Home at last
Bison split with Valley City, then topple Hawkeyes
Losing close games and losing them late has been the story of the Bison baseball team all year.
Since winning only its second game of the year at Centenary March 25, NDSU has come up empty in its last eight road games, losing to University of Northern Iowa, Southern Illinois University and Kansas University.
After playing 28 games on the road, the Bison finally got their much-needed home opener last Friday in a doubleheader against NAIA-Valley City State. The Bison held on to a late-inning lead to secure a 6-5 victory for their third win.
“ In most cases this year, we just can’t put together a game where we can hit, pitch and play solid defense all at the same time,” head coach Mitch McLeod said. The Bison nine continued their struggles in game two of the doubleheader.
NDSU had a great chance to get something rolling by earning the sweep, but the Bison continued to lack consistency in all aspects, giving up five runs in the first inning on four hits and one error.
“It’s tough to come back from an early deficit like that. We need to do better throughout the whole game,” junior outfielder Greg Plecki said.
Battling back wasn’t an easy task for the Bison, as freshman pitcher Marc Wilson cruised to a 6-3 complete game victory for the Vikings’ 11th win. Wilson pitched well, but he wasn’t anything the Bison haven’t seen before.
McLeod said they can’t make mistakes and give other teams chances.
After playing their first home game, the Bison had to get on the road again for games at the University of Iowa, SDSU and Valparaiso University, before returning home for their final seven home games, starting with Minnesota May 3.
Playing quality baseball against Iowa would be a good confidence booster for the young Bison squad.
The Bison did just that in game one of the two-game series.
NDSU scored eight runs in the second inning and had 10 hits in the 11-8 victory Tuesday.
Even though NDSU allowed seven runs in the first three innings, the Bison allowed only one run and no errors in the last six.
As McLeod has stressed all year, if only the Bison can put together a solid effort through the whole game, NDSU will have more wins and good times.