NDSU Baseball Hosts South Dakota State in Regular Season Finale

Thursday, May 16

Fargo, N.D.

6:30 p.m.

North Dakota State Athletics

South Dakota State

Photo by: Carrie Snyder

NDSU Baseball Hosts South Dakota State in Regular Season Finale

5/15/2019 3:38:00 PM | Baseball

Scene Setter:
The North Dakota State (18-22, 14-13 Summit) baseball team faces South Dakota State (25-19, 17-9 Summit) in the final regular season series of the season. The series will start on Thursday, May 16 with a 6:30 p.m. first pitch. The game on Friday will also be a 6:30 p.m. first pitch, with Saturday's game set to begin at 1 p.m. All three games will be played at Newman Outdoor Field in Fargo.

Media Coverage:
Live stats for the games will be available at BisonStats.com. A live video feed will be available at GoBison.com for all three games, while you can also the games on the radio on Bison 1660. All three games will also be broadcast statewide in North Dakota on BEK Sports.

Series History:
The Jackrabbits own a 119-70 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. Earlier this year, SDSU took two of three games from the Bison in a series played in Omaha.

Last Time Out:
It was another high-scoring affair for the North Dakota State baseball team Sunday afternoon, as the Bison beat Purdue Fort Wayne 11-9 in the series finale at Newman Outdoor Field.
The Bison moved to 18-22 on the year and 14-13 in Summit League play with the win. Purdue Fort Wayne dropped to 6-42 overall and 1-26 in league play.
NDSU jumped on the Mastodons early in the finale with four runs in the first inning. Three of the runs came via bases loaded walks. Purdue Fort Wayne scored a pair in the second and one in the fourth to cut the lead to 4-3.
In the bottom of the fourth, Bennett Hostetler hit his third home run of the series to left field, as the Bison took a 6-3 lead. The Mastodons scored three runs in the top of the fifth to tie the game at 6-6.
The Bison quickly got the lead back with three runs in the bottom of the fifth. Singles by Jake Malec and Hostetler drove in the three runs to push the lead to 9-6.
NDSU extended the lead to 11-6 in the sixth inning, as Carter Thompson hit his third home run of the season down the left field line. The Mastodons added three runs in the eighth inning for the final runs of the game.
Hostetler led the Bison with three hits, while Sean Noel added a pair. Hostetler and Thompson each drove in three runs, while Malec brought in a pair. Noel, Jack Simonsen and Charley Hesse each scored twice.
Zach Smith had a no-decision in 2.1 innings of work, giving up six hits and two runs, while walking one and striking one out. Mitch O'Connor and Jake Drew each added a strikeout. Blake Tritch picked up his first career win in 1.2 innings of work. Jordan Harms earned his second save of the season, striking out two of the three batters he faced in the ninth inning.

Last Time Against South Dakota State:
South Dakota State used a two-run home run in the bottom of the ninth to force extra innings before scoring three runs in the bottom of the 10th to beat North Dakota State 10-9 in a Summit League baseball game at J.J. Isaacson Field.
The Jackrabbits picked up the series victory in the finale, as they improved to 16-14 overall and 9-6 in Summit League play. NDSU dropped to 9-17 overall and 7-8 in the Summit League.
Sean Noel and Jack Simonsen each had two hits for the Bison, while Brock Anderson and Jake Malec each scored twice. Bennett Hostetler, Simonsen and Jayse McLean each drove in a pair of runs. Charley Hesse extended his hitting streak to 11 games, while Peter Brookshaw reached base for the 20th-straight game.
Ben Smith had a no-decision in the start, giving up three runs on six hits and a walk in six innings. Smith also had three strikeouts. Hunter Koep had two strikeouts in an inning and two-thirds, while Jake Drew (0-2) suffered the loss in two-thirds of an inning with a strikeout.

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.

Loven Is Dealin':
Freshman Max Loven ranks 17th in the nation in walks allowed per nine innings at 1.32, while also ranking 31st in strikeout-to-walk ratio at 5.5. He leads the Summit League in both categories. Loven also ranks 62nd in the nation in WHIP at 1.04 and 104th in ERA at 2.76. He also ranks eighth in the nation in complete games with three.

Making the Sacrifice:
Junior Bennett Hostetler ranks 59th in the country with .18 sacrifice bunts per game, while also ranking 92nd with seven sacrifice bunts on the season. Hostetler also has four sacrifice flies on the season.

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.

Scouting the Jackrabbits:
Gus Steiger leads the way offensively for South Dakota State with a .321 batting average. Steiger has scored a team-high 40 runs, while also leading the Jackrabbits in hits with 63, doubles with 13 and RBI with 41. He is also 15-of-18 in stolen base attempts, while Nick Smith is second on the team with eight swipes. Nick Smith ranks 19th in the nation with .98 base on balls per game, while also ranking 62nd with 39 total on the year. On the mound, Tyler Olmstead has pitched a team-high 83 innings with a 3.04 ERA. Bret Barnett and Nic McCay lead the way with five victories apiece, while Barnett also has a team-best six saves. Olmstead has a team-best 81 strikeouts, while McCay has 74. McCay ranks 29th in the country with a pair of complete games. Ryan Froom has 13 starts for the Jackrabbits, ranking 25th in the nation.

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.

Everyone Gets An Assist:
In the 13 inning victory over Omaha in the series finale, North Dakota State set a school record with 24 assists in the game. The total surpassed the mark of 23 set in 1981 against Minnesota State-Moorhead.

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 a tie for third in Summit League history with 290 wins with Illinois-Chicago's Dean Refakes (1984-94). Brown also joined Valparaiso's Paul Twenge as the only two coaches in Summit League history to have coached 300 or more league games. Earlier this year, he became the third coach in Summit League history to coach in 600 or more games, joining Twenge and Refakes.

McLean Voted to Google Cloud Academic All-District Baseball Team:
Jayse McLean was voted to the Google Cloud Academic All-District Division Baseball Team, as selected by members of the College Sports Information Directors of America. This is the second-straight year McLean has earned the nod, while he also was selected to the Google Cloud Academic All-America First Team last season. McLean boasts a perfect 4.00 grade-point average majoring in mechanical engineering.

How Low Can You Go?
As a team, the Bison rank 91st in the nation with a 4.33 ERA. That mark is second in the league behind South Dakota State's 4.32. Max Loven leads the way with a 2.76 ERA, while Ben Smith is behind him among starters with a 3.76. In 12 relief appearances, Jordan Harms has a 2.93 ERA.

Hostetler Named Summit League Player of the Week
Junior Bennett Hostetler was named the Summit League Baseball Player of the Week for his performance last week. Hostetler put together his best weekend of the season, going 8-for-13 (.615) with three home runs and nine RBI in a series win over Purdue Fort Wayne. The junior homered in all three games against the Mastodons, doubling his season total through the first 37 games. Hostetler finished the week with a .600 batting average, scoring seven runs and driving in 10 as the Bison scored 46 runs during a 3-1 week.