North Dakota State Interviews (Head Coach Tod Brown and Championship MVP Jake Malec)

OMAHA, Neb. – No. 2 seed North Dakota State defeated top-seeded Oral Roberts 11-6 in the title game of the 2021 #SummitBSB Championship presented by U.S. Air Force Special Warfare Saturday at Tal Anderson Field. The victory was the Bison's second postseason title as a league member and broke a single-season program record for wins with 41, while also securing a spot in the upcoming NCAA Tournament as the league's automatic qualifier.
 
After the Golden Eagles forced a winner-take-all game with a 15-5 victory earlier in the day, the Bison bounced back in an emphatic way.

This one started much like that first game, but fortunately for NDSU, it ended much different. The Bison jumped out to another early advantage, plating a pair of runs in the opening frame. Tucker Rohde doubled in the two batters ORU starter Tanner Rogen walked after Championship MVP Jake Malec led off the game with a blast to center that was caught up against the fence by Blake Hall.

NDSU extended the lead to 3-0 when Malec found the grass in his next at-bat, lacing a single into center field. ORU trimmed the deficit to 3-1 in its half of the second after back-to-back doubles by Jordan Wiley and Adam Oviedo off NDSU starter Tristen Roehrich.

Bison catcher Nick Emanuel got that run back with a RBI single in the fourth, but the Golden Eagles answered with a solo home run from Jake McMurray to make it a 4-2 lead. ORU pulled within a run on another long ball in the third this time coming from Anthony Martinez, who hit his third of the tournament to put the score at 4-3.

NDSU was held off the board for the first time in the fourth, but made up for it in the fifth by adding three runs to their advantage. Jack Simonsen produced an RBI groundout before Malec plated two with an infield single. Ryan Cash made a diving stop in the hole between first and second, but Zach Solano raced around from second as ORU's second baseman tried to get the speedy Malec out at first.

That three-spot pushed NDSU's advantage to 7-3 and after allowing a single tally in the second through fourth innings, Roerich pitched out of a potential jam in the fifth that saw the Golden Eagles put a pair of runners in scoring position to keep the cushion at four. 

Charley Hesse hit the first home run of the day for the Bison and Calen Schwabe added a RBI single as the second consecutive three-run frame put NDSU ahead 10-3 in the top of the sixth. ORU got some timely two-out hits in the bottom of the sixth to scratch across three runs of their own. McMurray plated the first with an infield single, then Caleb Denny added a two-run single to trim the deficit to 10-6.

NDSU got one of those back when Player of the Year Bennett Hostetler delivered his first RBI of the tournament with a sharp single to right. His opposite-field hit scored Malec, who doubled to lead off the frame for his third hit of the game. That capped the scoring at 11-6.

Bison closer Parker Harm was called on to get the final nine outs for NDSU as he entered the game in the seventh. He quickly retired the side in order in both the seventh and eighth innings before finally giving up a single in the ninth. That would be the only batter to reach base off the all-league first team relief pitcher, who notched his league-leading 11th save of the season and second of the tournament.

Pitcher of Record
Win – Tristen Roehrich (2-1): 5.0 IP, 8 hits, 3 earned runs, 1 walk, 4 strikeouts
Save - Parker Harm (11): 3.0 IP, 1 hit, 0 earned runs, 0 walks, 3 strikeouts
Loss – Tanner Rogen (2-4): 0.1 IP, 1 hit, 2 earned runs, 2 walks, 0 strikeouts

All-Tournament Team
Jake Malec, North Dakota State (MVP)
Nick Emanuel, North Dakota State
Max Loven, North Dakota State
Cade Feeney, North Dakota State
Parker Harm, North Dakota State
Bennett Hostetler, North Dakota State
Anthony Martinez, Oral Roberts
Ryan Cash, Oral Roberts
Blake Hall, Oral Roberts
Matt Gaskins, Oral Roberts
Adam Scoggins, Oral Roberts
Reece Anderson, South Dakota State
Drew Beazley, South Dakota State
Richie Holetz, Omaha

Notable Notes
•  NDSU won its second Summit League Tournament title and first since 2014 with the victory over the Golden Eagles.
•  This marked the first time in ORU's program history that it did not win the Summit League Tournament as the No. 1 seed (18-1).
•  The Bison are now 1-4 in tournament title games against Oral Roberts.
•  NDSU is the first No. 2 seed to win the tournament since Oral Roberts, who was only previous one to do so in 2010.
•  Oral Roberts Ryan Cash went 8-for-10 in the two championship games on Saturday.

Up Next
NDSU will find out where its season continues Monday at 11 a.m. CT when the NCAA Selection Show is set to air on ESPN2.

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