Laber, Mossey to lead seasoned Bison squad
Despite just three seniors on the roster, the Bison baseball team brings plenty of experience to the table this season.
The entire starting rotation is made up of juniors, including Jake Laber, who set a school single-season record last year with 14 starts and 90.2 innings pitched.
Laber will be counted on as the ace of a pitching staff that has been erratic over the past two seasons.
Last year, the Bison went 12-41, but did pick up wins over Big 10 Conference teams Minnesota and Iowa.
Kole Zimmerman will be making his return to the team after missing all of last season with a knee injury.
Zimmerman, who also played football for NDSU, will be counted on for his leadership and his bat in the lineup.
“Kole has been in the program for four years and really understands and knows what’s going on,” NDSU coach Mitch McLeod said.
Pitchers
The pitching depth will be tested this year with another strong schedule ahead of the Bison, but Laber will be counted on to eat up a lot of innings as the ace of the staff.
“As the No. 1 guy, I want to set a good tone for each series,” said Laber, who will ordinarily start the first game of every series.
Matt Mossey will pick up where he left off last year with his role as both a starting pitcher and the team’s starting shortstop.
He was second on the team in batting average and third in games started last season.
The rest of the rotation consists of newcomers to the Bison team.
Jeff Hille, brother of Bison volleyball player Kristen Hille, transferred from Northern Iowa and will be a key pitcher for the Bison.
He is coming off of a shoulder injury that kept him out of most of last season, but the 6-foot-9 right-hander will get a lot of opportunities this year.
The bullpen will be led by middle reliever Shane Bushland, another junior who will be depended on to get the ball through to the end of the game.
“Shane’s a kid that can come in against anybody and shut them down and that is what we need in the middle,” McLeod said.
Corner Infield and Catcher
The Bison will start junior Ryan Langlais at third base, one of the better athletes on the team.
Langlais was one of two NDSU players to start all 53 games last season.
He will be looked upon to drive in some runs in the middle of the order.
At first base, junior college transfer Sebastian Miles will see the majority of the playing time.
Miles is going to hit in the middle of the order, but has coaches and teammates alike raving about his glove.
“Miles seems to be able to pick anything that you throw his way,” Mossey said.
Zimmerman will also see some time at first base, but will primarily play in the outfield this season.
Zimmerman is also the third catcher on the roster, where the Bison feature a solid veteran game caller.
Gavin Hofer is another junior who will be looked upon to lead this pitching staff and with his three years at NDSU, he has a good rapport with his starting pitchers, especially Laber.
“This is the third year he has caught me so we are pretty much in sync out there,” Laber said. “He can tell which pitches are working for me on a particular day so that’s helpful.”
Freshman Brendan O’Connor will serve as the team’s backup catcher. McLeod said that he is one of the best defensive freshman catchers he has seen in his 15 years with the Bison.
Middle Infield
The Bison middle infield is solid with two veteran players in Matt Watson and Matt Mossey. Watson is one of the three seniors on the roster along with Zimmerman and centerfielder Greg Plecki and appeared in 41 games last year.
Mossey hit .320 last year and led the team with three triples.
With Mossey also spending some time on the mound, the depth of the middle infield will be tested. Langlais will move over to play shortstop when Mossey is on the mound.
Outfield
The Bison have a very experienced outfield that all starts with Greg Plecki. A senior, Plecki, hit .235 last season and led the team in stolen bases. He was named one of the team captains along with Kole Zimmerman.
While Zimmerman will bounce around a little bit, he will see plenty of time in the outfield. Two years ago he led the team in home runs and doubles, so the Bison will be very happy to have his bat back in the lineup.
The other corner will feature sophomore Luke Otto who played very well as a freshman last year. He batted .293 and looks to continue to improve as he gets more experience.