Bison Baseball Hosts Oral Roberts With Altered Schedule

Friday, April 16

Fargo, N.D.

3 p.m.

North Dakota State Athletics

Oral Roberts

Photo by: Zachary Lucy

Bison Baseball Hosts Oral Roberts With Altered Schedule

4/15/2021 3:06:00 PM | Baseball

Live Streams NDSU Baseball Notes - Oral Roberts

Scene Setter
For the second-straight weekend, the North Dakota State baseball team will play at Newman Outdoor Field, as the Bison host Oral Roberts in a four-game series. With cold temperatures in the forecast for Friday, the schedule has been altered for the first two days. The two teams will play the series opener at 3 p.m. on Friday, April 16. First pitch of a doubleheader on Saturday is scheduled for 2 p.m., with a nine inning game being followed by a seven inning game at approximately 5:30 p.m. The series finale set for a 1 p.m. first pitch on Sunday.

Media Coverage
Live video for all four games will be available at GoBison.com/allaccess, while live stats for all four games can be found at BisonStats.com. Bison 1660 will have the radio call for the series finale on Sunday. The broadcast on Sunday will be joined in progress following the NDSU softball game against Iowa State, which airs at 12 p.m.

Tickets & Parking
All seating is general admission and tickets may be purchased at the gate on game day. Tickets are $8 for adults and $5 for youth ages 3-17. Parking is available in NDSU parking lots HR and R to the south and east of the stadium on 15th Avenue. Parking is free of charge after 4:30 p.m. weekdays and all day Saturday, Sunday and holidays. Attendees are strongly encouraged to wear masks.

Series History
Oral Roberts holds a 42-16 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 9-12 all-time against Oral Roberts in Fargo. NDSU is 4-6 against Oral Roberts in the last 10 meetings, with the two teams splitting the first four-game series of the year in Tulsa.

Scouting the Golden Eagles
Oral Roberts is 14-17 overall and 5-3 in the Summit League, sitting in second in the league standings through four weekends of league play. Oral Roberts has already had both of its Summit League byes and will have played NDSU in two of its first three league series to start the season. Ryan Cash leads the Golden Eagles with a .315 batting average, while Joshua Cox is second on the team at .275. Cash also leads the team in hits with 41 and doubles with eight, while Caleb Denny has a team-best five home runs. In 10 appearances on the mound, Cade Denton leads the Golden Eagles with a 2.45 ERA. Adam Scoggins leads the team with 15 appearances, all coming out of the bullpen, while tallying a 5.02 ERA with three saves. Isaac Coffey has tossed a team-best 49.1 innings in eight starts, putting together a 4-1 record with a 3.47 ERA.

What's at Stake
At the halfway point of the Summit League schedule for NDSU, the Bison sit in first place in the league standings. With NDSU at a .688 winning percentage, Oral Roberts is second in the standings at .625 after eight games. Following the series with Oral Roberts, NDSU will have eight games left with South Dakota State and four games left with Omaha in the conference schedule. The Bison have not had either of their two byes in league play.

Bison, Gators and Longhorns, Oh My
Entering play this weekend, only three teams in the country have three starting pitchers with at least four wins apiece. North Dakota State is joined by perennial national powers Florida and Texas as the only schools in the country to boast that claim. Evan Sankey and Ben Smith both rank 16th in the country with five wins, while Cade Feeney ranks 68th with four wins.

Hot Through 30 Games
For just the fourth time in program history, NDSU is at least 22-8 through 30 games played. The Bison join the 2012 (23-7), 1998 (22-8) and 1996 (23-7) teams to have hit at least 22 wins in 30 games. The 2012 team finished the year 40-20, while the 1996 team was 37-11, the top two win totals in program history.

Breaking Records and Taking Names
Senior Bennett Hostetler broke a pair of career records this past weekend against Western Illinois. Hostetler broke school records with his 92nd career walk and 13th career sacrifice fly.

Get on and Steal it
Senior Bennett Hostetler ranks 16th in the nation with a .515 on-base percentage. He also ranks 20th in stolen bases with 14 and 42nd in the country with .47 stolen bases per game. He is one of three players in the country to have an on-base percentage over .500 with double digit stolen bases.

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 played 26-straight road games before hosting Western Illinois last weekend. With 26 road games to start the year, the Bison played the most games on the road before having a home game of any team in the country. NDSU has the most road wins in the nation at 18, with no one else having more than 15. Only three teams in the country have not played a home game yet this year, but none have played more than 26 on the road before playing at home.

Turnin' Two
The Bison have turned 26 double plays in 30 games this season, ranking 15th in the country in double plays. The .87 double plays per game ranks 27th in the nation.

Best Batting Average in Summit League
North Dakota State has a .274 batting average as a team, ranking 94th in the nation. It is also the best in the Summit League. Senior Bennett Hostetler has the top average in the league at .363.

Leave The Guy Alone
Senior Bennett Hostetler has been hit by a pitch 13 times this season, ranking seventh in the country. He ranks 13th among active NCAA Division I players with 43 career hit by pitches.

Three Bags at Once
With four triples this season, senior Jake Malec leads the Summit League and ranks third in the nation.

Making the Sacrifice
Bennett Hostetler has 13 career sacrifice flies, the most in school history and the 17th most among active NCAA Division I players. Calen Schwabe ranks 11th in the nation with six sacrifices this year and 43rd with .20 sacrifices per game.

Get On and Drive Them In
Leadoff hitter Jake Malec ranks 28th in the nation in runs scored with 33, while Peter Brookshaw, hitting in the two spot, ranks 94th in the country with 29 runs batted in. Bennett Hostetler, in the three hole, ranks 136th in the nation with 27 runs batted in. Malec leads the Summit League in runs scored, while Brookshaw and Hostetler rank first and third in RBI.

Summit League Honors
Through eight weeks of play, North Dakota State has earned four of the eight Summit League Player of the Week awards. Senior Bennett Hostetler has earned the honor three times, while fellow senior Jake Malec earned the honor once. This past week, freshman Cade Feeney was named the Summit League Pitcher of the Week, the first for a Bison this year.

Harm Not Allowing Hits
Senior Parker Harm has allowed just 6.41 hits per nine innings over the course of his career. That ranks 35th overall among active players at all NCAA levels and the 17th 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 321 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 hit the road once again next weekend for the final road Summit League series of the year at South Dakota State. First pitch for Friday is set for 12 p.m. and is a doubleheader. The two teams will face each other again Saturday and Sunday, with first pitch set for 1 p.m. both days.