NDSU Baseball Visits Defending Big Ten Champion Minnesota

Tuesday, April 9

Minneapolis, Minn.

5 p.m.

North Dakota State Athletics

Minnesota

NDSU Baseball Visits Defending Big Ten Champion Minnesota

4/8/2019 6:19:00 PM | Baseball

Scene Setter:
Fresh off its first series sweep of the season, the North Dakota State (8-14, 6-6 Summit) baseball team hits the road to face defending Big Ten Champion Minnesota (13-16, 6-3 Big Ten) on Tuesday, April 9. First pitch is scheduled for 5 p.m. at Siebert Field in Minneapolis.

Media Coverage:
Minnesota will provide live stats for the game at GopherSports.com, while the game will also be broadcast on BTN Plus for a fee from the Big Ten Network. The game will also be broadcast on Bison 1660 on the radio and on the app.

Series History:
The Golden Gophers own a 29-10 lead in the all-time series that dates back to a 5-0 Minnesota win on April 10, 1964 in Minnesota. Last year, the Gophers won their third-straight game against the Bison with a 3-1 win at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.

Last Time Out:
The North Dakota State baseball team scored seven runs in the series finale at Purdue Fort Wayne on Saturday before the game was suspended due to Darkness. The Bison held the lead in the conclusion on Sunday, as NDSU earned its first shutout of the season with the 7-0 victory.
NDSU improved to 8-14 overall and 6-6 in the Summit League with their second league series win of the season. The Mastodons dropped to 5-24 overall and 0-12 in league play.
The Bison scored the seven runs over three innings, starting with a bases loaded walk by Ben Tallman in the second inning that plated Hunter Koep. Carter Thompson would also score in the second inning on a wild pitch, giving the Bison a 2-0 lead.
With the bases loaded in the fourth inning, Peter Brookshaw hit his Summit League leading ninth double of the season to right center, as he cleared the bases to give the Bison a 5-0 lead. Charley Hesse added a two-RBI double of his own in the fifth inning for the final runs, as Thompson and Jack Simonsen scored.
Hesse was 3-for-3 at the plate, while Brookshaw was 2-for-4. On the mound, Ben Smith improved to 2-2 on the year in five innings of work. Smith struck out two, while walking one and allowing two hits. Blake Tritch earned a strikeout in an inning of work before Jake Drew struck out three in two innings. Alec Holcomb tossed the final two-thirds of an inning, recording a strikeout.

Last Time Against Minnesota:
The University of Minnesota Golden Gophers defeated the North Dakota State University baseball team, 3-1, Tuesday, Feb. 27, inside U.S. Bank Stadium.
Senior infielder Mason Pierzchalski went 1-for-4 at the plate and drove in the Bison's only run of the game, leading NDSU offensively.
Sophomore right-hander Kyle Ferderer (0-2) suffered the loss on the mound for North Dakota State after allowing one earned run on one hit in two thirds of an inning.
The Bison jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the third after Pierzchalski smacked a single up the middle, scoring Matt Elsenpeter.
The Gophers (6-2) responded though, as they tied the game, 1-1, in the bottom of the fourth when Terrin Vavra worked a bases loaded walk, plating Eduardo Estrada.
Minnesota took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the sixth after Jordan Kozicky crossed home plate on a Bison wild pitch, and built its advantage to 3-1 in the seventh when Cole McDevitt scored on a double play.
Vavra led the Gophers at the plate, going 3-for-4 with a RBI.
Minnesota relief pitcher Sam Thoresen (1-1) earned the win after tossing two scoreless innings with two strikeouts and two walks.

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 17th in the nation in walks allowed per nine innings at 1.06, while also ranking 19th in strikeout-to-walk ratio at 7.8.

Road Warriors:
The Bison are one of three teams in NCAA Division I Baseball that haven't played a home game this year. South Dakota State 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 twice had its home opener postponed, while they are now currently scheduled to open the home slate on April 12 against North Dakota State.

Scouting the Golden Gophers:
Minnesota is 13-16 overall after dropping two of three at Michigan over the weekend. The Golden Gophers won the series opener 6-4 on Friday, but lost 5-3 on Saturday and 8-0 on Sunday. Minnesota is 4-1 at home this year, with the lone loss coming against Nebraska. This is the first of five scheduled games against Summit League opponents for the Gophers, as they will face NDSU twice, South Dakota State twice and Omaha. Drew Hmielewski leads the offensive attack for Minnesota, hitting .333 in 42 at-bats. Eli Wilson has a team-high 32 hits, while Jordan Kozicky leads the Golden Gophers with 30 RBI. Kozicky and Easton Bertrand each have five home runs to lead Minnesota. Out of the bullpen, Brett Schulze has a 4-0 record while also recording four saves with a 2.74 ERA in 16 relief appearances. Max Meyer has thrown a team-high 44 innings with a 3-1 record and 1.64 ERA, while also leading the Golden Gophers with 50 strikeouts.

Double Vision:
Freshman Peter Brookshaw ranks 54th in the nation with .41 doubles per game. He has nine doubles on the season, which tied for the lead in the Summit League.

Getting the Bunt Down:
Junior Bennett Hostetler ranks 72nd in the country with .18 sacrifice bunts per game, while also ranking 133rd 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.

Oakes Returns to Minnesota:
North Dakota State Associate Head Coach and Recruiting Coordinator Tyler Oakes is a former Minnesota Golden Gopher, having played from 2006-09. He was a three-time Academic All-Big Ten performer. Oakes appeared in 54 games for the Golden Gophers, striking out 77 in 105.2 innings of work.