SIOUX FALLS, S.D. -- We are halfway through the 2022 Summit League baseball schedule and the league's seven teams have not disappointed. There have been shutouts, nine to be exact in league tilts alone. There have been home runs, 72 if you're counting at home and a whole lot in between.
The action is only going to pick up too, including this weekend in Tulsa where the top two teams in the #SummitBSB standings square off at J.L. Johnson Stadium as North Dakota State visits Oral Roberts.
The road has not bothered the Bison as they own a 9-3 record and are only percentage points behind the Golden Eagles, who took sole possession of first place with a sweep of Western Illinois last weekend. NDSU has played four road series so far in league play and won all of them. They were the "home" team for two of those series that were relocated from Fargo because of inclement weather.
SDSU moved into a tie for third with Omaha at 7-5 thanks to a 2-1 series win over Northern Colorado and the Jackrabbits will be watching this weekend to see how things shake out around them. The Mavericks and their vaunted pitching staff head to Western Illinois looking to bounce back from a series loss to the Bison that saw the pitching staff yield just five runs in three games, but the offense put up a pair of goose eggs as it had trouble figuring out NDSU's own highly-touted staff.
The Bears travel to St. Thomas where they will try to stay within striking distance of one of the top four spots in the standings. They are two games behind the Jacks and Mavericks. UNC is the top-hitting team in the conference, but the Tommies are coming off a series win at Tarleton State and a shutout of Minnesota as they return to league play.
UPCOMING
Friday, April 22
Northern Colorado at St. Thomas* | 3 p.m. CT
Omaha at Western Illinois* | 3 p.m. CT
NDSU at Oral Roberts* | 6 p.m. CT
Saturday, April 23
Northern Colorado at St. Thomas* | 1 p.m. CT
Omaha at Western Illinois* | 2 p.m. CT
NDSU at Oral Roberts* | 2 p.m. CT
NDSU at Oral Roberts* | 5 p.m. CT
Sunday, April 24
Northern Colorado at St. Thomas* | 1 p.m. CT
Omaha at Western Illinois* | 1 p.m. CT
Tuesday, April 26
Oklahoma at Oral Roberts (ESPN+) | 6 p.m. CT
SDSU at Minnesota | 6 p.m. CT
Western Illinois at Iowa | 6 p.m. CT
Valley City State at NDSU | 6:30 p.m. CT
Wednesday, April 27
St. Thomas at Minnesota | 6 p.m. CT
Omaha at Nebraska | 6:30 p.m CT
All times local to site | *Summit League game
DIAMOND NOTES
• Oral Roberts followed up a sweep of Western Illinois that put them in first place alone in the #SummitBSB standings with a 15-9 extra-inning victory at No. 4 Oklahoma State. The Golden Eagles nearly let an eight-run lead slip away after the Cowboys rallied to tie the score at 9-9 in the bottom of the eighth, but ORU responded with a six-run 12th-inning to put the game away. Outfielder Caleb Denny went 5-for-7 in the contest, including a two-run homer.
• ORU swept the TicketSmarter weekly baseball awards with reigning Pitcher of the Year Isaac Coffey earning his first weekly award of the season and fourth of his career after tossing the first complete-game shutout of the season by a #SummitBSB pitcher. He fanned eight in seven innings of work as ORU rolled to a 12-0 win in game two. Joshua Cox earned the weekly player award after going 5-for-7 against the Leathernecks and driving in six runs during a 4-0 week.
• The Golden Eagles will put their five-game winning streak and top spot in the standings on the line this weekend with a home series against North Dakota State. The Bison are just percentage points behind ORU and are the only squad to win all of their #SummitBSB series this season.
• NDSU kept that streak alive last weekend in Omaha, winning two games via a shutout. Max Loven improved to 5-2 on the season, holding the Mavericks scoreless for 6.2 innings in the opener, while Evan Sankey posted a similar line in the finale to help close out the series win.
• The Mavericks’ pitching staff limited NDSU to just five runs in the series and lowered their league-leading team ERA down to 1.57.
• Omaha third baseman Mike Boeve went 2-4 in a mid-week loss at Kansas State Tuesday to extend his hitting streak to 10 games. He increased his league-leading average to .379 and is batting .395 in league play.
• SDSU pulled even with Omaha in the league standings at 7-5 thanks to a series win at home over Northern Colorado. The Jackrabbits have won eight of 10 with their bye weekend up ahead.
• The Jackrabbits hit seven home runs during the UNC series and now lead the league with 21 dingers in #SummitBSB play. Drew Beazley and Derek Hackman each hit two against the Bears. Five different SDSU players have at least three home runs in league play with shortstop pacing that group with four.
• Northern Colorado avoided the sweep with a 12-3 victory in game three. Shaydon Kubo went 2-for-4 with an RBI in the victory is batting .360 in league play with a league-high 18 hits in 12 contests. He also shares the league-lead with four home runs and 16 RBI. Kubo’s teammate, Cameron Cromer is leading the league in conference batting average with a .441 clip and those efforts have the Bears on top of the team batting average charts with a .306 clip.
• St. Thomas picked up its first win against in-state rival Minnesota during mid-week action, topping the Gophers 6-0. Righthander Kolby Gartner, who is also the starting punter on the Tommies’ football team, tossed a three-hit shutout, fanning nine Gophers to pick up his first win of the season.
#SUMMITBSB
