North Dakota State (2018 Record: 26-24, 15-13)
It was a decent 2018 season for NDSU finishing third in the Summit League before going 1-2 in the Summit League Tournament.
Returning Players
Outfielder Jayse McLean will hit in the middle of the lineup this year after batting .250 last year with 7 home runs and 31 RBI. Bennett Hostetler should be back at shortstop after starting there the past two seasons. He hit .225 last year with 35 runs scored. He’ll play in the Cape Cod League this summer. Tucker Rohde will likely take over at third base after hitting .269 last year. Outfielder Carter Thompson should hit in the middle of the order after batting .340 in 97 at-bats last year with 3 home runs and 25 RBI.
Parker Harm was great out of the bullpen last year with a 4.21 ERA in 51.1 innings pitched with 55 strikeouts and a save. He will also play in the Cape this summer. Jake Drew will take on a more prominent role this season after posting a 4.02 ERA in 15.2 innings pitched last year with 17 strikeouts. Jardan Harms will try to get in the weekend rotation after a shortened junior season due to an injury. Mitch O-Connor will likely be a weekend starter after making nine starts a season ago.
Newcomers
Peter Brookshaw led the team in hitting this past fall and as a chance to start on the infield as a freshman. Zach Solano is redshirt freshman who can play all three outfield spots. Brock Anderson is a two-way player who could see time at first base, in the outfield, and on the mound as a freshman.
Max Loven and Ben Smith are both freshman who have a chance to work their way into the starting rotation after strong outings in the fall. Alec Holcomb is a JUCO transfer who could be used in the back-end of the bullpen.
Outlook for 2019
“Our team strength has always been our pitching and defense. We have a younger/inexperienced pitching staff this year but the potential to be very deep, so we will need some time to figure out roles and where guys fit best. We need to continue to defend well like we have the past couple of years and will need a couple of young players to step up in the infield to replace a couple key infielders that we lost due to graduation. Offensively, base running is the area we need to improve upon the most. We have a good core of impact players that are back from last season combined with some talented newcomers that we believe can come in right away and make a major impact for our team. With our returning impact players a year older, combined with our crop of new players, we feel the pieces are there to be very solid offensively and improve upon what we did as a team in 2018. Our team seems to have solid depth on the mound and on the position player side of things, which will help give us some different options and combinations to work with.” – quote from NDSU coaching staff
