NDSU Baseball Travels to Oral Roberts

Friday, March 26

Tulsa, Okla.

3 p.m.

North Dakota State Athletics

Oral Roberts

Photo by: Rachael Keating

NDSU Baseball Travels to Oral Roberts

3/25/2021 12:48:00 PM | Baseball

NDSU Baseball Notes - Oral Roberts Live Streams

Scene Setter
The North Dakota State baseball team continues its season-opening road trip this weekend, with a four-game series scheduled against Oral Roberts in Tulsa, Okla. The two teams will play the series opener at 3 p.m. on Friday, March 26, as part of a doubleheader. First pitch of the game on Saturday is scheduled for 2 p.m., with the series finale set for a 1 p.m. first pitch on Sunday.

Media Coverage
Live video will be available on the Oral Roberts Sports Network at ORUAthletics.com for all four games. Live stats for all four games will be available at ORUAthletics.com.

Series History
Oral Roberts holds a 40-14 advantage in the all-time series that dates to a 6-4 victory by the Golden Eagles on April 4, 2008 in Tulsa. The Bison are 5-27 all-time against Oral Roberts in Tulsa. Oral Roberts is 8-2 against the Bison in the last 10 meetings, with NDSU picking up both of those wins during the 2019 season.

Scouting the Golden Eagles
Oral Roberts is set to host the Bison in the Summit League opener for the Golden Eagles. Oral Roberts enters the weekend with a 7-12 overall record. The two teams share a common foe in Saint Louis, as Oral Roberts just traveled to play the Billikens this past weekend. Oral Roberts won the opener 14-7 before dropping each of the next two games, scoring just three combined runs in the two losses. The Golden Eagles do own a series victory over eighth-ranked LSU, picking up a 22-7 victory in the series opener on March 5 in Baton Rouge. Oral Roberts ranks 12th in the nation with 16 double plays turned, while ranking 37th with .84 per game. Ryan Cash leads the Golden Eagles with a .308 batting average, while Caleb Denny hits .284. Denny leads the team with four home runs and 17 RBI, while also having a team-best .527 slugging percentage. On the mound, Adam Scoggins has made a team-leading nine appearances out of the bullpen with a 6.75 ERA and 1-1 record in 9.1 innings. Tanner Rogen leads the team in innings pitched at 28.2 with a 1-2 record and 3.45 ERA in five appearances with four starts. Isaac Coffey and James Notary have each started a team-best five games, with Coffey going 2-1 with a 4.94 ERA and Notary being 0-3 with a 6.86 ERA. Bradan Pierce has a pair of saves in 10 innings of work.

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 had an eight-game road winning streak snapped on Sunday that was the longest road winning streak in the nation. The Bison are 14-4 on the road this year and the only team in the country with more than 10 road wins.

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 14 and 11th in the country with .78 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 18 double plays in 18 games this season, ranking seventh in the country in double plays. The 1.00 double plays per game ranks 11th in the nation.

Best Batting Average in Summit League
North Dakota State has a .287 batting average as a team, ranking 37th 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 .460 and .370. Hostetler ranks 24th in the nation, while Malec ranks 168th.

Leave The Guy Alone:
Senior Bennett Hostetler has been hit by a pitch nine times this season, ranking seventh in the country. He ranks 13th among active NCAA Division I players with 39 career hit by pitches.

Making the Sacrifice:
Bennett Hostetler has 12 career sacrifice flies, tied for the most in school history and the 17th most among active NCAA Division I players. Calen Schwabe ranks 10th in the nation with four sacrifices this year and 55th with .22 sacrifices per game. With two sacrifice flies, Tucker Rohde ranks 78th in the nation.

Get On and Drive Them In
Leadoff hitter Jake Malec ranks 19th in the nation in runs scored with 23, while Bennett Hostetler, in the three hole, ranks 24th in the nation with 23 runs batted in. Both totals are the best in the Summit League. Peter Brookshaw, hitting in the two spot, ranks 57th in the nation in RBI with 21.

Summit League Honors
For the third time in five weeks, North Dakota State senior shortstop Bennett Hostetler has been named the Summit League Baseball Player of the Week. It is the fourth time Hostetler has earned the award in his career, the most by any Bison and tied for the fifth-most in Summit League history. Hostetler led the Bison to a 4-1 record last week, including a 3-1 start in league play thanks to a series win over Western Illinois. The Bison shortstop went 9-for-19 (.474) at the plate with six extra-base hits, six runs, 11 RBI and three stolen bases. Hostetler hit safely and had at least one RBI in all five games, extending his hitting streak to 11 games. Against the Leathernecks, he hit .500 with three doubles, his first two home runs of the season and drove in 10 runs. Hostetler's first long ball of the campaign came in extra innings in game three against Western Illinois to secure the series win. His three-run shot in the eighth inning gave the Bison a 7-4 lead. NDSU has won the award four of the five times this season, as Jake Malec was named the Summit League Player of the Week on March 8.

Strikeout Sankey
Evan Sankey ranks 17th in the nation in strikeout-to-walk ratio at 11.0, while also ranking 79th in strikeouts per nine innings at 12.73. He ranks 94th in the nation with 33 strikeouts, while ranking 17th in WHIP at .64 and 51st in walks allowed per nine innings at 1.16. His 1.16 ERA ranks 52nd in the country.

Harm Not Allowing Hits
Senior Parker Harm has allowed just 6.38 hits per nine innings over the course of his career. That ranks 26th overall among active players at all NCAA levels and the 14th 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.

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.

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. Brown ranks third in Summit League history with 313 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.

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.

Up Next:
The Bison will travel to Omaha for the third-straight Summit League road series before opening the home slate on April 9. 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 3 p.m. on Saturday and 1 p.m. on Sunday.