RICHMOND, Ky. – The North Dakota State baseball team scored multiple runs in three innings Friday, as the Bison beat Eastern Kentucky 8-1 in the middle game of a three-game series.

NDSU improved to 37-16 on the year, tying for the second-most wins in school history. The Colonels dropped to 21-31 on the season. The series finale is set for 11 a.m. (Central) Saturday.

Jake Malec, Bennett Hostetler and Jack Simonsen each had two hits for the Bison. Hostetler scored three runs, while Malec and Peter Brookshaw each scored a pair. Hostetler drove in four runs, while Tucker Rohde brought in a pair. Hostetler became the eighth player in school history to have 50 RBI in a season, while moving into the top five in the category as well. 

Evan Sankey moved to 7-1 with a win on the mound in five innings. Sankey struck out four, while allowing a run on three hits. Zach Smith struck out four in three innings out of the bullpen, while Parker Harm struck out one in the ninth.

NDSU started the scoring in the first, as Hostetler singled to right center to bring in Malec. Charley Hesse then singled to shortstop, as Hostetler scored. Eastern Kentucky cut into the lead with a solo home run in the second inning. In the eighth, Rohde doubled down the right field line as Hostetler and Brookshaw scored. In the ninth, Malec singled up the middle to drive in Simonsen. Hostetler put the game away with a three-run home run, as Brookshaw and Malec scored.