NDSU Baseball dropped their one and only game against the Oklahoma State Cowboys this past Tuesday by a final score of 9-1 at O’Brate Stadium in Stillwater.
OSU jumped out to an early three-run lead with a two-run first and added another in the second off of a Brayden Smith RBI single. The Cowboys, who fall in the “receiving votes” category of the latest Top 25 coaches’ poll, were able to break things open in the third with two home runs, a solo shot from Nolan Schubert, and a two-run blast from Ian Daugherty to extend the lead to six. OSU was able to plate three more before the Bison got on the board, with a single run coming off of the bat of Colten Becker in the form of an RBI single, but that was all the offensive output NDSU could scrape across, as they dropped the game 9-1.
Garrett Shupe took the loss for the Bison, going three innings while giving up six earned with five hits and a walk. Hayden Sylte finished the game on the bump for NDSU, getting three strikeouts over two frames.
The second game of the series was canceled due to weather conditions.
The Bison wrapped up a win in their return to Summit League play on Friday, thanks to a late Noah Gordon RBI triple. NDSU took down Northern Colorado by a final score of 8-7 in game one of a three-game set.
A four-hit, four-run first inning gave the Bison an early lead in game two. Dante Smith was able to score on a Bear throwing error and a pair of singles from Gordon and Alex Urlaub to open up the game with a four-nothing lead. The Bears answered with a Tony Castonguay RBI double to cut the Bison lead to three.
The Bison were able to answer right back with a sac-fly from Colton Becker. Northern Colorado then put three runs on the board over the next two frames to make it a one-run game at five to four with a Carter Monda RBI single. The Bison extended the lead to two with a Davis Hamilton RBI single in the seventh, but the Bears came right back with a two-RBI single off the bat of AJ Carter to tie the contest at six.
Gordon responded in the ninth with a two-run triple to give the Bison a late lead. A late push from the Bears ended up falling short, as they pushed just one run across in the ninth to drop the contest eight to seven.
The Bison logged a season-high 15 hits, with five different players tallying multiple hits. Davis Hamilton led the way, going three of four at the dish with two runs and an RBI.
The Bison arms racked up 10 total strikeouts, with Nolan Johnson getting the start on the hill. He went five innings and tallied three strikeouts. Landon Koenig added three more strikeouts over two frames, and Danny Lachenmayer got his first collegiate win as he tallied four strikeouts over the final two frames.
In game two of the series, the tides turned the other way, as the Bears defeated the Bison by a final score of four to three on Saturday.
The game started scoreless through the first three frames until Jake Schaffner broke the stalemate with an RBI single to give the Bison an early lead. Dante Smith then used a two-run single to extend the lead to three for the Bison in the fourth inning.
The Bears were able to respond in the bottom of the fourth as Jake Bullard and Jake King got plated because of a Bison error. Northern Colorado then tied the game at three after Kai Wagner knocked an RBI single into right. The Bears then pushed the game-winning run across in the eighth with an RBI single from Aiden Gebhard to lock up the win.
Logan Knight got the start for NDSU, going six innings while recording six strikeouts and giving up two walks. Reese Ligtenberg got the loss as he recorded two strikeouts over the final two frames.
The Bison were able to take the series against Northern Colorado as the offense came alive this past Sunday in the late innings to wrap up an 11-8 win and take two out of three in the series. The bats plated eight runs over the last three innings as they move to 6-16 on the year and 4-2 in the Summit on the year.
The Bears jumped out to a 6-3 lead through the first six innings, but then the Bison answered with a four-run, four-hit seventh to take a seven-to-six lead. Dante Smith started the fun with an RBI single, which was then followed by a Noah Gordon three-run blast. The Bison kept the foot on the gas, adding three more runs on three hits in the eighth to extend to a four-run lead. Sam Canton recorded an RBI single and later scored on an error, and Evan Gustafson topped off the inning with an RBI single. Canton later added an RBI double to stretch the lead to five in the ninth. A late rally for the Bears eventually fell short as they added two in the ninth, but Lachenmayer shut the door as he got back-to-back strikeouts to wrap up the win and the series.
NDSU tied a season-high in hits with 15 as four different players got multiple hits. Dante Smith was a perfect four of four with an RBI and fell a home run short of hitting for the cycle.
Garrett Shupe got the start for the Bison, going three and two-thirds while recording three strikeouts, and Skyler Riedinger improved to 2-0 as he got the win, recording three strikeouts over his two and two-thirds innings of work. Lachenmayer got his second save of the year.
The Bison will head to Fargo for their home opener as they welcome South Dakota State this Friday. First pitch is set for 3 p.m. at Newman Outdoor Field.