NDSU Baseball Splits Sunday Doubleheader at UTRGV

EDINBURG, Texas – After weather forced multiple schedule changes in the series between the North Dakota State baseball team and UTRGV, the two teams split a doubleheader on Sunday afternoon with the Vaqueros winning the first game, 10-3, and the Bison coming from behind to win game two, 7-5, at the UTRGV Baseball Stadium.

In game two, the Bison (1-6) erased a five-run deficit with a late home run from Noah Gordon to earn their first win of the season, 7-5. UTRGV (4-2) opened up a 5-0 lead in the third inning with back-to-back home runs from Armani Raygoza and Jacob Sanchez. The Bison got on the board in the fourth with an RBI sacrifice fly off the bat of Davis Hamilton to make the score 5-1.

NDSU kept the surge going into the sixth inning pushing across two more runs after Jake Schaffner scored on a fielding error and Colten Becker sent an RBI double into left center to cut the edge down to 5-3. After Schaffner lifted an RBI sacrifice fly in the seventh, Gordon completed the comeback for the Bison in the ninth with his second home run of the season to left field. The three-run shot completed the 7-5 comeback win.

Schaffner led the way going 3-of-4 at the plate with three runs and one RBI. Kyle Law also added two hits on five appearances.

Logan Knight made the start on the hill tossing one strikeout over 4.0 innings. Landon Koenig threw a game-high four strikeouts in 2.0 innings of relief, while Skyler Riedinger (1-0) earned the win finishing the final 2.0 frames with two strikeouts.

In game one, UTRGV used an eight-run fifth inning to top NDSU, 10-3, in a shortened seven inning contest. The Vaqueros grabbed an early 2-0 edge in the first inning with an RBI double off the bat of Thomas Williams and an RBI single from Raygoza. The game then went scoreless for three innings until UTRGV erupted for eight runs in the fifth to stretch its lead to 10-0 with a two-run double from Williams. Becker attempted to spark the Bison with his first home run of the season to right field. The three-run shot made it 10-3 in the sixth, but NDSU couldn’t get anything going the rest of the way and dropped the contest, 10-3.

Becker paced the Bison going 2-of-3 at the plate with three RBI and one run, while Schaffner and Law each added one hit and one run apiece.

Nolan Johnson (0-2) made the start on the mound with two strikeouts over 2.0 innings. Tate Martin also made an appearance with three strikeouts over 2.1 frames.

NDSU will be back in action to begin a three-game series at Alabama on Friday. First pitch is set for 4:00 p.m.