Creighton (April 3)
In a midweek game against Creighton, the Bluejays were able to hold off the Bison 8-7 on Wednesday night at Charles Schwab Field.
The teams used a combined 19 pitchers during the game. Seth Thompson made his first career start, having one strikeout in 1.0 innings.
NDSU had eight hits in the game with Colton Becker going 3-for-5 at the plate with two runs and one RBI. Will Buesch had two doubles and one RBI.
Creighton started with a 2-0 lead in the second inning. In the fourth inning, Cadyn Schwabe scored on a walk with the bases loaded. During this, the Bison took the lead over with two additional runs from two hits. When the Bluejays had their turn at the plate during the bottom of the fourth, they scored four runs with the help of two RBIs from Teddy Deters. After two scoreless frames from both teams, the Bison scored three more runs in the seventh thanks to a two-run double by Carson Hake. This tied the battle 6-6. The Bluejays responded once again in the bottom half with two runs. Becker was able to bring in one run in the eighth with an RBI single, but that was not enough for the Bison, being scoreless in the ninth and leaving the score 7-8.
SDSU Game One (April 5)
After the loss in Creighton, the Bison hosted SDSU for their earliest home opener since 2017 on Friday night but were not able to get the win, losing 1-5 at Newman Outdoor Field.
NDSU earned 10 strikeouts in the opener, with Leland Johnson throwing a season-high four strikeouts in 5.0 innings. Austion Bergum threw the last 2.0 innings with a season-best three strikeouts.
The Bison collected just three hits throughout the game with James Dunlap, Colten Becker and Davis Hamilton all getting one.
SDSU took the lead in the third inning after Dawson Perry hit a two-RBI double, making the score 2-0. The Jackrabbits extended their lead to 4-0 in the seventh with an additional two runs. Parry for the Jackrabbits collected another RBI in the ninth, lining down the third baseline for a double. The Bison got their first run in the ninth inning from Will Busch scoring on a wild pitch, but the game ended shortly after, leaving two runners stranded on base. The final score was 1-5.
SDSU Game Two (April 6)
NDSU got the win in game two on Saturday afternoon by holding off the Jacks 9-8.
The Bison collected 10 strikeouts as a team with Logan Knight (2-2) getting the win. He threw five strikeouts in 5.0 innings. Joey Danielson threw the last 2.2 innings, striking out three and allowing one hit and one walk.
The team totaled nine hits with James Dunlap contributing two hits and a season-best four RBI. Jake Schaffner went 2-for-5 at the plate and got two runs and one RBI.
Both teams started by scoring runs in the first three innings. When NDSU was up 3-1, SDSU took over the lead by scoring three runs in the top of the third after Cael Frost scored following a fielder’s choice. The Bison then scored six runs in the fourth and fifth innings, leaving the score 9-5 after Will Busch got to home from a throwing error in the fifth. In the sixth inning, Jordan Sagedahl cranked a two-run homer. After earning one more run in the inning, the Jackrabbits were behind by just one. In the remaining three frames, NDSU held off four base runners to earn the win, 9-8.
SDSU Game Three (April 6)
Due to the forecast for Sunday, game three was rescheduled for Saturday, making it a doubleheader and the Jacks came away with the series win by beating the Bison 11-7 in the series finale.
Landon Koenig started the Saturday evening game on the mound, striking out two in 5.1 innings. Alex Karns finished it off in the last three innings.
NDSU got 10 hits as a team, with Jake Schaffner, Cadyn Schwabe, James Dunlap and Garret Hill all contributing two. Hill also earned a career-high four RBIs and one run.
The first inning started off with both teams collecting runs, having SDSU on top 3-2 until the third when the Bison were able to get one run in, tying it 3-3. After the Jackrabbits brought in two more runs in the fifth inning, NDSU responded and took the lead back after gaining three runs including Davis Hamilton’s RBI single. The Jackrabbits took the lead right back in the sixth, scoring five runs on five hits with the help of Dawson Parry’s two-run single into left field. Although the Bison scored one in the sixth, the final three innings left them scoreless.