SIOUX FALLS, S.D. -- League-leading Oral Roberts is closing in on the program's 20th overall regular season title and could secure that with another sweep. The opponent standing in the way of the Golden Eagles is St. Thomas, who will host ORU for a three-game series this weekend in St. Paul.
The Golden Eagles have swept five of their six League series to date and have only dropped one game as they take a 5.5-game lead into the weekend.
North Dakota State, who finally played a home series last weekend in Fargo, is back on the road to face Northern Colorado as the Bison look to remain in second after getting back there with a three-game sweep of Western Illinois. UNC is part of three-way tie for fourth in the League standings with Omaha and the Tommies at 5-10.
With St. Thomas ineligible for postseason play as it continues its transition, the Mavericks, Bears and Leathernecks are vying to move into the top four as those as only a quartet of League teams will qualify for the 2023 Championship that NDSU will host at Newman Outdoor Field, May 24-27.
Omaha will host the Leathernecks in a three-game series that could go a long way in dictating momentum for a stretch run to Fargo.
NORTH DAKOTA STATE BISON (16-26, 10-5 SL) | @ndsubaseball
Next Up: at Northern Colorado* (5/5, 2 p.m. MT; 5/6, 12 p.m. MT; 5/7, 12 p.m. MT)
Previous Games: vs. Western Illinois* (W, 10-0 (8); W, 13-3 (7); W, 21-3 (7)); at Nebraska (W, 6-5)
The Bison moved back into second place in the Summit League standings with a sweep of Western Illinois and finished off a 4-0 stretch with a 6-5 win at Nebraska ... The Huskers were the second Big Ten-foe that NDSU defeated this season (Minnesota) ... The three-game series with Western Illinois marked the first home games of the season for the Bison, who returned to Newman Outdoor Field with some blazing bats ... NDSU outscored the Leathernecks 44-6 in the three-game sweep with infield James Dunlap leading that charge ... The JUCO-transfer batted .750 against WIU to raise his season batting average to .323 ... He totaled nine hits, including a season-high four in the opener, and added 11 RBI with five of those coming in the finale ... Dunlap homered twice in the eighth inning of that contest and has at least one RBI in 10 of NDSU's last 12 games ... NDSU travels to Northern Colorado this weekend for a three-game set.
NORTHERN COLORADO BEARS (8-28, 5-10 SL) | @UNC_BearsBSB
Next Up: North Dakota State* (5/5, 2 p.m. MT; 5/6, 12 p.m. MT; 5/7, 12 p.m. MT)
Previous Games: at Air Force (L, 2-1)
The Bears had the weekend off, but returned to action Wednesday with a mid-week tilt against in-state foe Air Force ... The Falcons edged the Bears 2-1 in a pitcher's duel in Colorado Springs ... Shortstop Carson Gross delivered the only run for UNC on a RBI-single in the fifth as he had two of the Bears' eight hits ... Caden Wagner and Zain Zinicola also had two hits a piece for the Bears ... Three UNC hurlers held the Falcons hitless through five innings before they pushed across the decisive two runs in their half of the sixth ... Jake Storey earned the start, striking out three in three innings of work ... UNC enters the weekend in a three-way tie for fourth in the League standings with second-place NDSU visiting Greeley for a three-game series ... The top four teams in the League standings qualify for the postseason.
OMAHA MAVERICKS (16-21, 5-10 SL) | @OmahaBSB
Next Up: Western Illinois* (5/5, 7 p.m. CT; 5/6, 7 p.m. CT; 5/7, 1 p.m. CT); Penn State (5/10, 7 p.m. CT)
Previous Games: at St. Thomas* (W, 13-4; L, 4-1; L, 12-2 (8)); at Missouri State (L, 11-9)
The Mavericks took the opener of a three-game series at St. Thomas, 13-4, but the Tommies were able to secure the series with wins in games two and three ... After falling behind 3-1 in game one, the Mavericks scored 12 unanswered runs as five players posted multiple hits ... Leftfielder Drew Lechnir went 3-for-3 with a pair runs and RBI in the victory to pace the offensive efforts ... Third baseman Mike Boeve delivered his 49th career double in the win and is now batting .408 on the season (3rd overall) and .377 in League play (8th overall) ... Shortstop Devin Hurdle had his 11-game hitting streak snapped in game two against the Tommies, but along with Boeve is one of four Summit League batters hitting better than .400 on the season (.404; 4th) ... Omaha has a key home series with Western Illinois as the Mavericks enter the weekend tied for fourth in the League standings.
(RV/NR) ORAL ROBERTS GOLDEN EAGLES (33-11, 17-1 SL) | @ORUBaseball
Next Up: at St. Thomas* (5/5, 3 p.m. CT; 5/6, 1 p.m. CT; 5/7, 1 p.m. CT); at Wichita State (5/9, 6 p.m. CT)
Previous Games: South Dakota State* (W, 5-3; W, 10-3; W, 18-7 (7)); (24/NR) Oklahoma State (W, 9-7)
The Golden Eagles' offense continued its torrid stretch by outscoring South Dakota State 33-13 in a series sweep of the Jackrabbits, then putting up nine more runs in their second win over a ranked-Oklahoma State team this season ... First baseman Jake McMurray found his power stroke against the Jacks, homering twice in the opener and finale to finish the weekend, going 7-for-13 with seven RBI ... McMurray, who had gone homerless in ORU's first 40 games, belted his fifth in a four-game stretch, launching a go-ahead, three-run shot in the seventh inning of the 9-7 comeback win over the Cowboys ... In the opener, reliever Cade Denton earned his 10th save of the season, fanning three in an 1.1 innings of work to close out the 5-3 victory ... Centerfielder Jonah Cox extended his hitting streak to 28 games with a two-run single in the sixth and now ranks third nationally with 78 hits on the season ... His .429 batting average is tied for eighth, while ORU is one of 20 teams nationally with a team batting average of .310 or better (.314; 15th) ... ORU could clinch the outright regular season title with a sweep at St. Thomas, which would be the program's 20th overall.
ST. THOMAS TOMMIES (7-26, 5-10 SL) | @TommieBase
Next Up: Oral Roberts* (5/5, 3 p.m. CT; 5/6, 1 p.m. CT; 5/7, 1 p.m. CT)
Previous Games: Omaha* (L, 13-4; W, 4-1; W, 12-2 (8))
The Tommies took two of three from visiting Omaha to secure their second Summit League series win of the season ... After falling 13-4 in the opener, the Tommies bounced back to take the next two, outscoring the Mavericks 16-3 in those victories ... Sophomore Evan Esch pitched in the finale, logging a seaosn-high seven innings and striking out nine to pick up his second win in League play ... The Tommies have won three of his five starts against League foes and has yielded just three earned runs over his last three outings (1.42 ERA), while striking out 25 in 19 innings of work ... Centerfielder Joe Vos had a career-day in the finale, going 4-for-5 with two doubles and four RBI ... His hits, RBI and doubles were all career-highs as he pushed his season average to .213 ... The Tommies will host League-leading Oral Roberts this weekend.
SOUTH DAKOTA STATE JACKRABBITS (18-17, 10-5 SL) | @GoJacksBaseball
Next Up: at Purdue (5/5, 6 p.m. ET; 5/6, 2 p.m. ET; 5/7, 1 p.m. ET; 5/8, 11:30 a.m. ET)
Previous Games: at Oral Roberts* (L, 5-3; L, 10-3; L, 18-7 (7))
The Jackrabbits had their 11-game winning streak snapped in a 5-3 loss to Oral Roberts in the opener of a series the Golden Eagles would eventually sweep ... Those three losses dropped the Jackrabbits back to third in the League standings ... Shortstop Luke Ira went 3-for-5 with three runs scored in the finale to post his ninth multi-hit game of the season ... He also hit his career-high 11th home run of the season, setting a new career-high in that category after belting 10 in 2022 ... Reliever Eli Sundquist equaled his season-high with 2.2 innings in the finale as he struck out at least four batters in his fourth consecutive relief appearance ... He has 16 strikeouts in nine innings of work over that span ... The Jackrabbits take a break from League play and will travel to Indiana for a four-game set at Purdue that concludes Monday.
WESTERN ILLINOIS LEATHERNECKS (6-33, 2-10 SL) | @WIUBaseball
Next Up: at Omaha (5/5, 7 p.m. CT; 5/6, 7 p.m. CT; 5/7, 1 p.m. CT)
Previous Games: at North Dakota State* (L, 10-0 (8); L, 13-3 (7); L, 21-3 (7)); Lindenwood (W, 17-10)
The Leathernecks travel to Omaha to start the second half of a compacted League schedule that will feature 12 games over the next 15 days ... WIU will also make up its home series with St. Thomas that was postponed earlier in the season with a doubleheader in Macomb on Tuesday, May 9, before traveling to St. Paul for a road series with the Tommies ... Before that starts, the two teams will play Friday, May 12 (WIU serve as home team) to conclude the first series before playing a doubleheader Saturday, May 12 and a single game on May 13 to get the regularly-scheduled series in ... Centerfielder Nick Mitchell continues to pace the Leathernecks and rank among the League leaders with a .396 batting average ... He has hit safely in six of his last seven and had three hits in WIU's 17-10 win over Lindenwood Tuesday ... For Mitchell, it was his 19th multi-hit game of the season ... The victory over the Lions snapped a five-game skid for the Leathernecks.
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