Herd wins opener, but suffers sweep of Saturday’s doubleheader

The North Dakota State University baseball team had a break in the Summit League portion of their schedule this weekend and traveled to Lubbock, Texas for a chance to evaluate themselves against a nationally ranked program in the Red Raiders of Texas Tech. The Bison pulled off the upset in Friday night’s opener with an 8-1 victory over the #23-ranked Red Raiders. However, NDSU was unable to ride the momentum from that win, dropping the Saturday doubleheader by scores of 8-5 and 8-3.

NDSU stuns #23 Texas Tech 8-1 behind Feeney’s gem –

            NDSU’s Cade Feeney delivered a three-hit, five-strikeout performance to kick off the weekend for the Bison. After surrendering a lead-off home run to Tech’s second baseman Austin Green in the second, Feeney shut the Red Raiders down the rest of the way. In earning his third win of the season, Feeney collected five strikeouts and walked two while giving up the lone earned run to Green.

   NDSU’s Cade Feeney’s performance against Texas Tech earned him TicketSmarter Summit League Peak Co-Pitcher of the Week honors. Photo Courtesy | Tim Langer

At the plate, Druw Sackett led the Bison with a 4 for 6 performance. Sackett knocked in three runs and crossed home once himself to add to the eight-run offensive performance for NDSU. Three of Sackett’s four hits were doubles, tying an NDSU record for doubles in a single game. As a team, the Bison had seven doubles, their most since the 2017 season. Sackett’s RBI double in the third gave the Bison a 2-1 lead which was enough to give the Herd the ‘W’. Cadyn Schwabe had two RBIs for NDSU and Peter Brookshaw, Will Busch and Davis Hamilton collected the other RBIs for NDSU.

            Skyler Riedinger threw three scoreless innings to collect his third save of the season. Riedinger also struck out three which, combined with Feeney’s strikeouts, totaled eight ‘K’s for the Bison staff in the game.

Texas Tech fends off an NDSU rally in Saturday’s Game One, 8-5 –

            On Saturday, at Rip Finn Ballpark, the Texas Tech Red Raiders got their revenge on the NDSU. After the contest opened with three scoreless innings, the Red Raiders scored four runs in the fourth to open up a 4-0 lead. The Red Raiders’ Zac Vooletich hit a two-run home run off of NDSU starter Tristen Roehrich to spark TTU in the inning.

            In the fifth, the Red Raiders added another run to make it a 5-0 lead. The Bison then got on the scoreboard in the sixth on a James Dunlap ground out to make it 5-1 in favor of Texas Tech. But Tech, once again, answered back in the bottom half by plating three runs on two hits to increase their lead to 8-1.

            As has been the habit of this season’s version of NDSU baseball, the Bison made a late charge. After TTU built their lead to 8-1, the Bison applied pressure. Dallan Quigley began the rally in the seventh for NDSU with an RBI single to make the score 8-2. Then, starting with Jack Steil’s two-run single and finishing with Garret Hill’s RBI double, NDSU scored three more runs in the eighth inning to make the score 8-5. Unfortunately for North Dakota State, the rally ended there, and they went out quietly in the ninth to hand an 8-5 victory to the Red Raiders.

            Roehrich (2-5) took the loss for the Bison giving up five earned runs on four hits and a walk. Joey Danielson gave up three more earned runs over 1 1/3 innings in a relief role. Along with Vooletich’s two RBIs, Tech third basemen Kevin Bazzell went 2-3 at the plate while knocking in three runs.

Texas Tech sweeps Saturday doubleheader with 8-3 win in Game Two –

            In game two of the doubleheader, the Bison tallied first. Will Busch’s fielders’ choice scored Carson Hake to end the Bison half of the second inning with a 2-0 lead. Answering back, Tech scored a lone run in their half of the fourth to make the score 2-1 in favor of the Bison heading into the fifth.

            There, Texas Tech blew the game open with four runs. The big blow for the Red Raiders was first baseman Gavin Kash’s three-run dinger to left making it 5-2. After NDSU climbed to within two when Peter Brookshaw scored on Jack Steil’s sacrifice fly to make the score 5-3 Raiders, Tech pushed three more runs across the plate scoring one run each in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings to make the final score 8-3. The win gave the Red Raiders a sweep of the doubleheader and a series win against the Summit League opponent.

            Parker Puetz received a no-decision in his fifth start for the Bison this season. Puetz went four innings for the Herd giving up one earned run on five hits and a base on balls. Carson Jacobs (0-4) took the loss giving up four earned runs on three hits and three walks. NDSU’s Peter Brookshaw collected two of NDSU’s six hits going 2-4 at the plate.

The Bison on the Mound –

            There was not much good news for the Bison pitching staff this weekend save for Cade Feeney’s Friday night performance. Feeney won his fourth start in a row and now has an ERA of .947 in his last three starts knocking almost four full points off that number over that span (9.00 – 5.27).

            Both Joey Danielson and Carson Jacobs got hit hard by Texas Tech hitters over the weekend. Skyler Riedinger, who has three of NDSU’s eight saves this season including Friday night, wasn’t able to get in either game on Saturday.

The Bison at the Plate –

            Druw Sackett led the Bison offensively this weekend with a 5-12 performance including 3 RBIs. Drew Hamilton was 3-8 in the two games he appeared in collecting an RBI and scoring three runs. Catcher Will Busch went 2-6 combined in games one and three, knocking in two runs and scoring another. While the Bison tied a team record for doubles in a game on Friday night, they did not homer over the weekend. The Herd also left 25 runners on base over the series including 13 in their Friday night win.

Next up for the Herd –

            The Bison (8-22, 4-2 Summit) now face the Minnesota Golden Gophers on Tuesday night in Minneapolis. First pitch is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. at Siebert Field. You can watch that game on the B1G+ Network.

            NDSU will resume their league schedule next weekend with a three-game set in St. Paul, Minn., facing the Tommies of St. Thomas University (3-17, 1-3 Summit). First pitch at Koch Diamond is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. on Friday and 1:00 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.