Northern Colorado traveled to town to start a three-game series against NDSU, Thursday afternoon.
Nolan Johnson would start on the bump for the Bison in a cold start to the series. Johnson would start his afternoon with two strikeouts in the opening frame. Davis Hamilton would start NSDU’s offense out, with a one out double and would advance to third based on a throwing error. Sam Canton would bring in the first run of the afternoon, two batters later with a sacrifice fly to give NDSU a 1-0 lead after one inning.
Nolan Johnson was very efficient in his outing, limiting the Bears offense to three hits through the first four innings. The Bison starter would start the top of the fifth inning, with back-to-back strikeouts, bringing his tally to six so far for the afternoon. With two outs in the top of the fifth inning, the Bears would get three straight singles, playing the runners station to-station. The third single in a row, hit by Kai Wagner, would score Brandon Sanchez from second base, to tie this Summit League matchup at one apiece through five innings.
North Dakota State would answer right back in the bottom of the fifth. After Blake Timmons drew a leadoff walk and advanced to second base after a sacrifice bunt, Jake Schaffner would single in the runner to give the Bison a 2-1 lead. NDSU would continue to threaten, but Bears starter Murphy Gienger would escape the jam, getting Colten Becker to strikeout.
The sixth inning is where the Bison would pull away in this game. After a one out single from Noah Gordon, NDSU would rattle off three straight extra base hits. Alex Urlaub would bring in two runners with a double to left field. Urlaub would be brought home just two batters later, when Tommy Simon hit his first career triple. Jake Schaffner would bring in Simon right after, with a single up the middle. Northern Colorado would ultimately escape the inning down 6-1, after a pitching change brought in Dylan Smith.
Nolan Johnson’s afternoon was done after six innings, when Sam Roberts started on the mound in the top of the seventh inning. Roberts would get a clean inning preserving the lead for the Bison. Skyler Reidinger would come into relief to start the top of the eighth for the Bison. Reidinger would give up a lead-off walk before coming back and collecting two straight backwards K’s. With two outs in the inning, Northern Colorado would finally get some offense. Four straight hitters would reach for the Bears, two of them being singles, two of them being walks. Nick Barber would drive in the second run of the inning for the Bears with a bases loaded walk, which would keep the threat going. Reidinger would finally get the third out when pinch hitter Dalton Miller lined out to center field.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, the Bison would put this contest on ice. With two outs, Blake Timmons would pick up his first collegiate hit and home run, when he smacked a breaking ball over the right field wall. The Bison would add on three more runs in the frame, getting contributions from Davis Hamilton, Colten Becker, and Sam Canton, who all picked up RBIs in the inning.
BLAKE TIMMONS!
First career hit & homer 🚀 pic.twitter.com/ZpAMKMDZvk
— NDSU Baseball (@NDSUbaseball) April 18, 2025
Reese Ligtenberg would come on for the Bison in the ninth inning, giving up a two-out single, before striking out his second batter of the inning, securing a 11-3 Bison win on Thursday night. Lefty Nolan Johnson secured his fourth win of the season, picking up seven strikeouts in six innings of work, letting in one earned run. All three NDSU relievers used also picked up two strikeouts.
The Bison offense had a complete effort in this one, getting 11 runs on 16 hits. Jake Schaffner had three hits with two RBI’s. Sam Canton and Alex Urlaub also drove in two runs each in the victory. Blake Timmons hit the only home run for the Bison. The win brings NDSU to 13-20 overall on the season, 10-5 in Summit League play.
The Bison will play game two of the series on Friday beginning at 3 p.m.
*This article was written by Flag Family Media intern Cayden Lloyd*
