Bison lose big and lose in extras to finish 1-2 against the Golden Eagles
The North Dakota State University baseball team split a Summit League series with the Oral Roberts University Golden Eagles this weekend at Don Ross Field in Council Bluffs, Iowa. The series was moved to Council Bluffs as NDSU’s home field, Newman Outdoor Field, is still unplayable. The Bison, who were rolled over in Friday’s game one, 10-0, recovered to take game two 4-2. In Sunday’s series finale, the Bison forced the Golden Eagles into extra innings but came out on the losing end of an 8-4 decision. The series is the first one the Bison have dropped in the Summit this season and they now fall to third place in the league standings.
Golden Eagles score early and end the game early, 10-0 –
Oral Roberts hit NDSU starter Cade Feeney early and often on their way to a drubbing of the Bison that ended early due to the league’s 10-run rule.
The Golden Eagles’ Justin Quinn and Matt Hogan each hit solo home runs in the first to put ORU up 2-0. Later in the third, Jonah Cox connected on a two-run homer to push the lead to 4-0. Cox then added a second homer in the sixth to make the score 5-0 in favor of ORU.
NDSU’s Cadyn Schwabe at bat against Oral Roberts University on Friday in Council Bluffs, Iowa. The Golden Eagles beat the Bison 10-0 in game one of the three-game series. Photo Courtesy | ORU Athletics
In the seventh, the Golden Eagles put the game away by tagging the NDSU bullpen with five more runs. Carson Jacobs, who replaced Feeney to start the inning, walked the three batters he faced. Hunter Rosenbaum then replaced Jacobs. ORU’s Justin Quinn then welcomed Rosenbaum to the game with a two-RBI single that put the Golden Eagles ahead, 7-0.
However, the Golden Eagles were not done. Jonah Cox then singled, driving in a run. Then a walk, a wild pitch and a single by ORU’s Drew Stahl plated three more runs to make the score 10-0 and threatened the Bison with an early ending to their day.
The Bison did get runners on second and third in the bottom half of the seventh, but an infield pop-out ended the threat and the game. NDSU was not completely dominated by the ORU pitching staff as they did manage to get seven hits and advanced two runners as far as third and another five as far as second, but the Bison struggled in the clutch and were shut out.
Cade Feeney (4-4) took the loss for the Bison. He gave up five earned runs over his six innings pitched but did strike out a game-high eight Golden Eagles. Jacobs and Rosenbaum were charged with the other five earned runs.
Bison bounce back with 4-2 win in game 2 –
In game two, the Bison bounced back with a solid 4-2 decision over the Golden Eagles which combined clutch hitting that was missing in the series’ first game along with a good pitching performance from NDSU starter Tristen Roehrich.
With the exception of the ORU’s Blaze Brothers’ triple to right in the third, Roehrich showed good command of the Golden Eagles hitters through six. Brothers ended up scoring on an infield ground out to put Oral Roberts up 1-0.
However, the Bison answered back in their half of the third. Garret Hill reached on a walk. Druw Sackett then doubled to right field advancing Hill to third. Hill then scored on Peter Brookshaw’s groundout to third base to tie the game at 1-1.
The Bison took the lead in the fourth. With two outs, catcher Stephen Lund doubled to left field. The next hitter for NDSU, Carson Hake, drove Lund in with a single to left and the Bison had their first lead at 2-1.
NDSU’s Terrell Huggins squares to bunt in game two of a three-game series against Oral Roberts in Council Bluffs, Iowa. The Bison tied the series at 1-1 with a 4-2 win over the Golden Eagles.
Photo Courtesy | Dennis Hubbard
After Oral Roberts tied the game up at 2-2 on Matt Hogan’s solo home run in the top half of the seventh, the Bison regained the lead in the bottom of the eighth. After Sackett and Brookshaw reached on a single and fielder’s choice, respectively, James Dunlap singled to drive in Sackett. Then, Terrell Huggins singled in Brookshaw to make the score 4-2.
Skyler Riedinger, who relieved Roehrich with two outs in the top of the seventh, shut the door on the Golden Eagles in the ninth to seal the win for the Bison and hand Oral Roberts their first Summit League loss of the season.
Riedinger (1-3) earned his first win of the season as Roerich did not factor in the decision. At the plate, Jack Steil and Druw Sackett went 2-4 to help the Bison to even the series at one game a piece.
Oral Roberts wins the series in a 13-inning thriller –
Oral Roberts scored four runs in the top of the 13th inning to win game three of the series and hand NDSU the first league series loss of their season.
The Bison got on the board early. In the first, James Dunlap rapped a three-run home run driving in Druw Sackett and Peter Brookshaw who had both singled. The Golden Eagles responded with a three-run homer of their own in the third to tie the score at 3-3 after three innings.
In the sixth, the Bison took the lead again on Druw Sackett’s solo home run to left field making the score 4-3. Once again, ORU responded. In the eighth, the Golden Eagles’ Blaze Brothers doubled to left off of Bison reliever Wyatt Nelson. He advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt. Then Brothers scored when Justin Quinn grounded out to first base on a fielder’s choice which tied the game at 4-4.
Jacob Widener, Cade Denton and Dalton Patten then combined to shut the Bison down the rest of the way at the plate. Meanwhile, NDSU’s Joey Danielson, who entered the game in the ninth, held the Golden Eagles at bay until the 13th.
Leading off the 13th for ORU, Jake McMurray singled off Danielson. Then Justin Quinn and Jonah Cox hit homers to put the Golden Eagles up 7-4. Max Loven then came in to relieve Danielson. Loven got two ORU hitters out but also walked a batter. Reese Ligtenberg, who relieved Loven, then promptly gave up a single to ORU’s Holden Breeze who scored one more Golden Eagle and the score stood at 8-4.
The Bison went out 1-2-3 in the bottom of the 13th and Oral Roberts had their 14th Summit League win against one loss.
Dalton Patten (1-1) earned the win for the Golden Eagles while Joey Danielson’s (1-3) rough 13th inning saddled him with the loss.
Stat Sheet –
– The Bison did not have a great weekend at the plate, but it wasn’t all bad against the league’s best staff. The Bison did strike out 22 times, 10 of those came in game three.
– NDSU left 15 runners on base over the series.
– James Dunlap had another good weekend at the plate going 5-12 for the series and driving in four RBIs.
– The Bison played error-free ball over the series. Danielson, Roehrich and Rosenbaum each threw a wild pitch.
– Parker Puetz and Tristen Roehrich were bright spots on the mound. Puetz struck out seven batters over seven innings while allowing two earned runs on four hits. Roehrich’s line was similar. He struck out five over 6 2/3 innings while surrendering two earned runs on four hits. Cade Feeney’s loss snapped his four-game win streak.
Next up for the Herd –
The Bison (11-26, 7-5 Summit) now travel to Minneapolis, Minn., on Tuesday night for a return engagement with the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers. The Gophers defeated the Bison 12-9 earlier this season at Siebert Field. You can watch the game on the B1G+ network or listen to the game at Bison 1660AM.
The Bison are then scheduled to open at home against Western Illinois (5-29, 2-7 Summit) at Newman Outdoor Field on Friday. The first pitch for the three-game set is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Friday. That will be followed by single games on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. and Sunday at 1:00 p.m. Student tickets are available at gobison.com/students. You can also watch it at gobison.com or listen to the game at Bison 1660 AM.