NDSU Baseball Tops Tulane in Series Finale, 12-3

NEW ORLEANS – The North Dakota State baseball team picked up a 12-3 win the series finale with Tulane after finishing the final two innings of game two of the series on Sunday afternoon at Turchin Stadium.

The Bison (2-13) scored in three of the first four innings to open up a 5-1 advantage in the fourth with an RBI single off the bat of Dante Smith.  NDSU then pushed its lead to 6-1 after Tommy Simon scored on a wild pitch in the sixth inning. The Green Wave (11-4) responded in the bottom half with a two-run home run from Tanner Chun to cut the deficit in half, 6-3. Following two scoreless innings, the Bison erupted for six runs in the ninth, including a grand slam from Smith to seal the 12-3 win.

The Bison combined for 12 hits with Smith going 3-of-5 at the plate with three runs and five RBI. Canton also tallied three hits with two RBI.

Matt Sargeant made the start on the mound going 3.1 innings, while Reese Ligtenberg (1-0) earned the win logging 2.2 innings in relief. Skyler Riedinger finished out the final 1.1 innings with a team-best two strikeouts.

In the second game of the series, the Bison fell short against the Green Wave, 9-3, after playing through a 56-minute lightning delay on Saturday night and then finishing the final two innings on Sunday due to rainy conditions. Colten Becker got the Bison on the board, 1-0, in the opening frame after he lifted an RBI single into left field. The contest then went into nearly an hour lightning delay before Tulane blasted back-to-back home runs off the bats of Connor Rasmussen and Matthias Haas after the break to make the score 2-1.

The Green Wave then scored three more runs in the second to extend the lead to 5-1 with an RBI single from Rasmussen. NDSU added a run on a throwing error in the third and a bases-load walk in the ninth, but dropped the contest, 9-3.

Jake Schaffner went 3-of-5 at the plate with two runs, while Davis Hamilton added two hits.

Logan Knight (0-3) made the start with five strikeouts over 3.2 innings. Garrett Shupe finished the final frame with two strikeouts and no walks.

NDSU will be back in action to open up Summit League play at Oral Roberts on Friday. First pitch is set for 6:00 p.m.