THIS WEEK
The North Dakota State (21-11, 9-3 Summit) baseball team is set for a four-game road swing this week beginning with Nebraska (13-21, 4-5 Big Ten) on Wednesday night at 6:35 p.m. The Bison will then travel to Oral Roberts (12-12, 7-2 Summit) to open up a three-game series on Friday at 6:00 p.m.
NDSU and Omaha battled through six scoreless innings until Will Busch was able to connect on a single into right field scoring Cadyn Schwabe to grab the 1-0 lead in the seventh. One inning later, Brock Anderson added some insurance launching his fourth home run of the season into right field to extend the edge to 2-0 in the eighth. Jake Drew then closed out the final frame for the Bison firing back-to-back strikeouts to secure the 2-0 win.
SUMMIT LEAGUE PLAY AT A GLANCE
The Bison have won each of their first four Summit League series and have put together a 9-3 overall record. Oral Roberts, who has won its last four games, enters the week in the top spot in the conference. NDSU is slotted in second place, while Omaha rounds out the top three. Will Busch (.333), Calen Schwabe (.333) and Jack Simonsen (.311) are all hitting .300 or better in conference play.
ONE OF THE BEST IN THE SUMMIT LEAGUE
NDSU leads the Summit League in four categories: home runs (1st, 38), home runs per game (1st, 1.19), sacrifice bunts (1st, 24), slugging percentage (1st, .437).
PLENTY OF ARMS
NDSU has fired 230 strikeouts this season with six different pitchers totaling at least 16 or more strikeouts. The pitching staff ranks second in the Summit League and 32nd in the country with a 4.04 ERA.
THE BAT IS HOT
Calen Schwabe (.342), Jack Simonsen (.306) and Logan Williams (.302) all boast a batting average of .300 or better this season. Simonsen has connected on a team-high 34 hits, including seven doubles, four home runs and two triples.
HITTING THE LONG BALL
The Bison have connected on 38 home runs, which leads the Summit League. Logan Williams paces the conference with 10 home runs, while Peter Brookshaw ranks tied for fifth and has launched a career-high six this season.
ON HISTORIC PACE
Logan Williams has connected on a team-high 10 home runs this season, which leads the Summit League. His 10 home runs are also the most in the NDSU Division I era in a single season and tied for 11th overall on the NDSU all-time single season list.
Williams assembled a streak of seven games with a home run from March 15-March 27. The NCAA record for consecutive games with a with a home run is nine, which was set by Nevada’s Tyler Bosetti in 2021 from April 24-May 9.
Williams had a performance to remember at Northern Colorado with two grand slams and a career-high eight RBI to help the Bison to a 15-1 win. His eight RBI were the most in the NDSU Division I era and one shy of the program record of nine.
150 AND COUNTING
In the 2-0 win at Omaha, Peter Brookshaw started his 150th career game. He’s started all 150 games that he’s appeared in over four seasons.
LOVEN CLIMBS THE RANKS
Max Loven has made nine appearances on the bump this season and boasts a 5-2 overall record. He has fired 40 total strikeouts to increase his career total to 184, which positions him in seventh place on the all-time NDSU strikeout list. Loven has also totaled 226 innings pitched and is slotted in fifth place on the NDSU all-time innings pitched list. He’s one of only nine players in program history to pitch in 200 innings or more.
DREW CLOSES THINGS OUT
Jake Drew is 2-0 on the mound this season and most recently tied a career-high four strikeouts over the final 2.1 innings in the 2-0 win at Omaha.
The Alexandria, Minn., native also finished the final inning to preserve the 4-1 win over St. Thomas on April 9 and earned his career-high fifth save of the season. He has contributed nine saves over five seasons and is tied for sixth place on the NDSU all-time saves list.
Additionally, Drew hasn’t allowed a run over his last seven appearances (8.6 innings) dating back to March 8 at Minnesota. He also hasn’t allowed a hit in each of his last three appearances (4.2 innings) dating back to April 2 at Western Illinois.
SCOUTING NEBRASKA
Nebraska has dropped its last three games and most recently fell short against BYU, 4-3. Cam Chick paced the Huskers with his second three-hit game of the season and went 3-of-4 at the plate, including a home run. Griffin Everitt leads Nebraska with 35 hits and a team-high 27 RBI to go along with a .282 batting average.
THE SERIES VS. NEBRASKA
NDSU is 0-5 all-time against Nebraska dating back to 1982. In their most recent meeting in 2005, the Bison fell short against the then-ranked No. 10 Huskers, 10-0, in eight innings in Lincoln.
SCOUTING ORAL ROBERTS
Oral Roberts has won each of its last four games and most recently edged Western Illinois, 4-3. Ledgend Smith fired eight strikeouts with two walks over 5.0 innings in the win over the Leathernecks. Jackson Loftin also leads the Summit League with a 35 runs this season and also boasts a .327 batting average, which ranks fifth in the Summit League. Oral Roberts will face No. 3 Oklahoma State on Tuesday night.
THE SERIES VS. ORAL ROBERTS
NDSU has won two of the last three meetings against Oral Roberts and most recently rolled past the Golden Eagles in the Summit League Championship last season, 11-6, in Omaha, Neb. Tristen Roehrich tossed a game-high four strikeouts over 5.0 innings in the win. However, Oral Roberts leads the all-time series, 45-19.
UP NEXT
NDSU hosts Valley City State at Newman Outdoor Field on April 26. First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m.
*Myles Johnson, NDSU Athletics
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