Baseball Title Hopes Ended in Doubleheader Split at Oral Roberts

TULSA, Okla. - North Dakota State's baseball team locked up a third-place finish in The Summit League with a doubleheader split at Oral Roberts on Friday, May 18, at J.L. Johnson Stadium.

Max Casper was 3-for-3 with the game-winning RBI in the eighth inning and NDSU starter David Ernst improved to 6-0 on the year with a 5-4 win in the opening game.  It was the school-record 38th win of the year for the Bison.

Logan Domenico's two-out single to deep right field scored Kevin Cho after a leadoff error to give ORU a 3-2 walk-off win in the nightcap.  NDSU's Tim Colwell got his school-record 83rd hit of the season in the third inning.

North Dakota State (38-17, 14-9) will finish third in the league for the second straight year and Southern Utah is fourth.  Second-place Oakland needs a win or rainout and an Oral Roberts loss to take over first place.

NDSU broke open a 2-2 game in the opener with a two-run seventh inning.  Kyle Kleinendorst hit a leadoff single and scored on Nick Colwell's double into the right field corner.  Colwell scored on a wild pitch to make it 4-2.

The Bison tacked on another run in the eighth when Michael Leach hit a two-out single, Kleinendorst reached on catcher's interference, and Casper singled in Leach for a 5-2 advantage.

ORU (32-22, 16-6) got two unearned runs in the eighth thanks to two NDSU errors, but closer Kyle Kingsley retired the Golden Eagles in order in the ninth for his fifth save of the year.

NDSU trailed 2-0 in the nightcap before tying it in the fifth.  Leach led off with a single and scored on Nick Colwell's two-out single to chase starter Mike Torrence, and Tim Colwell scored on a wild pitch from releiver Joe Spring to knot the game.

The Bison got a leadoff double from Nick Anderson in the sixth but he was erased at third base on a sac bunt attempt by John Skrbec, and Spring retired five in a row after that to improve to 5-1 on the year.

Luke Anderson allowed two runs on five hits with three strikeouts and one walk in 5 2/3 innings.  Jake Heck got a ground ball to strand two ORU runners in the sixth, but took the loss in the seventh to drop to 1-1.

Nick Anderson was 3-for-3 in the second game.  Tim Colwell broke the 1996 record of 82 hits set by shortstop Wade Whitworth.  Domenico was 3-for-4 for Oral Roberts.

The final game of the series is scheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday, May 19.