NDSU Baseball Set to Host Purdue Fort Wayne

Friday, May 10

Fargo, N.D.

2 p.m.

North Dakota State Athletics

Purdue Fort Wayne

Photo by: Tim Sanger

NDSU Baseball Set to Host Purdue Fort Wayne

5/9/2019 4:50:00 PM | Baseball

Scene Setter:
The North Dakota State (16-21, 12-12 Summit) baseball team returns to Summit League play for a three-game series against Purdue Fort Wayne (5-40, 0-24 Summit). The series will start on Friday, May 10 with a 2 p.m. game. On Saturday, first pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m., while the Sunday game is slated to start at Noon. 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.

Series History:
NDSU owns a 37-23 advantage in the all-time series that dates back to a 17-6 win on May 19, 2006 at the Division I Independent Tournament in Sioux Falls, S.D. The Bison have won 10-straight games in the series, including the first three games between the teams this year in Fort Wayne back in April.

Last Time Out:
The North Dakota State baseball team scored four runs in both the first and third innings in a 10-2 victory over Concordia College Monday night at Newman Outdoor Field. It was the third-straight win for the Bison, playing their fourth game in the last four days. NDSU improved to 16-21 overall, while the Cobbers ended the season with a 15-22 record.
Peter Brookshaw was 4-for-4 with three RBI, including his 10th double of the season. It was the second game this season with four hits for Brookshaw. Jake Malec was 2-for-3. Bennett Hostetler, Charley Hesse and Nick Emanuel each scored twice in the win.
Six different pitchers went to the mound for the Bison, with Mitch O'Connor improving to 1-2 on the year with the victory in three innings. O'Connor allowed just one hit with five strikeouts. Barron Holtz added four strikeouts in two innings, while Gabe Pilla struck out three in an innings work.

Last Time Against Purdue Fort Wayne:
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.

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 13th in the nation in walks allowed per nine innings at 1.21, while also ranking 20th in strikeout-to-walk ratio at 6.2. He leads the Summit League in both categories. Loven also ranks 54th in the nation in WHIP at 1.02 and 86th in ERA at 2.53. He also ranks eighth in the nation in complete games with three.

Making the Sacrifice:
Junior Bennett Hostetler ranks 50th in the country with .19 sacrifice bunts per game, while also ranking 75th with seven sacrifice bunts on the season. Hostetler also has four sacrifice flies on the season, ranking 148th in the nation.

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 Mastodons:
Purdue Fort Wayne enters the weekend series with a 5-40 overall record and 0-24 Summit League record. The Mastodons have dropped 19-straight games that started with the Bison taking three from them in April in Fort Wayne. Garrett Mohler leads the offensive attack for the Mastodons with a .270 batting average. Mohler also has a team-high 41 hits and 20 RBI. Andrew Lawvere leads Purdue Fort Wayne with five home runs on the year. On the mound, Chase Phelps has pitched a team-best 60.1 innings, having a 9.10 ERA and 1-8 record in 15 appearances. Phelps has 42 strikeouts, while Cameron Boyd (0-10, 8.37 ERA) has 39 strikeouts.

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 on Sunday, 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 fourth in Summit League history with 288 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. Earlier this year, 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 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.

Purdue Fort Wayne Series Time Changes
With the series from earlier in the year against Purdue Fort Wayne being switched, times have changed for the series this weekend at Newman Outdoor Field. The game on Friday, May 10, will now be played at 2 p.m. On Saturday, the game has been moved to 7 p.m., while the game on Sunday will now start at 12 p.m.

Loven Named Summit League Pitcher of the Week
Freshman Max Loven was named the Summit League Pitcher of the Week after his performance against Omaha last weekend. The southpaw Loven tossed his second straight complete game in a 3-2 win over Omaha in game two to earn the first Pitcher of the Week honor of his young career. After yielding two runs in the fourth, Loven kept the Mavericks off the scoreboard the rest of the way as the Bison held on for the one-run victory. He also made a sparkling defensive play in the eighth inning, diving to catch a sac bunt attempt, then doubling the runner off first base to get two quick outs.

How Low Can You Go?
As a team, the Bison rank 63rd in the nation with a 4.11 ERA. That mark is the best in the Summit League as well. Max Loven leads the way for the Bison with a 2.53, while Ben Smith is just behind him at 2.89.