The North Dakota State men’s baseball team began a ten-day road trip to Florida on March 11. The Bison played the Black Bears of Maine and the Fairfield University Stags in separate three-game series. They also played two single-game contests against Florida Atlantic and Florida Gulf Coast.

In game one of the Russmatt Invitational, North Dakota State used a huge eighth inning to beat the Black Bears 9-4. With Maine leading 4-2, the Bison made their move. To start the scoring off, Calen Schwabe hit a sacrifice fly to score Jack Simonsen. Then Druw Sackett singled to right field, scoring Charley Hesse. In the next at bat, Brock Anderson drew a walk scoring Sackett. To cap off the inning, designated hitter Carson Hake cleared the bases with a deep double, giving the Bison the 9-4 win.

At the plate, NDSU ripped through Maine pitchers Brett Erwin and Matthew Pushard, collecting 11 hits off of them and 12 total in the game. Cadyn Schwabe arguably had the best day, as he went 3-4 with two runs scored and an RBI.

Making his fourth start of the season, righty Max Loven fired three strikeouts over 5.2 innings and pushed his career strikeouts total to 159, which ranks 10th all-time for NDSU pitchers. Tristen Roerich’s effort in the late innings was enough to get him his first win of the season, as he tossed three strikeouts over 3.1 innings.

After Saturday’s games were canceled due to weather, the Bison dropped a 7-0 decision in game one of Sunday’s doubleheader. NDSU recovered though, to bounce back and grab a 4-2 victory in game two and the series win. Powered by nine hits and great pitching from Cade Feeney, the Bison picked up their second series win of the season.

The Bison started the scoring in the third when Logan Williams hit an RBI single to left field. In the next inning, NDSU tacked on three more runs after Cadyn Schwabe (2-5, 1 RBI) delivered an RBI single and Williams (3-5, 3 RBIs) notched a two-RBI single to extend the lead to 4-0.

In the bottom of the ninth, the Black Bears rallied as Joe Bramanti and Jeremiah Jenkins both hit RBI doubles to push the score to 4-2. NDSU Head Coach Tyler Oakes brought closer Jake Drew into the game with two Black Bears on base. The decision paid off, as Drew retired the side to give the Bison the win and his third save of the year.

Perhaps the best performance on the day was sophomore Cade Feeney’s eight-inning outing, where he limited Maine to two runs and proved that he can go the distance for Coach Oakes’s squad.

On the following Tuesday, the Bison traveled to Boca Raton, Fla. to take on the Florida Atlantic Owls, who entered the contest boasting a seven-game win streak. However, NDSU had a terrific day at the plate to put that streak to a halt.

After jumping out to a 4-2 lead, the Bison continued to run up the score in the seventh, as they added four more runs. Peter Brookshaw got things going with an RBI single. Then Jack Simonsen lined a single into right-center to give the Bison a 7-2 lead. One batter later, the Bison capitalized on an Owls’ fielding error, which allowed Simonsen to cross home.

After FAU scored on a Gabriel Rincones Jr. home run, NDSU was able to put the game out of reach, as they scored four more runs in the ninth inning. Brock Anderson, Calen Schwabe and Peter Brookshaw all picked up RBIs off Owl pitchers Hayden Compton and Shane Magrann in the inning. With the score now 12-3, Caden Edwards took the mound and closed out the final inning to give the Bison the blowout win.

Offensively, NDSU collected a season-high 16 hits off of eight FAU pitchers. Peter Brookshaw led the Bison as he went 3-4 with three RBIs and two runs scored. Besides Brookshaw, seven other Bison batters collected at least one hit, giving the Florida Atlantic pitching staff trouble all day.

On the bump, Riley Johnson made his first start of the season, hurling five KO’s over three innings. The second pitcher used by Coach Oakes was Tristen Roerich, who limited the Owls over three innings while collecting three strikeouts.

On Wednesday, the Bison continued their spring break trip when they squared up against the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles at Swanson Stadium in Fort Myers. The game featured four lead-changes and 24 hits, but the Bison ultimately came up short, as the Eagles used a two-RBI double in the eighth to get the 9-8 win.

To wrap up their Florida trip, the Bison headed to Port Charlotte to take on the Fairfield Stags, an NCAA tournament qualifier a year ago.

In game one on Friday, Brock Anderson tied the game up at 1-1 for the Bison when he knocked in an RBI with a second-inning double. Later, Peter Brookshaw broke the game open with a two-run home run to right field. Logan Williams and Druw Sackett then homered for the Bison, their fifth and first respectively. In the seventh, Brock Anderson notched another RBI when he singled to score Charley Hesse.

With the score 6-2 in the eighth, NDSU put Fairfield away for good, as Will Busch drove in a run with a double, and Calen Schwabe had an RBI of his own off of a sacrifice fly, closing the scoring 8-2.

On the mound, Max Loven picked up his second win, tossing four strikeouts over six innings of work and Tristen Roehrich picked up his third save of the season.

In game one of Saturday’s doubleheader, the Stags built a 3-1 lead after four innings. However, the Bison regained the lead in the fifth. Peter Brookshaw started the scoring with a sacrifice fly that scored Calen Schwabe. Following that, a rare inside-the-park home run hit by Logan Williams helped the Bison build on the lead. Finally, DH Hunter Koep capped off the inning with his third home run of the season to make it 5-3.

In the same inning, Fairfield retook the lead with four runs of their own and added two more in the sixth to make the score 9-5. However, the Bison would strike again in the sixth as Jack Simonsen ripped a two-RBI single and Calen Schwabe hit a clutch two-RBI triple to lock the contest up at 9-9. In the next at bat, Peter Brookshaw gave the Bison the lead at 11-9 on a two-RBI single. In the ninth, Caden Schwabe scored on a Fairfield error to end the scoring at 12-9.

Redshirt freshman Skyler Riedinger got the start and earned his first career win. Closer Jake Drew continued his early-season success while collecting his fourth save.

In game two, outfielder Terrell Huggins put the Bison up 3-0 in the third with his first career homer, a three-run shot to left field. For the Stags, batter Matt Venuto got the best of Cade Feeney, as he cracked a home run. However, it was Feeney (3-1) who eventually got the best of the Stags, as he only allowed one more hit the rest of the way.

The Bison won 5-1 and wrapped up their trip by sweeping the Stags, giving them great momentum going into Summit League play. On the mound, Cade Feeney (3-1), dominated Fairfield batters for six innings, as he tossed two strikeouts and no walks.

Roehrich named Summit League Pitcher of the Week

The Summit League named NDSU reliever Tristen Roehrich Summit League Pitcher of the Week. Winning the award for the first time in his career, he posted a 1.50 ERA in his two appearances on the Florida trip. He also led the Bison staff with six strikeouts and held opponents to a .105 batting average.

This season, Roehrich has collected 20 strikeouts while posting a 2-1 record, with an impressive 2.37 ERA. He is the second Bison pitcher this season to earn the award, as Evan Sankey won in back-to-back weeks in February.

This weekend, the Bison travel to Colorado to start their Summit League schedule by taking on the Northern Colorado Bears. The Bears lead the Summit League with a record of 3-0.