SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The top two teams in the Summit League standings are set to square off in Omaha this weekend when Oral Roberts travels to face the Mavericks. ORU has already built a three-game lead in the league standings, while Omaha is looking to keep the Golden Eagles from widening the gap. All six teams are looking to just get games in after Mother Nature has cast her negative effects over the past two weekends.
NDSU has not played in two weeks, while Omaha, St. Thomas and South Dakota State missed Summit action last weekend.
The Golden Eagles were able to sweep Northern Colorado in a tightly contested series that saw ORU outscore the Bears 9-5 over three contests. The Bears will host NDSU, while the Tommies will be at home against SDSU. That series has already been shifted to a Friday doubleheader and Saturday single game.
All three weekend series will be streamed on the Summit League Network.
AROUND THE LEAGUE
• The Oral Roberts bullpen earned three saves during the Golden Eagles’ sweep of Northern Colorado. ORU picked up wins of 3-1, 3-2, 3-2 to improve to 9-0 in Summit League play and a build a three-game lead in the standings on an Omaha squad the Golden Eagles a pay a visit to this weekend.
• Righthander Easton Teel finally got a win after three straight quality starts to open Summit series, allowing just one earned run on four hits over seven innings in the series opener. Teel lowered his ERA to 0.87 in conference action. He earned his second Kwik Star weekly honor of the season for his efforts.
• Lefthander Jackson Farrell started the finale, throwing 3.1 scoreless innings and has yet to surrender a run over 10.2 innings of work this season. The redshirt freshman has 16 strikeouts during that scoreless stretch to begin his career, including 12 in 9.0 innings of scoreless work in three Summit outings.
• Farrell and Teel have helped the ORU pitching staff limit opponents to a .200 batting average, while posting a combined 1.69 ERA and five saves.
• Senior Jack Hill had two saves during the weekend series vs. the Bears and recorded his third straight save vs. the Cowboys. He leads the Summit League with four saves on the campaign.
• After scoring just nine runs in the series sweep of Northern Colorado, the ORU offense erupted for 10 runs in a 10-9 victory over Oklahoma State, who is receiving votes in the latest NCBWA poll.
• Hudson Ellis, who earned the first Kwik Star peak performer nod of his career after batting .400 in the UNC series, delivered the big hit vs. the Cowboys with a tiebreaking, two-run double in the top of the ninth. He also had the game-winning hit in the series finale vs. the Bears on a RBI-double to break a 2-2 tie in the seventh.
• Centerfielder Makani Tanaka went 3-for-6 vs. Oklahoma State and drove in three runs during the victory. He leads the Golden Eagles with a .330 batting average, five home runs and 22 RBI.
• The Bears pitching staff turned things around in Tulsa, surrendering just nine runs a weekend after South Dakota State put up 48. Despite falling in each of the three contests, UNC’s three starters all allowed three runs or less and tossed at least five innings, led by Reece Wagner, who threw seven scoreless innings during a 3-2 loss in game two.
• Righthander Ethan Louthan had thrown only 4.2 innings in three relief appearances over the first six weeks of the season but went a career-best 6.2 in his first start as a Bear in the series opener. He allowed just three earned runs on six hits, while matching his career-high with four strikeouts.
• The Mavericks are off to a 6-3 start in league play but had their series at South Dakota State washed out last weekend. Omaha’s Jackson Trout is the top hitter in the league with a .390 batting average in overall games and he shares the league-lead with 12 doubles.
• North Dakota State visits the Bears this weekend, looking to play its first baseball since falling 11-1 in eight innings to South Dakota State on March 21. The Bison have had their past two Summit League series cancelled because of poor weather in the Fargo area.
•The Jackrabbits are also returning to action off missing out on a series last weekend as they are set to face a St. Thomas squad that was also unable to play a week ago. The series has already been shifted to start with a doubleheader Friday followed by a single game Saturday.
• SDSU’s offense has churned out 195 runs overall with 79 of those coming in nine Summit contests.
• The Tommies, who are back-to-back regular season champions, will look to turn things around with a home series against the Jacks.
• UST outfielder Owen Bond, who was just 1-for-16 in his first two seasons as a Tommie, leads all Summit players with a .565 batting average in conference games. He is 13-for-23 during the league campaign with a home run, two triples and five RBI in seven appearances. Bond is batting .361 overall, which is second among Summit League hitters.
UPCOMING
Game | Stream/TV | Local Time
Friday, April 10
SDSU at St. Thomas (DH) | SLN | 12 p.m. CT
NDSU at Northern Colorado | SLN | 2 p.m. MT
Oral Roberts at Omaha | SLN | 6 p.m. CT
Saturday, April 11
NDSU at Northern Colorado | SLN | 12 p.m. MT
SDSU at St. Thomas | SLN | 1 p.m. CT
Oral Roberts at Omaha | SLN | 6 p.m. CT
Sunday, April 12
NDSU at Northern Colorado | SLN | 12 p.m. MT
Oral Roberts at Omaha | SLN | 1 p.m. CT
Tuesday, April 14
Midland at SDSU | SLN | 3 p.m. CT
Minnesota at St. Thomas | SLN | 3 p.m. CT
Omaha at K-State | ESPN+ | 6 p.m. CT
Central Arkansas at Oral Roberts | SLN | 6 p.m. CT
Key: B1G+ (Big Ten Plus); ESPN+ (ESPN Plus); MWN (Mountain West Network); SEC+ (SEC Network Plus); SLN (Summit League Network).
RESULTS
Thursday, April 2
Oral Roberts 3, Northern Colorado 1
Friday, April 3
Oral Roberts 3, Northern Colorado 2
Saturday, April 4
Oral Roberts 3, Northern Colorado 2
Tuesday, April 6
Oral Roberts 10, (RV/NR) Oklahoma State 9
Wednesday, April 10
Air Force 10, Northern Colorado 4
Creighton 16, NDSU 7 (7)
Minnesota 16, SDSU 7
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