Baseball team snaps losing streak
Before last Friday, it had been a long time since the NDSU baseball team had a big inning with its bats.
The Bison hadn’t scored more than six runs in an inning since April 18, 2006.
On Friday, the Bison (3-15) exploded for a six-run second inning and ended an 11-game losing streak, defeating Texas-Pan American 8-2.
“It was a long losing streak, but we don’t see it as that bad because we played well in some of them,” NDSU pitcher Jake Laber said. “But it definitely feels good to be the guy to go out there and put a stop to it.”
Laber pitched the entire game, allowing two unearned runs and striking out six batters.
It was Laber’s fourth career complete game. A junior lefthander, Laber improved his record to 2-2 on the season.
“After I got going, I got in a pretty good rhythm,” Laber said. “With the rhythm comes confidence and everything else.
NDSU junior Ryan Langlais started the second inning with a double. Two batters later, Luke Otto doubled again for NDSU and scored Langlais.
After Texas-Pan American pitcher Cody Cisper hit three consecutive batters, he was replaced by Alex Guajaro.
Langlais came to bat again later in the inning and delivered a single, with two runs batted in.
“Their pitchers struggled, but we definitely took advantage of the situation. When we had the chance, we came up with a big hit,” Laber said. “It was nice to have a big inning where everyone had a part in it.”
On Saturday, in the second game of the series, TPA benefited from a solid pitching performance. TPA’s Matt Shepherd threw a complete game, gaving up just two hits and his team defeated NDSU 4-0.
NDSU pitcher Jeff Hille lasted six innings and struck out five batters, but gave up a solo homerun in the fifth inning and gave up three more runs in the sixth inning. Hille, a transfer from Northern Iowa, dropped his record to 0-4.
In the series finale Sunday, NDSU fell 5-4. The Bison had a 4-3 lead entering the ninth inning, but TPA managed to score two runs, including one on a past ball to win the game.
“Our bats got pretty quiet, but knowing you can battle like that is a positive thing,” Laber said. “We definitely don’t want to lose a game like that and you can learn from it but you don’t want to happen again.”