SIOUX FALLS, S.D. -- For the second consecutive season since joining the Summit League, Northern Colorado opened its conference slate with a series win thanks to taking two of three games from South Dakota State. First baseman Caden Wagner delivered the game-clinching blow in the opener with a three-run homer in the bottom of the eighth inning and the Bears would go to win the rubber match 9-6 after the Jackrabbit bats came to life in a 17-3 victory in game two of the series.
The Bears will take that momentum to Omaha where they will face a Mavericks team looking to rebound after dropping their League-opener series to reigning regular season champion North Dakota State. The Bison took two of three from Omaha at Tal Anderson Field and will be back in the area this weekend to face South Dakota State with that series scheduled for a Friday doubleheader in Council Bluffs, Iowa and a Saturday finale at 7 p.m. CT, which follows game two of the Omaha-UNC series at Tal Anderson Field.
Oral Roberts continued its winning ways, finishing last week with a non-conference series win at Memphis and a 4-0 blanking of Missouri State in Springfield. The Golden Eagles will put their unblemished conference record of 3-0 up against visiting Western Illinois. The Leathernecks had their League-opener series with St. Thomas postponed last weekend after an off-campus incident, which impacted all WIU athletic events.
Ironically, St. Thomas will also be in Omaha as it returns to action with a non-conference series at Creighton.
NORTH DAKOTA STATE BISON (5-19, 2-1 SL) | @ndsubaseball
Next Up: vs. SDSU* (3/31, 12 p.m. CT (DH); 4/1, 7 p.m. CT)
Previous Games: at Omaha* (W, 10-2; L, 7-6; W, 7-2); at Nebraska (L, 4-1)
The Bison and Jackrabbits will play a three-game series split between Council Bluffs and Omaha as field conditions in Brookings are still not playable ... NDSU will return to the area after taking two-of-three from Omaha last weekend at Tal Anderson Field in the Summit League-opening series for both squads ... Righthander Cade Feeney logged seven strong innings in the opener for the Bison as they began their regular season title defense ... It was the first win of the season for Feeney, who was backed by an offense that produced 10 runs on 13 hits ... Jack Steil and Davis Hamilton each had three hits in game one and scored a pair of runs ... Hamilton drove in a season-high three in the victory ... Steil finished the series 7-for-12 (.583) and scored four runs, while driving in five against the Mavericks ... The Nebraska transfer went 1-for-3 against his old club Tuesday and has hit safely in 11 of NDSU’s past 12 games.
NORTHERN COLORADO BEARS (4-17, 2-1 SL) | @UNC_BearsBSB
Next Up: at Omaha* (3/31, 5:30 p.m. CT; 4/1, 2 p.m. CT; 4/2, 1 p.m. CT)
Previous Games: SDSU* (W, 9-7; L, 17-3 (7); W, 9-6); at UC-Colorado Springs (L, 14-12)
The Bears took two-of-three from South Dakota State to open their second Summit League campaign with a series win ... First baseman Caden Wagner batted .600 in the series against the Jackrabbits and delivered a go-ahead, three-run homer in the eighth of UNC’s 9-7 victory in game one ... The Penn State transfer had a season-high three hits in the rubber match to help give the Bears a 9-6 series-clinching win ... Righthander Murphy Geinger worked in relief during both of UNC’s victories over SDSU, striking out nine in 5.2 innings of work ... He earned the save in the finale, surrendering just one hit, while fanning three in three scoreless innings ... Rightfielder Austin Bunn had a season-high three hits, including a home run and five RBI, in a mid-week loss at UC-Colorado Springs ... Bunn’s effort increased his batting average to a team-best .339 clip.
OMAHA MAVERICKS (7-11, 1-2 SL) | @OmahaBSB
Next Up: Northern Colorado* (3/31, 5:30 p.m. CT; 4/1, 2 p.m. CT; 4/2, 1 p.m. CT); Creighton (4/4, 5:30 p.m. CT)
Previous Games: NDSU* (L, 10-2; W, 7-6; L, 7-2); at (6/6) Arkansas (L, 16-3)
Omaha opened Summit League play by dropping two-of-three to visiting North Dakota State ... Third baseman Mike Boeve continued his hot start to the season by going 4-for-7 and drawing four walks against the Bison ... Boeve has hit safely in 17 of 18 games so far this season and his .471 average tops all Summit League hitters and ranks fifth among DI players ... His .569 on-base percentage is also sixth nationally ... Cam Frederick went 3-for-3 with a pair runs and RBI in Omah’s game-two win over NDSU ... Frederick is batting .448 on the season (17-for-38) and is 10-for-23 in his last six games, including four games with three hits or more ... Preston Tenney picked up the win with five innings of work against the Bison, whle Rans Sanders earned his third save with two scoreless innings of relief ... The Mavericks play host to Northern Colorado this weekend in Omaha.
ORAL ROBERTS GOLDEN EAGLES (17-9, 3-0 SL) | @ORUBaseball
Next Up: Western Illinois* (3/31, 6 p.m. CT; 4/1, 2 p.m. CT; 4/2, 1 p.m. CT), Oklahoma (4/4, 6 p.m. CT)
Previous Games: at Memphis (W, 11-1; L, 7-5; W, 10-3), at Missouri State (W, 4-0)
The Golden Eagles took a three-game series from Memphis and shutout Missouri State Tuesday to finish off a 3-1 week ... ORU has won seven of eight overall and heads back into Summit League play with a home series against Western Illinois this weekend ... Outfielder Blaze Brothers went 5-for-14 (.357) in the series win at Memphis, homering twice and driving in six runs in ORU’s two wins ... He hit a second-inning grand slam in the 10-2 victory in game one and added a solo shot in game three ... Brothers has homered in four of his last seven games to push his season total to seven, which is the fourth most among League players ... On the mound, Jakob Hall has struck out League-best 42 batters, while walking only three to post one of the best strikeout-to-walk ratios in DI (fifth) ... Hall is 3-3 with 3.50 ERA on the season ... Reliever Cade Denton pushed his scoreless appearance streak to six in the 4-0 win over Missouri State ... He pitched a scoreless ninth and has not yielded an earned run over his last 11.1 innings ... Denton is 1-0 with a 1.13 ERA and five saves over 12 appearances.
ST. THOMAS TOMMIES (2-13, 0-3 SL) | @TommieBase
Next Up: at Creighton (3/31, 6 p.m. CT; 4/1, 2 p.m. CT; 4/2, 12 p.m. CT); at Minnesota (4/4, 3 p.m. CT)
Previous Games: at Oral Roberts (L, 10-2; L, 21-2 (7); L, 8-2); at Kansas State (L, 11-3; W, 2-1)
The Tommies and Leathernecks had their series postponed due to an off-campus incident in Macomb that postponed all WIU home athletic events ... The Tommies snapped an 11-game skid with a 2-1 victory at K-State their last time out (March 22) ... Outfielder Brigs Richartz equaled his season-high with three hits in the opener against K-State and drove in the game-winning run in the 2-1 triumph in game two ... He has hit safely in 12 of 16 contests and a carries a team-best .300 batting average into a series at Creighton ... After opening the season 5-for-34 at the plate, freshman Dylan O’Connell is 8-for-22 (.363) and has hit safely in five of his last six games ... Richartz, O’Connell, Max Moris and Ben Vujovich all had two hits in Friday’s opener against ORU.
SOUTH DAKOTA STATE JACKRABBITS (5-14, 1-2 SL) | @GoJacksBaseball
Next Up: vs. NDSU* (3/31, 12 p.m. CT (DH); 4/1, 7 p.m. CT); at Minnesota (4/5, 3 p.m. CT)
Previous Games: vs. Northern Colorado* (L, 9-7; W, 17-3 (7); L, 9-6)
The Jackrabbits dropped two-of-three in a series vs. Northern Colorado played at the Air Force Academy ... SDSU salvaged a victory in game two, pounding out 16 hits in a 17-3 win over the Bears ... Leftfielder Jess Bellows, second baseman Cade Stuff and rightfielder Ryan McDonald each had three hits in the seven-inning, mercy-rule victory ... Bellows added four RBI and McDonald scored four runs ... Jake Goble picked up his second straight win, allowing three earned runs on four hits in five innings of work ... McDonald is tied for the Summit League lead with eight home runs and also tops the team with 16 RBI and a .380 batting average ... He went 7-for-12 in the seires against the Bears, homering twice and driving in four ... SDSU’s home series vs. NDSU will be played in Council Bluffs (doubleheader Friday) and Omaha (single game Saturday).
WESTERN ILLINOIS LEATHERNECKS (3-17, 0-0 SL) | @WIUBaseball
Next Up: at Oral Roberts* (3/31, 6 p.m. CT; 4/1, 2 p.m. CT; 4/2, 1 p.m. CT), Oklahoma (4/4, 6 p.m. CT)
Previous Games: at Illinois State (L, 6-1); at SEMO (L, 6-1; L, 10-3; L, 4-0); at UIC (L, 10-6)
The Leathernecks and Tommies had their series postponed due to an off-campus incident in Macomb that postponed all WIU home athletic events ... Western Illinois did get a mid-week game in at UIC, falling to the Flames 10-6 Tuesday ... WIU will be the final League team to get a conference series under its belt this weekend at Oral Roberts ... Outfielder Nick Mitchell hit safely in 17 of 19 non-conference games (11 multi-hit game) ... He equaled his season-high with four hits in the finale at SEMO (March 19) and leads all Summit League players with nine doubles and 16 extra-base hits ... Mitchell is currently hitting .432, which ranks third among League batters ... Lefthander Jack Bell has made a League-high 12 appearances and struck out 20 in 20.2 innings of work.
#SUMMITBSB
