Bison Baseball Hosts SDSU on Senior Weekend

Friday, May 14

Fargo, N.D.

3 p.m.

North Dakota State Athletics

South Dakota State

Peter Brookshaw, Bennett Hostetler, Jake Malec, Calen Schwabe

Photo by: Zachary Lucy

Bison Baseball Hosts SDSU on Senior Weekend

5/13/2021 1:58:00 PM | Baseball

NDSU Baseball Notes - South Dakota State Live Streams

Scene Setter
The North Dakota State baseball team hosts South Dakota State in the final home series of the season for the Bison this weekend. The two teams will play a doubleheader on Friday, May 14, with first pitch scheduled for 3 p.m. at Newman Outdoor Field. Single games will be played on Saturday and Sunday, with first pitch set for 2 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday. NDSU will honor its eight seniors prior to the game on Sunday.

Media Coverage
All four games this weekend will be available on GoBison.com/allaccess. There will also be live stats for all four games, with links found at BisonStats.com. Bison 1660 will broadcast the final three games of the series.

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
South Dakota State owns a 123-73 lead in the all-time series that dates back to a 17-8 Bison victory in Brookings in 1956. During the NCAA Division I era, SDSU holds a 52-41 advantage in the series. The Bison are 27-18 in Fargo against SDSU since 2005. Over the course of the 93 games played against each other in the NCAA Division I era, the Bison are averaging 4.31 runs per game.

Scouting the Jackrabbits
South Dakota State enters the weekend with an 11-25 overall record and 6-14 record in league play. Derek Hackman leads the Jacks with a .314 average, while Jess Bellows is the only other player over .270 at .293. Hackman has a team-best six home runs and 22 RBI, while Landon Badger has four home runs and 21 RBI. Riley McSherry has made a team-high 13 appearances on the mound, with all coming out of the bullpen. McSherry has a 1-1 record with a 12.79 ERA. Cody Carlson and Adam Mazur have each made nine starts this year, as Carlson is 2-4 with a 4.20 ERA and Mazur is 2-6 with a 5.23 ERA. Bret Barnett has two saves in 10 appearances with a 1-1 record and 6.35 ERA.

What's at Stake
NDSU sits in second place in the Summit League standings heading into the final series of the year for the Bison. Oral Roberts (14-5 - .737) is in first and travels to Omaha (11-8 - .579) this weekend. If the Bison go 4-0 this weekend, they would finish with a .677 winning percentage or .645 by going 3-1. With those two outcomes, NDSU would need Oral Roberts to lose four games (.667) or five games (.630) over their final eight games for the Bison to earn the regular season title.

Record-Setting Bullpen
The Bison bullpen has a school-record 21 saves this season, breaking the previous school record of 17 saves during the 2016 season. Eight different Bison have recorded a save this season, led by senior Parker Harm and freshman Wyatt Nelson's seven saves each. NDSU is the only school in the country to have multiple players with seven saves or more each.

He's Simply The Best
Last week at the NDSU Green & Gold Gala, senior shortstop Bennett Hostetler was named the Male Athlete of the Year. Hostetler took home the prize in a loaded category that featured football's James Kaczor, basketball's Rocky Kreuser, track and field's Alex Talley and wrestling's Luke Weber.

We've Been Everywhere, Man
North Dakota State leads the nation in road victories with 22 on the year. No other team has more than 19 victories on the road. By taking two of three games from Kansas in the last road trip, the Bison have now won a game in nine different states on the road (Kentucky, Missouri, Colorado, Ohio, Illinois, Oklahoma, Nebraska, South Dakota, Kansas).

Flaa Makes MLB Debut
Former Bison Jay Flaa made his Major League Baseball debut April 27 with the Baltimore Orioles against the New York Yankees. Flaa tossed 1.1 innings of scoreless relief in the eighth and ninth, while striking out two-time MLB All-Star Aaron Judge for his first MLB strikeout. Flaa was placed on waivers the next day, but was picked up by the Atlanta Braves.

Safe at First
In 211 career games, senior Bennett Hostetler has reached base safely in 173 games. His percentage of reaching base safely in 81.9 percent of his games is the highest total of any player in the country that has appeared in 135 games or more.

Hot Through 30 Games
For just the fourth time in program history, NDSU was 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 during the home series opener against Western Illinois. Hostetler broke school records with his 92nd career walk (now has 100) and 13th career sacrifice fly (now has 15).

Summit League Honors
North Dakota State has earned five Summit League Player of the Week awards and three Summit League Pitcher of the Week honors. Senior Bennett Hostetler has earned the honor four times, while fellow senior Jake Malec earned the honor once. This past week, senior Parker Harm was named the Summit League Pitcher of the Week for the second time, while freshman Cade Feeney won the award earlier in the year.

Get on and Steal it
Senior Bennett Hostetler ranks 15th in the nation with a .514 on-base percentage. He also ranks 35th in stolen bases with 18 and 90th in the country with .38 stolen bases per game.

Top Hitters in The Summit League
North Dakota State has a .275 batting average as a team, ranking 105th in the nation and second in the Summit League. Senior Bennett Hostetler has the top average in the league at .387, while Jake Malec is second in the league at .339. Hostetler ranks 41st in the nation.

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 April 9. 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.

Turnin' Two
The Bison have turned 39 double plays in 47 games this season, ranking 11th in the country in double plays. The .83 double plays per game ranks 36th in the nation.

Leave The Guy Alone
Senior Bennett Hostetler has been hit by a pitch 18 times this season, ranking ninth in the country. He ranks 11th among active NCAA Division I players with 48 career hit by pitches.

Three Bags at Once
With four triples this season, senior Jake Malec leads the Summit League and ranks 16th in the nation.

Making the Sacrifice
Bennett Hostetler has 15 career sacrifice flies, the most in school history and the 11th most among active NCAA Division I players. Zach Solano ranks 35th in the nation with seven sacrifice bunts this season, while Calen Schwabe ranks 61st with six.

Get On and Drive Them In
Leadoff hitter Jake Malec ranks 18th in the nation in runs scored with 50, while Bennett Hostetler, hitting in the three spot, ranks 49th in the country with 45 runs batted in. Malec leads the Summit League in runs scored, while Hostetler leads the league in RBI.

Harm Not Allowing Hits
Senior Parker Harm has allowed just 6.41 hits per nine innings over the course of his career. That ranks 28th among active NCAA Division I players.

How Low Can You Go
Sophomore Max Loven ranks eighth among active NCAA Division I players with 1.62 walks allowed per nine innings. That total is 18th lowest among all active NCAA players across all divisions.

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 332 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.

Up Next
NDSU will finish the regular season next weekend with three games at Eastern Kentucky. The series begins at 5 p.m. (central) on Thursday, with single games again on Friday (5 p.m.) and Saturday (11 a.m.).