College Baseball Roundup: Bison Down Vikings, Comets Out-Slug Cobbers

Mayville State beats Concordia for second time this season.

FARGO, N.D. (NDSU Athletics) – The North Dakota State University baseball team claimed an 8-3 win over the Valley City State University Vikings on Tuesday, May 2, in a non-league game played at Newman Outdoor Field.

With the victory, the Bison improve to 22-21 overall while the Vikings drop to 25-24 on the season.

Freshman catcher Jake Malec went 2-for-3 at the plate with a double and RBI, and freshman shortstop Bennett Hostetler drove in three runs and hit his second home run of the season to lead North Dakota State.

Freshman right-handed reliever Kyle Ferderer (2-0) earned the win on the mound for the Bison after giving up just one hit with four strikeouts and no walks in two scoreless innings.

NDSU jumped plated four runs in the bottom of the first inning to jump out to an early lead. Mason Pierzchalski scored Hostetler and Drew Fearing with a single up the middle to give the Bison a 2-0 lead, before Core and Tucker Rohde smacked back-to-back RBI singles, increasing the NDSU advantage to 4-0.

The Vikings plated three runs in the top of the second, though, trimming to lead to 4-3.

North Dakota State added a run in the bottom-half of the second, building the lead to 5-3 after Alec Abercrombie led-off the inning with a triple to right field, before scoring on Hostetler’s sacrifice fly.

The score remained 5-3 until the bottom of the eighth when North Dakota State plated a trio of runs. Malec scored Rohde on a double to right field, before Hostetler crushed a 0-1 pitch over the left field fence for a two-run home run. It was Hostetler’s second homer in three games and his second round tripper of the season.

Designated hitter Grant Wehseler went 2-for-4 at the plate with a pair of doubles and three RBIs to lead Valley City State in the batter’s box.

VCSU starter Shaun Kourajian (1-1) suffered the loss after surrendering three earned runs on one hit with a walk in the bottom of the first inning.

North Dakota State is scheduled to open a three-game Summit League series against Oral Roberts on Friday, May 5, at 6:30 p.m. at Newman Outdoor Field.