coverage:
Live Stats for all three games will be available at BisonStats.com. Live video will be available at GoBison.com/watch, while Bison 1660 will broadcast each game. The Friday game will be joined in progress on radio following the NDSU football spring game.

Series History:
The Leathernecks own a 36-33 lead in the all-time series that dates back to 2005. Western Illinois swept a four-game series in the first games played at Western Illinois in the series in 2005. The Bison were 3-4 against the Leathernecks last season, including a 2-0 victory in the Summit League Tournament. Earlier this year, NDSU took two of three games in Macomb.

Last Time Out:
The North Dakota State baseball team used a pair of home runs and a triple on Tuesday night, as the Bison beat Dakota State 11-0 in eight innings at Newman Outdoor Field.
NDSU improved to 11-19 on the year, while the Trojans dropped to 3-30. It was the second shutout of the season for the Bison, as NDSU also beat Purdue Fort Wayne 7-0 on April 6.
The Bison started the scoring in the bottom of the second inning, as Carter Thompson hit a pinch hit home run to left center, driving in Jayse McLean for his second home run of the year. Jake Malec then singled to center field, as Charley Hesse scored to give NDSU a 3-0 lead after two innings.
In the third inning, Jack Simonsen reached on a fielder's choice as Brock Anderson scored to put NDSU up 4-0. Simonsen then singled to left center in the fifth, as Peter Brookshaw came in to score. Anderson also scored in the fifth inning on a ground ball by Sean Noel.
Bennett Hostetler reached on an infield single in the sixth that allowed Malec to score. Tucker Rohde singled to right field in the sixth to bring in Hostetler. With one out in the seventh, Hostetler drove in Tyler Hillman with a sacrifice fly to left field. The final runs of the game came in the eighth inning, when Nick Emanuel hit a two-run homer to right field that brought in Tom Krause to close the game.
Malec led the Bison with three hits. Anderson scored twice, while Hostetler, Emanuel, Simonsen and Thompson each drove in two runs. Hunter Koep had a no-decision in the start, striking out a pair in 1.2 innings. Jake Drew picked up his first win of the year, as he struck out two in 2.1 innings of work. Alec Holcomb and Barron Holtz each tossed two innings with two strikeouts apiece.

Last Time Against Western Illinois:
The Bison played a doubleheader against the Leathernecks in the final day of the series in Macomb, earning a split with an 11-1 victory in the series finale. The bats came alive in the nightcap, as NDSU tallied 13 hits in the win.
The first run came in the second inning, as Charley Hesse homered down the left field line. The Leathernecks tied the game with a run in the third inning, but the Bison started to pull away in the fourth inning. A one-out double by Jake Malec started the scoring, as Hesse scored on the play. With two outs, Koep singled through the left side to drive in Brookshaw and Malec.
NDSU loaded the bases with no outs in the fifth inning, as the Bison put up five runs in the inning. Malec was hit by a pitch to score Carter Thompson before Hostetler was walked on four pitches to bring in Hesse. Ben Tallman scored as Brookshaw grounded into a double play. Malec scored on an infield single by Koep before Noel scored the final run of the inning on a single to center field by Simonsen.
The Bison sealed the game in the seventh inning with a pair of runs. A two-out double by Simonsen plated Koep and Noel for the final runs of the game.
Hesse led the Bison with three hits, while Koep, Simonsen and Tallman each had two. Hesse also scored three runs, while Noel and Malec each scored twice. Koep and Simonsen each drove in three runs, while Malec drove in a pair. Ben Smith improved to 1-1 on the mound, as he tossed four innings. Smith gave up a run on six hits and a walk, while striking out four. Jordan Harms earned his first save of the season, giving up three hits in three innings, while striking out one.

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 22nd in the nation in walks allowed per nine innings at 1.27, while also ranking 22nd in strikeout-to-walk ratio at 6.63. He leads the Summit League in both categories. Loven also ranks 155th in the country in ERA at 2.86, while ranking second in the league.

Road Warriors:
NDSU was the last NCAA Division I baseball team to play a home game this season. The Bison played 26-straight games away from Newman Outdoor Field to start the season. Western Michigan (31) and Marist (25) also played 25 or more straight games away from home to start the year.

Scouting the Leathernecks:
Despite Tuesday night's loss against SIUE (13-3 in 7 innings), the Leathernecks have won seven of their last nine Summit League games. Western Illinois earned back-to-back sweeps against Oral Roberts and Purdue Fort Wayne at home before dropping two of three against South Dakota State in Sioux Falls, S.D. Drue Galassi leads the offensive attack for the Leathernecks with a .292 batting average in 130 at-bats. Galassi leads the team in hits with 38 and RBI with 34, while also having a team-best seven home runs. Galassi, Steve McShane and Deion Thompson all have nine stolen bases on the year, as the Leathernecks are 49-of-75 on the bases. On the reverse side, opponents are 50-of-70 on the base paths this year. As a team, WIU has a 6.31 ERA with all three projected starters having a 4.77 ERA or lower. Javin Drake has a team-best 4.05 ERA, while also leading the team with 75 strikeouts. Jace Warkentien has six starts on the year, but also leads the Leathernecks with three saves.

Getting the Bunt Down:
Junior Bennett Hostetler ranks 40th in the country with .20 sacrifice bunts per game, while also ranking 83rd with six sacrifice bunts on the season. He ranks second in the league in total sacrifice bunts.

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.

Brown Making Moves in Summit League Record Books:
North Dakota State Head Coach Tod Brown has moved up the charts of the Summit League record books this year. Brown has moved into fourth in Summit League history with 283 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. On Tuesday, he became the third coach in Summit League history to coach in 600 or more games, joining Twenge and Illinois-Chicago's Dean Refakes.

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.