SIOUX FALLS, S.D. -- The top three teams in the Summit League standings all face the bottom three teams in series during the final weekend of the regular season.  All three have implications for all six teams involved as only North Dakota State and Omaha have clinched berths in the postseason and St. Thomas eyes the program's first regular season title.

The Tommies, who are not eligible for the postseason tournament as they continue a five-year transition to the Division I level, hold the top spot in the League standings with reigning regular season and tournament champion Oral Roberts coming to St. Paul. UST controls its own destiny in pursuit of the regular season title, while the Golden Eagles currently hold one of the four coveted postseason spots but have not secured a berth quite yet.

In Fargo, North Dakota State is currently second in the League standings, which equates at this point to holding the top seed in the postseason field with Northern Colorado visiting for a weekend series. The Bears have yet to qualify for the Summit League Tournament in two previous tries but hold the fourth and final spot for now.

In Brookings, South Dakota State is on the outside looking in for now, but the Jackrabbits can still qualify for the postseason if the right things fall their way. Winning would take care of that as Omaha visits with its own ambitions still in play for a regular season title and the top seed in the field.

It's been a tightly-contested race throughout and is fitting that so much is on the line heading into the final weekend of play.  Fans can track all of the action from all nine games on the docket with live coverage on the Summit League Network.

AROUND THE LEAGUE
Thursday, May 16
Omaha at SDSU (SLN) | 3 p.m. CT 
Oral Roberts at St. Thomas (SLN) | 3 p.m. CT
Northern Colorado at NDSU (SLN) | 6:30 p.m. CT

Friday, May 17
Omaha at SDSU (SLN) | 1 p.m. CT 
Oral Roberts at St. Thomas (SLN) | 3 p.m. CT
Northern Colorado at NDSU (SLN) | 6:30 p.m. CT

Saturday, May 18
Omaha at SDSU (SLN) | 1 p.m. CT 
Oral Roberts at St. Thomas (SLN) | 1 p.m. CT
Northern Colorado at NDSU (SLN) | 1 p.m. CT
 
Key: SLN (Summit League Network)

TEAM TRACKER
NORTH DAKOTA STATE (18-26-1; 13-10-1 SL) | @NDSUBaseball
Next Up: at Northern Colorado (5/16, 6:30 p.m. CT; 5/17, 6:30 p.m. CT; 5/18, 1 p.m. CT)
Previous Games: at South Dakota State (W, 11-10; W, 7-6 (11); L, 8-5)
The Bison took two of three at South Dakota State to move into second place in the Summit League standings and keep their hopes alive for a second regular season title in the past three seasons (2022) ... Outfielder Sam Clanton homered in each game of the series vs. the Jackrabbits and finished with eight RBI to earn the first TicketSmarter Peak Performer of the Week honor of his career ... The Bison can win the regular season title with a sweep of visiting Northern Colorado coupled with at least two losses by St. Thomas in its series with Oral Roberts ... NDSU could also drop a game in the series and win the title if the Tommies were to be swept by the Golden Eagles ... Reliever Joey Danielson saved his 11th contest of the season in the opener as the Bison held on for an 11-10 victory ... NDSU won another tight affair in game two, outlasting the Jackrabbits 7-6 in 11 innings ... Cadyn Schwabe delivered the game-winning hit with an RBI-single up the middle ... Schwabe also belted his first home run of the season in game one, drilling a three-run shot down the leftfield line that broke an 8-8 tie.

NORTHERN COLORADO (12-35-1; 11-15-1 SL) | @UNC_BearsBSB
Next Up: at North Dakota State (5/16, 6:30 p.m. CT; 5/17, 6:30 p.m. CT; 5/18, 1 p.m. CT)
Previous Games: at Oral Roberts (L, 9-2; L, 6-3; L, 8-2)
The Bears will head to Fargo looking to clinch their first Summit League Tournament berth since joining as an affiliate member prior to the 2022 season ... UNC is currently in fifth place in the standings but enter the final weekend of the regular season holding the fourth spot in the postseason field since St. Thomas is not eligible as a transiition Division I member ... The Bears were held to seven total runs by Oral Roberts last weekend as the Golden Eagles picked up a series sweep ... Carter Monda went 4-for-10 in the series and matched his career-high with three hits in the opener when he drove in both of the Bears’ runs ... Monda is now batting .367 in League play with 15 starts and 19 appearances against Summit foes. 

OMAHA (16-29-1; 14-12-1 SL) | @OmahaBSB
Next Up: at South Dakota State (5/16, 3 p.m. CT; 5/17, 1 p.m. CT; 5/18, 1 p.m. CT)
Previous Games: St. Thomas (W, 11-2; L, 10-6; W, 6-5)
The Mavericks fell to third in the Summit League standings after dropping two of three to St. Thomas but Omaha has clinched one of the four spots in the upcoming postseason tournament ... Omaha could still clinch a regular season title and/or the No. 1 seed  with some help in the other Summit matchups during the final weekend of play ... The Mavericks and Tommies split the first two games of the series before St. Thomas edged Omaha in the finale 6-5 to remain at the top of the League standings ... In the game-two victory, Noah Griese and Henry Zipay both homered in a four-run first inning as the Mavericks rolled to a 10-6 victory ... Harrison Kreiling tossed six innings and struck out a career-high 10 Tommies to earn his second win of the season ... Zipay went 4-for-9 in the series to push his League-only batting average to a team-best .342 clip ... The Mavericks close out their regular season at South Dakota State. 

ORAL ROBERTS (23-28-1; 12-13-1 SL) | @ORUBaseball
Next Up: at St. Thomas (5/16, 3 p.m. CT; 5/17, 3 p.m. CT; 5/18, 1 p.m. CT)
Previous Games: Northern Colorado (W, 9-2; W, 6-3; W, 8-2)
The Golden Eagles logged a sweep of Northern Colorado and have now won nine of their last 11 games entering the final weekend of League play ... ORU will be traveling to League-leading St. Thomas and needs one win over the Tommies and at least one loss by the Jackrabbits in their series with Omaha to clinch a postseason berth ... Righthander Jakob Hall struck out eight and went six innings in the opener to earn his eighth win of the season ... Hall, who earned his second TicketSmarter Peak Pitcher of the Week honor, moved into the Top 20 nationally in wins as he has now won four consecutive starts ... Kyle Booker has homered in three of ORU’s last four games and has nine RBI during that stretch to pace the offense ... Booker, who had homered just three times in ORU’s first 49 games, had two homers and seven RBI in the series sweep of UNC ... Third baseman Holden Breeze continues to lead the team in Summit action in batting average (.360), home runs (five) and RBI (27).
 
ST. THOMAS (20-22; 14-9 SL) | @TommieBase
Next Up: Oral Roberts (5/16, 3 p.m. CT; 5/17, 1 p.m. CT; 5/18, 1 p.m. CT) 
Previous Games: at Omaha (W, 11-2; L, 10-6; W, 6-5)
The Tommies control their own destiney for what would be the University’s first Summit League regular season title in any sport ... With reigning regular season and tournament champion Oral Roberts visiting St. Paul this weekend, the Tommies can secure the title with a sweep or by taking two of three from the Golden Eagles ... Otherwise, the Tommies would need help from Northern Colorado and South Dakota State in their series with North Dakota State and Omaha, respectively ... UST remained in first place after taking two of three at Omaha last weekend ... First Baseman Max Nyrop had his best weekend as a Tommie, delivering two home runs and driving in seven to earn his first career TicketSmarter Peak Performer of the Week honor ... Nyrop finished the series 6-for-11 (.545) and added two doubles ... Max Morris and Brigs Richartz also homered twice in the series for the Tommies, who are the only League squad hitting better than .300 (.305) as a team in Summit play. 

SOUTH DAKOTA STATE (18-27; 10-15 SL) | @GoJacksBaseball
Next Up: Omaha (5/16, 3 p.m. CT; 5/17, 1 p.m. CT; 5/18, 1 p.m. CT)
Previous Games: North Dakota State (L, 11-10; L, 7-6 (11); W, 8-5)
The Jackrabbits salvaged the finale in their series with North Dakota State to keep hope alive for a postseason berth ... SDSU will need help in order to secure a spot in the four-team field as it hosts Omaha in the final regular-season series ... After falling behond 4-0 in the finale, SDSU struck for three in the sixth and five in the seventh to rally for a pivotal win ... Jess Bellows had three RBI in the victory, including a key two-run single in the seventh ... Cael Frost became the first Summit League player to hit 20 home runs in a season since Oral Roberts’ Spencer Henson belted 20 in 2019 after hitting solo home runs in games one and two ... Frost is currently leading the League in overall batting average (.355), home runs (20) and is second in RBI (56) - one behind teammate Dawson Parry (57).

#SUMMITBSB