Bison Baseball Opens Summit League Play at WIU with Altered Schedule

Friday, March 19

Macomb, Ill.

3 p.m.

North Dakota State Athletics

Western Illinois

Photo by: SLU Athletics

Bison Baseball Opens Summit League Play at WIU with Altered Schedule

3/18/2021 4:17:00 PM | Baseball

NDSU Baseball Notes - Western Illinois Live Streams

Scene Setter
The North Dakota State baseball team opens Summit League play this weekend, with a four-game series scheduled against Western Illinois in Macomb, Ill. Due to weather in the area during the week, the schedule has been altered. The two teams will play the series opener at 3 p.m. on Friday, March 19, followed by a doubleheader on Saturday at 12 p.m. The final game of the series is scheduled for 1 p.m. on Sunday.

Media Coverage
Live video will be available on Leatherneck All-Access at GoLeathernecks.com for the first game of the series. Live stats for all four games will be available at GoLeathernecks.com.

Series History
The all-time series between NDSU and Western Illinois is even at 37-37. The series started in 2005, as the Leathernecks won the first nine meetings between the two schools. NDSU is 6-4 in the last 10 meetings, while scoring an average of 5.38 runs over the 74 meetings. NDSU is 13-28 all-time in Macomb.

Scouting the Leathernecks
Western Illinois is 4-9 on the year and will be opening the home slate this weekend against the Bison. The Leathernecks opened the season with an 8-3 win over #4 Louisville before dropping eight of their next nine games. NDSU and Western Illinois share a common opponent in Saint Louis. The Billikens took two of three from the Leathernecks, while the Bison swept the Billikens. Western Illinois ranks 29th in the nation with .92 double plays per game and 41st with 11 on the year. Kevin Raisbeck leads the Leathernecks with a .320 average with a team-high 16 hits. Trenton Bauer has a team-best nine RBI. Bauer, Alex Dorethy and Tyler Estes each have three doubles for the Leathernecks. On the mound, Jacob Greenan has made a team leading six appearances with a 1-0 record and 5.91 ERA. In three starts, Chandler Fochs has pitched the most innings at 18.0, while tossing a complete game with a 2-1 record and 4.50 ERA.

Brown Joins 300 Club
North Dakota State Head Coach Tod Brown earned his 300th career win on Feb. 22 during the first game of the doubleheader at Western Kentucky. Brown is the third coach in Summit League history to earn 300 career wins. Brown joins Mitch McLeod as the only Bison coaches with over 300 wins, as McLeod has a school record 347.

Opening Day Streak Snapped
With a 10-4 loss in the season opener at Western Kentucky, the Bison had a streak of five-straight wins in season openers snapped. Last season, the Bison beat Hawaii 3-1 to start the 2020 campaign. In 2019, the Bison beat Sacramento State 9-1. NDSU beat Incarnate Word 8-2 in 2018, Mississippi Valley State 10-4 in 2017 and Arkansas-Pine Bluff 2-0 in 2016.

Road Warriors
In 2019, NDSU was the last NCAA Division I baseball team to play a home game. The Bison played 26-straight games away from Newman Outdoor Field to start the season in 2019. In 2020, the Bison were scheduled to play the first 27 games away from home before the season was cut short due to Covid-19. This season, the Bison are slated to play 26-straight road games before opening the home schedule April 9 against Western Illinois. It is currently the latest scheduled home opener for an NCAA Division I baseball team this season. NDSU's current five-game winning streak is tied for the fifth longest in the nation. The Bison are the only team in America with double digit road wins this season.

Get on and Steal it
Senior Bennett Hostetler ranks 12th in the nation with a .600 on-base percentage. He also ranks third in stolen bases with 12 and eighth in the country with .86 stolen bases per game. He is the only player in the country to have an on-base percentage over .600 with double digit stolen bases.

Turnin' Two
The Bison have turned 13 double plays in 14 games this season, ranking 17th in the country in double plays. The .93 double plays per game ranks 26th in the nation.

Best Batting Average in Summit League
North Dakota State has a .283 batting average as a team, ranking 59th in the nation. It is also the best in the Summit League. Seniors Bennett Hostetler and Jake Malec have the top two batting averages in the league at .447 and .407. Hostetler ranks 36th in the nation, while Malec ranks 93rd.

Leave The Guy Alone:
Senior Bennett Hostetler ranked fifth in the nation in hit by pitch last year, having been hit 11 times in 17 games. He has already been hit eight times this season, ranking sixth in the country. He ranks 15th among active NCAA Division I players with 38 career hit by pitches.

Making the Sacrifice:
Peter Brookshaw ranked second in the nation with five sacrifice flies last season. Bennett Hostetler has 12 career sacrifice flies, tied for the most in school history and the 14th most among active NCAA Division I players. Calen Schwabe ranks fourth in the nation with four sacrifices this year and 20th with .29 sacrifices per game. With two sacrifice flies, Tucker Rohde ranks 47th in the nation.

Summit League Honors
For the third time this year, a Bison has been named the Summit League Player of the Week. This past week, Bennett Hostetler earned the honor for the second time this season and third time in his career. Hostetler went 7-for-11 with four RBI and six stolen bases in the three victories over Dayton last week. The senior had multiple hits in each of those wins, including a 3-for-3 effort in game two when he also stole four bases. In Sunday's victory, he went 2-for-4 with a double, a run scored and two RBI. Jake Malec was named the Summit League Player of the Week last week.

Strikeout Sankey
Evan Sankey ranks fourth in the nation in strikeout-to-walk ratio at 26.0, while also ranking 52nd in strikeouts per nine innings at 13.5. He also ranks 30th in the nation with a .52 ERA and 14th in WHIP at .58.

Harm Not Allowing Hits
Senior Parker Harm has allowed just 6.36 hits per nine innings over the course of his career. That ranks 27th overall among active players at all NCAA levels and the 15th best among NCAA Division I players. Harm also ranks 22nd among NCAA Division I active players and 29th overall among all NCAA levels with 88 career walks allowed.

Summit League Preseason Poll
The North Dakota State baseball team has been picked to finish third in the Summit League preseason poll. Omaha was picked first in the poll with 15 points, holding a one point edge over Oral Roberts. The Mavericks received three first place votes, while the Golden Eagles earned the remaining two. NDSU was third in the poll with 10 points, while South Dakota State (seven points) and Western Illinois (four points) rounded out the poll. North Dakota State finished the 2020 season with an 8-9 record that was shortened due to Covid-19. Omaha won the 2019 Summit League regular season and tournament titles. Senior shortstop Bennett Hostetler and senior pitcher Parker Harm were named to the Summit League Players to Watch list. Hostetler started all 17 games last year at shortstop. He finished with a .216 average and led the team with two home runs. Harm made five appearances out of the bullpen, finishing with a 1-0 record and a 3.00 ERA in nine innings of work. He struck out 11, while walking just four.

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 last year and looks to do the same this season. Brown ranks third in Summit League history with 310 wins. Brown is one of three coaches in Summit League history to have coached 300 or more league games. Last year, he became the third coach in Summit League history to coach in 600 or more games, joining Valparaiso's Paul Twenge and Illinois-Chicago's Dean Refakes.

Bison Earn ABCA Team Academic Excellence Award:
The North Dakota State University baseball team earned the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) Team Academic Excellence Award for the third-straight season last year. NDSU was the only Summit League school to earn the honor. The ABCA Team Academic Excellence Award honors high school and college programs coached by ABCA members that post a GPA over 3.0 on a 4.0 scale for the current academic year. The Bison had a 3.522 cumulative GPA for the 2019-20 school year, including a record 3.61 GPA in the spring semester.

Up Next:
The Bison will head to Oral Roberts to open a four-game series on March 26. The league will play four-game series at each location this year, which will include a doubleheader over the three days. First pitch for Friday is set for 3 p.m. and is a doubleheader. The two teams will face each other again Saturday and Sunday, with first pitch set for 2 p.m. on Saturday and 1 p.m. on Sunday.