SIOUX FALLS, S.D. -- Three of the four seeds for the 2021 #SummitBSB Championship presented by U.S. Air Force Special Warfare have been decided and the final weekend of league play will determine the fourth.
Oral Roberts earned the No. 1 seed and its 19th Summit League regular season title with a three-game road sweep at Omaha last weekend. North Dakota State secured the No. 2 seed with a 3-1 series win at home over South Dakota State, while the Mavericks locked in the No. 3 seed as they prepare to host the tournament slated for May 27-29 for the first time in program history.
Who will get the No. 4 seed? That's the only question remaining as South Dakota State enters the final weekend of play with a slight edge on Western Illinois. Those two teams have home series ahead of them as they look to claim the final spot in the four-team field.
The Jackrabbits face the league-leading Golden Eagles in Brookings and the Leathernecks welcoming Omaha. Depending on if both teams play the same amount of games this weekend, if South Dakota State matches or excedes Western Illinois in victories, the Jackrabbits will earn the trip to Omaha.
Western Illinois would need to win more game in its series with the Mavericks than the Jackrabbits do in theirs with ORU to claim the last berth.
COMING UP
Thursday, May 20
Oral Roberts at South Dakota State (DH)
Omaha at Western Illinois (DH)
North Dakota State at Eastern Kentucky
Friday, May 21
Oral Roberts at South Dakota State
Omaha at Western Illinois
North Dakota State at Eastern Kentucky
Saturday, May 22
Oral Roberts at South Dakota State
Omaha at Western Illinois
North Dakota State at Eastern Kentucky
RECENT RESULTS
Friday, May 14
Oral Roberts 12, Omaha 3
Oral Roberts 2, Omaha 1 (8)
North Dakota State 7, South Dakota State 4
South Dakota State 5, North Dakota State 0 (7)
Saturday, May 15
Oral Roberts 17, Omaha 12
North Dakota State 5, South Dakota State 3
Sunday, May 16
Oral Roberts at Omaha (canceleld)
North Dakota State 10, South Dakota State 4
DIAMOND NOTES
• Oral Roberts locked up its 19th Summit League regular season title by virtue of a three-game sweep at Omaha last weekend. The Golden Eagles will be the No. 1 seed at the upcoming #SummitBSB Championship in Omaha scheduled for May 27-29 at Tal Anderson Field.
• Righthander Isaac Coffey continued his dominance on the mound in a 2-1 victory in game two of the series. Coffey allowed just three hits, fanned eight and only surrendered an unearned run en route to his league-leading eighth win of the season and league-high fourth #SummitBSB Pitcher of the Week accolade.
• In the batter’s box, desiganted hitter Jordan Wiley put together his best series in league play, going 7-for-11 and reaching base 11 times in 15 plate appearances. He belted a pair of home runs, drove in six and was named the #SummitBSB Player of the Week for his efforts. He was credited with the game-winning RBI in games two and three of the series. The latter came in the ninth inning of the series finale when he belted a two-run homer.
• North Dakota State secured the No. 2 seed in Omaha thanks to a 3-1 series win at home over border rival South Dakota State. The Bison finished league play with a school-record 20 wins thanks to the 10-4 victory in the series finale.
• Shortstop Bennett Hostetler continued his torrid hitting stretch, going 8-for-15 (.533) against the Jackrabbits and adding four RBI to his league-leading total of 49. Hostetler has multiple-hits in nine of his last 11 games as the Bison travel to Eastern Kentucky this weekend for a three-game series.
• Senior Parker Harm picked up two more saves in the SDSU series, bringing his league-leading total in that category to nine. He struck out all six batters he faced. Harm and teammate Wyatt Nelson are one-two in saves and the Bison are the team in Division I with a pair of pitchers that have logged seven or more saves.
• Omaha will be the No. 3 seed on its home turf as the Mavericks are slated to host the baseball tournament for the first time in program history. They will wrap up the regular season in Macomb against a Western Illinois squad that is trying to secure the final spot in the four-team tournament field. The Leathernecks (6-17; .261) enter the final weekend just over 30 percentage points behind South Dakota State (7-17; .292) in the league standings.
• The Jackrabbits entertain the league-leading Golden Eagles in Brookings and need to win match or excede Western Illinois’ win total (if both play the same number of games) on the final weekend to lock down the final spot. The Leathernecks would need to win one more than SDSU in order to clinch.
• SDSU catcher Derek Hackman hit .364 in the NDSU series and supplied his seventh home run of the season. He sits one behind Omaha’s Chris Esposito and NDSU’s Jake Malec for the league-lead in that category. Esposito and Malec both delivered their eighth home runs of the season in their respective series last weekend.
• Malec leads the league with 53 runs scored, which is 10 more than his teammate Hostetler, who ranks second with 43. Those two also rank one-two in hits with Hostetler pacing that category with 71 and Malec trailing by three at 68.
#SUMMITBSB
