No. 3 North Dakota (23-25) at
WAC Tournament
Wed.-Sun., May 20-24
Hohokam Stadium - Mesa, Ariz.
Live video: WACsports.com
Live stats: WACsports.com
Live audio: UNDsports.com (all UND games)
Radio: 1440-AM KKXL (all UND games)
ON TAP
North Dakota finished the regular season with a Western Athletic Conference record of 16-11, tied for 4th with defending-champ Sacramento State. UND will earn the No. 3 in the upcoming WAC Tournament as Grand Canyon is ineligible for the tourney and UND holds the tiebreaker with the Hornets thanks to a 2-1 series record against them this season.
CATCHING YOU UP
UND swept New Mexico State in Las Cruces, N.M. to end the regular season last week. It was UND's second road sweep and third overall sweep in WAC play. North Dakota has won six of the nine league series this season.
FEELING GOOD ON THE ROAD
UND's sweep of the Aggies last week gave UND a series win in three of four WAC road series this season. Overall, North Dakota was 13-16 away from home during the regular season.
DO YOU RE-CYCLE?
Jeff Campbell became the first player in North Dakota's Division I era to hit for the cycle when he turned the trick in the regular season finale May 16 at New Mexico State. Campbell homered in the first then doubled to give North Dakota a huge lead. He would triple in his third at bat to set the stage in the 7th, when he singled to complete the task. He scored three runs and drove in four more in the win.
...AND THAT'S NOT ALL
Oh, and to boot, Campbell threw the final two innings in relief to earn his 11th save of the season. He did not allow a run and scattered three hits with a strikeout.
SHARE AND SHARE ALIKE. OR NOT.
Yes, Campbell, was recognized for his outstanding performances for the week. Twice. Not only did he earn the WAC Player of the Week (the second time he's won that this season), but he also grabbed the WAC Pitcher of the Week honor as well. For the week, he collected nine hits, including four extra-base hits. On the mound, he had six strikeouts in five innings over three appearances without allowing a run. He grabbed the win with a five-strikeout appearance over two innings against South Dakota State then picked up a pair of saves at NMSU.
KEEP THE ERASER HANDY
Senior Tyler Follis recently surpassed the 220 career hit mark, giving him the UND record in that category. He already owns the single-season mark (74) as well, but has taken that record under seige again this season, going into the WAC Tournament with 73 already this year.
FOLLIS FOURSOME
Tyler Follis had a 4-for-4 night in his home finale May 12, the fourth time this season he has collected four hits in a game. He leads the team with 21 multi-hit games this year and is second in the WAC with a .412 batting average.
FOUR-HIT DAYS FOR THESE GUYS, TOO
Brett Harrison got his first four-hit game of his career with a 4-for-5 effort May 15 at NMSU. Jeff Campbell made it three different UND players with four hits ina four-game span with his cycle effort a day later.
CAMPBELL NAILING EM SHUT
Senior Jeff Campbell has a UND single-season record with 11 saves this season. He surpassed both J.J. Scheving (2004) and Vince Eastman (1991) for the new single-season mark (7). Campbell has eight saves this season with more than one inning pitched. His 13 career saves also sets a new mark at North Dakota.
STARTERS CONSISTENT
The starting rotation of Andrew Thome, Zach Muckenhirn and Alex Twenge have been remarkably consistent over the past month. The threesome all have ERAs in the same neighborhood (3.99-4.23) and have similar strikeout and walk numbers.
DeGAGNE DEALING
In his last three starts, Brett DeGagne' doesn't have a win to show for his services, but has pitched well. He's combined for 19.1 innings, allowing just three earned runs (1.40 ERA) with 19 strikeouts. He finally got his first win of the season at NMSU, coming out of the bullpen to throw three innings, allowing just one run in the regular season finale win.
HERE COMES THE BOOM!
Senior Jeff Campbell whacked a pair of home runs in the May 8 win over Utah Valley and drove in a career high seven RBI in the process. It was his fourth career two-homer game, one coming in each of his four seasons at UND.
HARRISON SETTLING IN
Freshman catcher Brett Harrison picked up his first career three-hit game with three knocks at North Dakota State Apr. 22. After starting the season at .159 through 13 games, Harrison has hit .337 in WAC play this season.
THOME TWO AWAY
Andrew Thome threw 8.1 innings and struck out a career-high 13 batters in his 17th career win May 8 vs. Utah Valley. He now sits just two wins away from the career record for wins at UND, set by J.J. Scheving (2000-04).
FOUR HUNDO
Tyler Follis and Jeff Campbell are each flirting with the .400 mark with three games remaining in the regular season. Follis is second in the conference at .412 while Campbell is in fourth in the WAC at .380.
CAMPBELL CATCHES WAC WEEKLY AWARD
Senior slugger Jeff Campbell picked up the WAC Player of the Week for his performance in the three-game sweep at Northern Colorado, Mar. 27-29. He whacked three homers, one in each game, and drove in six for the week.
ALL ABOUT THAT BASE, 'BOUT THAT BASE
Senior Jeff Campbell went from seventh to fourth in the UND record book for total bases with his impressive showing at Northern Colorado in March. He then had 16 total bases in the series sweep at New Mexico State to fly into second place all-time at North Dakota.
Total Bases
1. Aaron Larsen (97-01) 410
2. Jeff Campbell (12-15) 369
3. Jake Magner (08-11) 363
4. Carter Rogalla (94-98) 362
5. Tom Montgomery (87-90) 303
6. Todd Wensloff (93-96) 299
7. Brian DeVillers (00-03) 297
8. Travis Johnson (93-95) 278
9. Dustin Frize (97-01) 274
10. Jason Fairchild (03-06) 271
FOUR-K NINTH
Senior Andrew Thome pulled a rarity in a Mar. 27 win at Northern Colorado. He struck out four batters in the ninth inning to finish off his 15th career complete game and give him a career-high-tying 11 in the win.
POWER WASH
North Dakota's 6-4 win over Washington marked the school's first-ever win over a PAC-12 school. Ryan Reese's three-run blast in the 10th inning proved to be the difference as Jeff Campbell picked up the win in relief, squandering just one run over three innings.
PASSING THE BUCK
Jeff Dodson notched career win No. 100 in the 6-4 win at Washington Feb. 27, moving him past Gene Roebuck for victories as a UND skipper. He is now third for career wins among UND baseball coaches all-time. Roebuck coached the team from 1990-93 and led the team to the 1993 NCAA North Central Regional. Roebuck was also a Hall of Fame women's basketball coach at UND (1987-2012).
All-time winningest UND baseball coaches
COACH WINS YEARS
Kelvin Ziegler 326 1994-2007
Pinky Kraft 207 1956-81
Jeff Dodson 122 2009-pres.
Gene Roebuck 99 1990-93
DODSON MILESTONES
Some of Coach Dodson's biggest wins have come on milestone occasions. His first win at UND was a 10-7 victory at Missouri State, UND's first as a Division I team (2009). Here's a look at some milestone wins for Dodson:
Win Opp.
1 at Missouri St. (2009) 10-7
5 at Creighton (2009) 7-6
25 No. Colorado (2010) 10-7
50 at NJIT (2012) 6-3
75 at No. Colo. (2013) 23-7
99 vs. NDSU (2014) 3-2
100 at Washington (2015) 6-4
THOME THE MONEY!
Senior Andrew Thome is approaching the leaders in several statistical categories for his career. A look at where he ranks in some key areas:
IP 324.1 1st
SO 4 T1st
Wins 17 T4th
CG 16 T3rd
K 220 3rd
CAMPBELL RINGING
Jeff Campbell continues to ascend the top 10 list at North Dakota for homers. He sits in a tie for 5th with 31. A look at where he stands:
Home Runs
1. Aaron Larsen (97-01) 44
2. Jake Magner (08-11) 39
3. Carter Rogalla (94-98) 33
Jason Fairchild (03-06) 32
5. Brian DeVillers (00-03) 31
Travis Wensloff (93-96) 31
Jeff Campbell (12-15) 31
JEFF JUMPING UP THE CHARTS
Jeff Campbell has led North Dakota in homers in each of his three seasons on campus (tied with Taylor Petersen last two seasons). His name is plastered all over the UND record book in several categories:
2B 43 2nd
3B 6 T7th
RBI 160 2nd
HR 31 T4th
Bases 369 2nd
STAFF NOTES
The coaching staff of head coach Jeff Dodson, associate head coach J.C. Field and assistant coach Brian DeVillers have been together for the entire past seasons. DeVillers was a holdover from the previous staff and is entering his eighth season on the UND coaching staff after a standout playing career at North Dakota.
DIRTY DOZEN
North Dakota features 12 players in their senior season on an experienced 2015 roster. The group includes seven starters set to usher UND into the second season in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC).
ROAD WARRIORS
The schedule saw 21 straight games away from home to start the season. In that mix, however, was a doubleheader against Dickinson State on Mar. 17 in Tucson, Ariz. with UND acting as the home team. The home opener came Apr. 2 against Bakersfield to start an eight-game homestand, part of 19 of the final 28 at Kraft Memorial Field.
PRESEASON PICK PROBLEMS
The first-round matchup of #3 North Dakota and #6 Northern Colorado marks a matchup of the two teams picked at the bottom of the preseason poll. And, that's exactly why there isn't much weight given to a preseason poll. UND was picked to finish ninth while Northern Colorado had the dubious honor of 10th in the preseason prognostications but the last laugh with the tournament berth.
Preseason Poll (where they finished)
1 Sacramento State T4
2 Grand Canyon 1
3 Bakersfield 3
4 Seattle U 2
5 Utah Valley 6
T6 New Mexico State 8
T6 Texas-Pan American 10
8 Chicago State 9
9 North Dakota T4
10 Northern Colorado 7
NORTH DAKOTA IN DIVISION 1 TOURNAMENTS
UND is making its first-ever appearance in the Western Athletic Conference Tournament in its second season but has made some noise in previous tournaments as a member of the Great West Conference (2010-13). UND was 7-8 all-time in that tournament. UND's #3 seed this season is its best tourney seed in its D1 era.
2010 (#5 seed)
vs. Houston Baptist L, 3-9
vs. Utah Valley L, 7-11
vs. Chicago State W, 8-2
2011 (#7 seed)
vs. Northern Colorado W, 5-1
vs. Houston Baptist W, 8-2
vs. Utah Valley L, 2-3 (10)
vs. Houston Baptist L, 1-7
2012 (#6 seed)
vs. NJIT W, 1-0
vs. Texas-Pan American W, 18-7 (8)
vs. Utah Valley L, 4-15
vs. Houston Baptist L, 8-13
2013 (#5 seed)
vs. Utah Valley W, 8-7
vs. Northern Colorado W, 11-3
vs. Houston Baptist L, 4-8
vs. Northern Colorado L, 8-11
UND AGAINST THE FIELD
This season, UND is 8-7 against the other five teams in the tournament with series wins over No. 1 Seattle (2-1), No. 4 Sacramento State (2-1) and No. 6 Northern Colorado (3-0).
ALL-TIME WAC CHAMPS
The WAC Tournament has changed shape over the decades. Below is the list of postseason champions in the WAC Tournament.
1982 Hawaii
1983 BYU
1984 Hawaii
1985 BYU
1986 San Diego State
1987 Hawaii
1988 BYU
1989 Hawaii
1990 San Diego State
1991 San Diego State
1992 Hawaii
1997 Rice
1998 Rice
1999 Rice
2006 Fresno State
2007 Fresno State
2008 Fresno State
2009 Fresno State
2010 Hawaii
2011 Fresno State
2012 Fresno State
2013 UTSA
2014 Sacramento State
No tournament from 1993-1996. A two team “best of three” playoff was held instead. No tournament or playoff from 2000-2005.
