It was a roller coaster weekend for the Herd

Baseball

The Bison baseball team had an up and down weekend against the Jackrabbits. During game one, the Herd got to flex their muscles early on. In the top of the second Nick Emanuel barreled one up and sent it deep past the right-field fence, giving NDSU a 1-0 lead. 

In the third inning, Jake Malec homered to alley in right-center. Not to be out, fellow teammate Peter Brookshaw launched one past the right-field fence, the Herd led 3-0. In the eighth inning, Tucker Rohde would score on a throwing error after Nathan VerMaas reached on a fielder’s choice. In the ninth, a Bennett Hostetler single scored Malec. The Bison won 5-0.

In the third inning of game two, VerMaas scored the first run for the Bison when a passed ball got by the Jackrabbit catcher. In the fifth, Jack Simonsen singled to right scoring Will Busch, the Herd led 2-0. 

In the seventh, SDSU’s Ryan McDonald crushed a two-run homer to tie the game. In the bottom of the ninth, Drew Beazley clutched up for the rabbits came in clutch when he hit a single into left field scoring Carson Max to win the game 3-2.

To put it lightly, game three did not go NDSU’s way. In the second inning, a double off the bat of Simonsen scored Charley Hesse giving the Herd a 1-0 lead. It was all SDSU from there.

In the fourth, the Jackrabbits picked up a run from a single, and later in the inning, Landon Badger homered for the second time in the game, this time it was a three-run shot to give SDSU a 5-1 lead. In the fifth inning, the scorching hot Badger hit a grand slam taking the lead out of reach for the Herd at 10-2. In the eighth another SDSU homer, this time off the bat Derek Hackman, and a double to left gave the Jackrabbits a 12-2 win over the Bison.

Game four was a dogfight, but the Herd prevailed. It all started when a Hackman single scored a run to give the Jacks an early lead. The Herd responded an inning later when a double from Emanuel scored Hesse tying the game 1-1. In the third inning, homers from SDSU’s Badger and Hackman and a single from Jess Bellows gave the Jacks a 4-1 lead. 

In the fifth inning, a two-run home run from Simonsen decreased the lead to 3-4. SDSU picked up another run in the fifth inning after a bases-loaded groundout to first. In the sixth, the Bison started to get hot. After a double by Hesse and a walk from Busch, a two-run single from Calen Schwabe gave the Herd a 7-5 lead. In the seventh, Hosteler hit a two-run blast to the right-field corner to give the Bison a 9-5 lead. 

The jackrabbits were not ready to go quietly. A single, a fielder’s choice, a sac fly and a passed ball allowed the Jacks to retake the lead at 10-9. In the eighth inning, the Jackrabbits scored another off a double, but the Herd responded in the ninth with a two-run shot tying the game up at 11-11. 

In the tenth, the Bison tagged on a couple more runs when Brookshaw hit a single and a sac fly from Hosteler gave them a 13-11 lead. The Jackrabbits scratched across one run, but the Bison would win the back-forth game 13-12.

Golf

The Bison women’s golf team finished sixth in the Summit League championships this past weekend. The Bison were just two strokes back of UND who finished at 981, and 12 strokes behind the Coyotes of USD. Taylor McCorkle was the Herd’s top finisher.

The junior from Oregon, Wisconsin finished 15th overall after shooting 244, with teammates Maddie Herzog (246) and Alexis Thomas (247) not far behind.

Denver took home title at Sand Creek Golf course, pacing second place SDSU by 18 strokes.

While the Herd’s spring season has now officially come to a close, a bright future, preferably one without a Pandemic, awaits the Bison.