Game 1: North Dakota State vs. Fort Wayne
Friday, April 14 | 6:30 p.m.
Fargo, N.D. (Newman Outdoor Field)
Radio: Bison 1660 AM, 92.7 FM, Bison1660.com, Bison 1660 app
Live Stats | Live Video | Live Audio

Game 2: North Dakota State vs. Fort Wayne
Saturday, April 15 | 1 p.m.
Fargo, N.D. (Newman Outdoor Field)
Radio: Bison 1660 AM, 92.7 FM, Bison1660.com, Bison 1660 app
Live Stats | Live Video | Live Audio

Game 3: North Dakota State vs. Fort Wayne
Sunday, April 16 | 1 p.m.
Fargo, N.D. (Newman Outdoor Field)
Radio: Bison 1660 AM, 92.7 FM, Bison1660.com, Bison 1660 app
Live Stats | Live Video | Live Audio

NDSU Game Notes (PDF)

NDSU baseball on Twitter: @NDSUbaseball

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             SCENE SETTER: The North Dakota State University baseball team is scheduled to host the Fort Wayne Mastodons in a key Summit League baseball series April 14-16 at Newman Outdoor Field. The series opener is slated for 6:30 p.m. Friday, April 14, with games two and three scheduled for Saturday, April 15, and Sunday, April 16 at 1 p.m.
 
            MEDIA COVERAGE: The three-game series against Fort Wayne will air live on Bison 1660 AM, 92.7 FM, Bison1660.com and the Bison 1660 app beginning 30 minutes prior to first pitch of each game. Jeff Culhane will call the action with Keith Brake providing color commentary. A pay-per-view video webcast and free live stats will also be available for each contest at GoBison.com.
 
            SERIES RECORD: The three-game series against the Mastodons will mark meetings 46-48 in the all-time series that dates back to 2006. The Bison lead the series, 23-22. Last season, NDSU went 3-3 against Fort Wayne, sweeping the Mastodons at home April 9-10 before losing three games in Fort Wayne, Ind., May 14-16.
 
            BISON NOTES: The Bison enter the weekend at 14-18 overall and 6-6 in Summit League play after falling to Minnesota, 6-1, Tuesday in a non-league game at Newman Outdoor Field ... Through 32 contests, NDSU is lead at the plate by junior infielder Mason Pierzchalski (.298 avg., 19 R, 36 H, 8 2B, 2 3B, 1 HR, 15 RBI, 10 BB), junior outfielder Logan Busch (.277 avg., 16 R, 28 H, 7 2B, 2 3B, 3 HR, 21 RBI, 22 BB) and senior outfielder Ben Petersen (.265 avg., 23 R, 31 H, 5 2B, 1 3B, 6 HR, 19 RBI, 16 BB, 4 SB) ... On the mound, North Dakota State is led by senior right-handed starters Luke Lind (5.05 ERA, 3-3, 1 CG, 1 SHO, 46.1 IP, 41 H, 27 R, 26 ER, 9 BB, 47 SO) and Reed Pfannenstein (4.53 ERA, 3-4, 43.2 IP, 57 H, 26 R, 22 ER, 8 BB, 32 SO), sophomore right-handed starter Jordan Harms (3.78 ERA, 1-5, 33.1 IP, 28 H, 19 R, 14 ER, 15 BB, 28 SO), and junior left-handed reliever Chris Choles (2.73 ERA, 2-1, 2 SV, 26.1 IP, 25 H, 12 R, 8 ER, 10 BB, 17 SO) ... Lind leads The Summit League in strikeouts with 47, while junior closer Kevin Folman is tied for second in the league with five saves ... The Bison have a .227 team batting average, .970 team fielding percentage and 4.40 team ERA ... NDSU ranks third in the league in team ERA and second in team fielding percentage, but is sixth in team batting average.
 
            SCOUTING THE OPPONENT: The Fort Wayne Mastodons enter the weekend at 6-24 overall and 1-11 in Summit League play after losing to Butler Tuesday in a non-conference game, 10-3 ... Through 30 games, Fort Wayne is led in the batter's box by redshirt senior RHP Jake Weber (.372 avg., 14 R, 35 H, 7 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 12 RBI, 3 SB) and senior infielder Jackson Boyce (.325 avg., 15 R, 37 H, 10 2B, 2 3B, 1 HR, 20 RBI, 23 BB, 12 SB) ... Boyce leads The Summit League in stolen bases with 12 ... On the mound, the Mastodons are led by Weber (3.79 ERA, 0-4, 38.0 IP, 46 H, 23 R, 16 ER, 11 BB, 29 SO) and redshirt junior RHP Brandon Phelps (2.86 ERA, 0-1, 2 SV, 28.1 IP, 24 H, 16 R, 9 ER, 14 BB, 27 SO) ... Fort Wayne has a .276 team batting average, .966 team fielding percentage and 6.96 team ERA ... The 'Dons rank second in the league in team batting average and fourth in team fielding percentage, but are sixth in team ERA.
 
            HOSTETLER GETTING ON BASE: Freshman shortstop Bennett Hostetler is hitting a blistering .545 in his last four games with six hits, two runs, one double, one RBI, a .636 slugging percentage, three walks and a .667 on-base percentage.
 
            NDSU PITCHING COMING OFF BANNER WEEKEND: The North Dakota State pitching staff posted an impressive 1.00 ERA in its three-game series against South Dakota State April 7-9. NDSU pitchers Parker Harm, Reed Pfannenstein, Luke Lind, Jordan Harms, Chris Choles and Kevin Folman only allowed a combined three earned runs on 12 hits with 22 strikeouts and seven walks, and held opposing batters to a .138 batting average.

            PITCHING SUPERLATIVES: North Dakota State right-handed starting pitchers Luke Lind and Reed Pfannenstein both matched their career-highs with eight strikeouts against South Dakota State April 7-8. Lind tossed seven innings and allowed just one earned run on one hit with two walks and eight strikeouts in NDSU's 4-1 win over the Jackrabbits April 7 before Pfannenstein went 7 2/3 innings and gave up one earned run on five hits with eight strikeouts and no walks in NDSU's 4-1 victory against the Jacks April 8.
 
            HARMS SHUTTING DOWN OPPONENTS: In his last three starts, RHP Jordan Harms have allowed just two earned runs on nine hits with 14 strikeouts and seven walks in 18 innings of work. At Western Illinois March 26, he tossed six scoreless innings before allowing only one run in seven innings at Omaha April 2 and an earned run in five innings against South Dakota State April 9.
 
            WALK THIS WAY: In the latest Summit League statistics, the Bison have three players ranked in the top 10 in walks. Logan Busch is third in the league with 22 free passes, while Ben Petersen and Drew Fearing are tied for ninth with 16 walks. As a team, North Dakota State leads The Summit League with 131 walks.
 
            TAKE YOUR BASE: Three Bison rank in the top 10 in The Summit League in hit batters. Drew Fearing has been hit a league-high 10 times, while Danny Palmiscno has been hit seven times, tying him for fourth, and JT Core has been hit five times, tying him for 10th. Fearing ranks 32nd in hit by pitch in the most recent NCAA Division I national statistics. The Bison have been hit a league-high 38 times through 31 games.   
 
            TURNING TWO: North Dakota State is second in The Summit League in double plays turned with 27 through 32 games. Western Illinois leads the league with 28. 
 
            NORTH DAKOTA STATE WELCOMES 14 NEWCOMERS IN 2017: Fourteen newcomers, including eight position players and six pitchers, join the Bison for the 2017 season. Position players include infielders Bennett Hostetler (Bozeman, Mont.), Charley Hesse (Mendota Heights, Minn.) and Tucker Rohde (Scottsdale, Ariz.); outfielder Carter Thompson (Fargo, N.D.); catchers Nick Emanuel (Esko, Minn.), Jake Malec (Proctor, Minn.) and Calvin Kalthoff (Cold Spring, Minn.); and infielder/outfielder Axel Twenge (Minnetonka, Minn.). ... Pitchers include left-hander Mitch O'Connor (Bloomington, Minn.), and right-handers Ryan Olson (Halstad, Minn.), Riley Johnson (Apple Valley, Minn.), Devin Foster (Broomfield, Colo.), Austin Truso (Prior Lake, Minn.) and Kyle Ferderer (Savage, Minn.). 
 
            DITCH AND KEEFER JOIN NDSU COACHING STAFF:  In addition to 14 new student-athletes, the Bison also have two new coaches for 2017. Jeff Ditch, who has coached college baseball for over 24 years, is the new hitting coach for North Dakota State, while former Bison left-handed pitcher Trent Keefer is a volunteer assistant coach. Ditch joined the Bison after serving as head coach for 11 seasons at Indiana University-Pennsylvania, where he was the all-time winningest coach in program history, recording 253 wins. He also spent time at West Virginia, Cincinnati and Penn State as an assistant.
 
            SUMMIT LEAGUE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Mason Pierzchalski (Feb. 19), Ben Petersen (March 6) and Luke Lind (March 13) have received Summit League Player of the Week honors this season.
 
            SEVEN CONSECUTIVE 20-WIN SEASONS: North Dakota State has reached the 20-win mark seven straight seasons. The Bison have qualified for five Summit League tournaments, winning the tournament championship in 2014 and reaching the championship game in three of the last five seasons. This is NDSU's 10th season in The Summit League after three seasons as a Division I independent.
 
            PRESEASON PICKS: The North Dakota State University baseball team was picked to finish third in The Summit League Baseball Preseason Coaches' Poll released on Thursday, Feb. 9, by the league office. The Bison tallied 17 points in the poll, which was voted on by the league's six head coaches. Defending Summit League regular season and tournament champion Oral Roberts was picked first and tallied 25 points with five first-place votes, while South Dakota State was second with 18 points and received the final first-place vote. NDSU was third, followed by Omaha (13 points), Western Illinois (nine points) and Fort Wayne (eight points). 
 
            THE COACH: Tod Brown (Arizona, 1994) enters his 10th season as the head coach for the Bison and has a 229-267 record at NDSU.  Brown previously was the pitching coach and recruiting coordinator for eight seasons at Bowling Green, where he was part of two division titles and a regular-season title in the Mid-American Conference.  Brown began his collegiate coaching career in 1999 as a volunteer assistant at Arizona.  He was a left-handed pitcher for the Wildcats under Hall of Fame coach Jerry Kindall and a member of the 1992 Pac-10 champs.
 
            THE TOD BROWN FILE:

• 2014 Summit League tournament champions
• 2014 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament Corvallis Regional qualifiers                    
• Won school-record 40 games in 2012
• Three Summit League championship game appearances in the past five seasons
• Five Summit League tournament appearances in the last six years
• Winning percentage of .520 the past five seasons
• 20 All-Summit League honorees, including seven first team selections
• 19 players who signed professional contracts
• Coached three NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship recipients: Wes Satzinger (2014), John Straka (2013) and Kole Zimmerman (2008)