SIOUX FALLS, S.D. -- The 2023 college baseball season is upon us and all seven Summit League teams will take to diamonds across the country to get their respective campaigns started. Oral Roberts, the presason favorites, will be the only League squad playing on its home field during the opening weekend as ORU will play Northern Illinois in a four-game set at J.L. Johnson Stadium.
Three League squads will be soaking up the sunshine in California as reigning regular season champion North Dakota State travels to Sacramento State for a four-game series. Omaha returns to Jackie Robinson Stadium on the campus of UCLA where the Mavericks played in the 2021 NCAA Tournament. This time Omaha will take on the (14/17) Bruins, who are the only ranked-foe set to play a Summit League opponent.
St. Thomas rounds out the trio heading west as the Tommies open 2023 with a four-game slate at CSU Bakersfield.
Northern Colorado will stay in the Rocky Mountain State, traveling south to take on UC-Colorado Springs in head coach Mike Anderson's debut as the skipper of his alma mater.
South Dakota State will head to Arkanas to face Little Rock in a three-game series, while Western Illinois will venture to Tennessee to face Southern Indiana in a four-game, neutral-site series in Millington.
NORTH DAKOTA STATE BISON (0-0, 0-0 SL) | @ndsubaseball
Next Up: at Sacramento State (2/17, 4 p.m. PT; 2/18 1 p.m. PT; 2/19 DH, 1 p.m. PT)
Previous Games: N/A
The Bison enter a season as the reigning Summit League regular season champion for the first time in program history after taking the 2022 crown with a 17-5 League record ... Second baseman Druw Sackett, a second team All-League selection in 2022, is the team’s top returning hitter after posting a .338 batting average a season ago ... Shortstop Peter Brookshaw also earned second team All-League honors after registering career-highs in batting average (.275), home runs (8), RBI (46) ... Catcher Will Busch gives NDSU a trio of All-League second team returners The Bison return two of their weekend starters from 2022 in righthander Cade Feeney, who both shared the team-lead with seven victories and pitched 75-plus innings in 2022 ... Righthander Tristern Roehrich will anchor the bullpen after posting a 5-2 record, six saves and a 3.42 ERA.
NORTHERN COLORADO BEARS (0-0, 0-0 SL) | @UNC_BearsBSB
Next Up: at UC-Colorado Springs (2/17, DH 11 a.m. MT; 2/18, 12 p.m. MT)
Previous Games: N/A
Northern Colorado is under the direction of first-year head coach Mike Anderson ... Anderson played for the Bears from1983-86 and was taken in the eighth round of the 1986 Major League Baseball Draft by the then-California Angels ... He amassed 337 wins in nine seasons as the head coach at Nebraska and led the Cornhuskers to the 2005 College World Series ... Anderson’s top returning hitter from the 2022 squad is outfielder Hayden Heinze, who has 106 career starts under his belt ... Heinze hit .298 with 11 RBI in 2022 ... Catcher Craig Kenny is the team’s top returning power threat (five home runs) and run-producer (22 RBI) ... Sophomore outfielder Jake King was the Bears’ “Player to Watch” and hit .300 in League play with two home runs and nine RBI as a freshman ... On the mound, newcomer Trey Cruz was the team’s “Pitcher to Watch” ... Cruz transfers in from Belmont Abbey where the lefthander logged a 4.66 ERA in 36.2 career innings.
OMAHA MAVERICKS (0-0, 0-0 SL) | @OmahaBSB
Next Up: at (14/17) UCLA (2/17, 5 p.m. PT; 2/18, 2 p.m. PT; 2/19, 1 p.m. PT)
Previous Games: N/A
The Mavericks are the lone Summit League team with a ranked foe on their schedule during the opening weekend as they travel to (14/17) UCLA for a three-game set ... Omaha’s Mike Boeve is the reigning Summit League Player of the Year while lefthander Caleb Riedel is the reigning Newcomer of the Year ... Boeve earned his second consecutive first team All-League honor at third base after hitting .364 overall and upping that to .393 against League foes ... Boeve registered a League-best 22 doubles in 2022 and has 39 two-baggers during his career ... Riedel earned third team NCBWA preseason All-America honors, landing on that organization’s third team after posting a 4-2 record and 1.49 ERA in his first season as a Maverick ... The lefthander also fanned 65 in 60.1 innings of work.
ORAL ROBERTS GOLDEN EAGLES (0-0, 0-0 SL) | @ORUBaseball
Next Up: Northern Illinois (2/17, 3 p.m. CT; 2/18 DH, 2 p.m. CT; 2/19, 12 p.m. CT)
Previous Games: N/A
The Golden Eagles captured their 20th Summit League Tournament title as the No. 2 seed a season ago, winning the championship game on their home field ... ORU will have to replace six of its seven All-League first team selections from that team ... First baseman Jake McMurray is the lone returner among that group, but ORU does have All-League second team selections Holden Breeze and Cade Denton back as well ... McMurray hit .286 with three home runs and 16 RBI in League play, while Breeze batted .289 with a homer and 14 RBI ... Denton, who did not allow an earned run to a League opponent in 2022 (20.2 innings of work), earned first team NCBWA preseason All-America honors ... He finished last season with a 4-0 record, six saves and 0.41 ERA in24 appearances.
ST. THOMAS TOMMIES (0-0, 0-0 SL) | @TommieBase
Next Up: at CSU Bakersfield (2/17, 6 p.m. PT; 2/18 DH, 1 p.m. PT; 2/19, 1 p.m. PT)
Previous Games: N/A
A pair of incoming freshman were the Tommies “Player” and “Pitcher” to watch entering the program’s second season at the Division I level ... Dylan O’Connell, a Wisconsin All-State player that hit .376 as a senior, is expected to play third base for head coach Chirs Olean, while righthander Nolan Kemp is expected to provide an immediate impact on the mound ... Kemp struck out 90 batters in 46 innings of work en route to earning Minnesota All-State honors ... Senior catcher Charlier Bartholomew is the team’s top returning hitter after batting .308 in his first DI season ... Sophomore outfielder Briggs Richartz hit .300 with three home runs and 17 RBI in Summit League play ... Lefthander Evan Esch started six League games a season ago, striking out 30 in 30.1 innings of work.
SOUTH DAKOTA STATE JACKRABBITS (0-0, 0-0 SL) | @GoJacksBaseball
Next Up: at Little Rock (2/17, 3 p.m. CT; 2/18, 2 p.m. CT; 2/19, 1 p.m. CT)
Previous Games: N/A
The Jackrabbits were the top power-hitting team in the League a season ago, belting 62 home runs with 41 of those coming in 24 League games ... The trio of Ryan McDonald, Dawson Parry and Luke Ira combined for nearly half of those balls as each of those players hit 10 home runs, which tops the charts among the league’s top returning long-ball leaders ... McDonald also hit .329 en route to earning All-League second team honors as Parry, who led the team with 40 RBI, joined him on that squad ... Lefthander Nic McKay and righthander Ryan Baroussa give the Jacks’ a league-best four all-league returners back for 2023 ... McKay was a second-team selection, while Baroussa was one of two relievers named to the first team.
WESTERN ILLINOIS EATHERNECKS (0-0, 0-0 SL) | @WIUBaseball
Next Up: vs. Southern Indiana (2/17, 2 p.m. CT; 2/18 DH, 12 p.m. CT; 2/19 11 a.m. CT)
Previous Games: N/A
The Leathernecks are under the direction of interim head coach Tayler Sheriff, who spent his first season with the program as the team’s pitching coach and recruiting coordinator ... Outfielder Nick Mitchell earned All-League second team honors a season ago and was the only freshman to earn all-league recognition ... Mitchell led all Summit League players with 30 steals and ranked fourth in batting average with a .342 clip ... Newcomer Mitchel Sampson is expected to contribute right away to the Leathernecks’ pitching staff ... A season ago at Heartland Community College, the righthander went 2-0 with four saves and a 1.57 ERA in 10 relief appearances ... Lefthander Jack Bell appeared in a team-high 31 appearances, which were 12 more than the next closest Leatherneck, and compiled a team-best ERA of 5.06.
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