University of Northern Colorado Athletics
Friday, March 3
Greeley, Colo.
2:00 pm
University of Northern Colorado
vs
North Dakota State
@NCBearsBaseball Hosts North Dakota State for Home Opener
3/1/2017 4:14:00 PM | Baseball
UNC baseball comes home for the first time this year, hosting North Dakota State
GREELEY – The gates open for the first time of the 2017 season at Jackson Field when Northern Colorado hosts North Dakota State this weekend. The Bears and Bison will play a four-game series, including a doubleheader on Saturday. The games on Saturday will be a schedule seven inning game, and then nine innings after that.
Northern Colorado Notes | North Dakota State | WAC
Leading Off
• Northern Colorado struggled in the second weekend of the season dropping both games against BYU and splitting a two-game series with San Jose State. The Bears record stands at 3-6 going into the first home series of the season.
• The Bears are on a power surge to after hitting 11 home runs in the first nine games of the season, which is tied for 15th in the nation.
• Northern Colorado has a team batting average of .250 and scored 42 runs in nine games this season.
• Out of the team's first 20 games of the season, the four this weekend are the only ones at home.
• Including the San Francisco State game last Tuesday, Cole Maltese hitting an impressive .389 for the year, including scoring a team-high five runs for the week and hitting a pair of long balls.
• The Bears outhit its opponents last week .290-.239.
• This is the second time in three years that Northern Colorado hosts North Dakota State for its home opener. The other time came in the 2015 season when UNC went 1-3 against NDSU.
• Saturday's doubleheader will feature a seven inning game in the first one, and then a nine inning game in the second.
Scouting North Dakota State
North Dakota State enters the weekend against UNC with a record of 5-3. The Bison opened the season with a four-game sweep of Mississippi Valley St., but were swept by Abilene Christian in three games to follow it up. Mason Pierzchalsk leads the Bison in hitting with a .370 average. He also has 1 home run with 5 RBIs. North Dakota State has a team batting average of .256, producing 43 runs in eight games. Logan Busch and Ben Petersen are tied for the team lead with 2 home runs. Petersen leads the team with 7 RBIs and Busch is second with 6. The Bison have a team ERA of 3.84 with 60 strikeouts in 68 innings pitched. NDSU starting pitcher Zach Mayo has a 1.00 ERA in two starts with a 1-0 record and 10 strikeouts. Chris Choles has pitched well out of the bullpen for the Bison with a 0.96 ERA in 9.1 innings and 6 strikeouts. The NDSU defense has struggled with 11 errors in eight games.
History Against North Dakota State
UNC is 11-11 all-time against NDSU. The Bison won the most recent series against UNC with a 3-1 series victory in March of 2015.
14 K Gold Performance
Aaron Hamilton turned in a performance for the ages last Friday night against San Jose State. He pitched a complete game two-hit shutout striking out 14, and allowing no walks. The 14 strikeouts tied a school-record, with Donnie Alexander.
Bears Dig The Long Ball
UNC can hit the long ball. The team has 11 home runs this season including three of multi-home run games. The team ranks 15th in the NCAA in home runs hit.
Cole Maltese and Evan Johnson lead the team with three home runs each. One of Jonshon's three home runs was a grand slam against San Francisco State. It was the first grand slam for Northern Colorado since Nick Miller against New York Institute of Technology in May of 2013.
Two other Bears have hit their first career home runs this season, in Jack Pauley and Tyler Yamaguchi.
Maltese, Brett Minnick and Payton Tapia each hit dingers against BYU last Friday in the 10-9 loss.
Along Came Pauley
Redshirt sophomore Jack Pauley recorded multi-hit games in three of the four over the weekend. Pauley's .371 batting average is good for second on the team. For the season he has 13 hits including four multi-hit games.
Close Calls
Over the first two weeks of play for Northern Colorado, they have played in four one-run games, with a 1-3 record in them. Of those four games, two have gone to extras where UNC is 1-1 in them.
New Faces
Fans are going to need to keep a roster page handy for the first few weeks of the season as UNC welcomes 19 newcomers this year. The group of 19 is a mixture of true freshmen and junior college transfers.
Three of the fresh faces for the Bears are receiving some attention nationally. They are RHP Aaron Hamilton, OF Jack Pauly and RHP Troy Watson. DIBaseball.com rated both Hamilton and Pauly as some of the top draft prospects for the 2017 and 2018 draft, respectively from the WAC. Watson was ranked the No. 3 impact freshman for this season.
UNC also welcomes Nate Rasmussen as a volunteer assistant to staff. Rasmussen will serve as outfield coach, first base coach, and camp director as well as assisting hitters.
During the first weekend of play, Northern Colorado saw 12 different newcomers make their debut for the team. In that group included starters Jack Pauley, Evan Johnson, Alex Kiel and pitchers Sam Leach, Aaron Hamilton and Troy Watson.
Lean Dean Hitting Machine Continues
Dean Lawson had a strong 2016 campaign, has brought that same effort into the 2017 season. Last year, he hit a team leading .357 batting average. His average was good for fifth in the conference and 126th in the nation. Lawson also batted in 16 runs during the season.
Lawson started the first week of the season strong, but was slowed a little last week. For the season he is hitting .286 overall, but has a .405 on-base percentage.
Say W(h)atson?
Freshman Troy Watson earned his first career start Tuesday when UNC took on San Francisco State. The righty from Texas didn't disappoint either. He went five and a third innings without allowing a hit to the Gators. His final line was six innings, two hits, two runs, both earned and three strike outs and walks. He ended up getting the win.
Interesting Ending
Northern Colorado's final game against San Francisco had a very interesting ending. First, the conclusion of the game was pushed to two days after it began due to darkness and weather. Then in the bottom of the 10th San Francisco's final two outs came when they were caught trying to steal second base.
Tanner on a Terror
Nick Tanner was the best Bear last season, earning second team All-WAC. He finished the 2016 season with a slash line of .327/.401/.388 and added one home run along with 15 RBIs. Tanner was also one of UNC's key pitchers, finishing with a 4-1 record. His team leading 2.89 ERA was good for third in the conference and 158th in the nation. Tanner pitched in a team-high 53 innings with 33 strikeouts and 13 walks during the season.
Exceeding Expectations
In the preseason WAC coaches poll, Northern Colorado has been picked to finish eighth in the conference for the second consecutive year. The Bears will need to surprise the teams in the conference in order to book a trip to Mesa, Arizona at the end of May.
UNC has been able to exceed expectations the past two seasons. Last year the team was picked to finish eighth and ended up fifth in the conference. While in 2014 Northern Colorado was picked last, but finished seventh in the WAC.
Following the Bears
Want to stay up to date with all things UNC Bears Baseball? There are a few ways to. During all games this year there will be live updates on the team's Twitter account @NCBearsBaseball.
For home games there will also be a live audio broadcast of the games as well as live stats on UNCBears.com.
Making the Grades
There were seven UNC players who earned spots on the 2016 Academic Honors list. Those earning honors are Jake Garcia, Cam Huber, Brett Minnick, Cole Maltese, Dan Reese, Payton Tapia, Corey Nakakura.
Wild Wild West
The Bears roster is comprised of almost every state in the western part of the US. Eleven different states are represented on the roster, as far east as Nebraska and as west as Hawaii.
Home Grown
Head coach Carl Iwasaki and his staff have done a good job of keeping the home grown talent in the state. 12 of UNC's 35 hail from the Centennial State.
Hawaiian Connection
The Bears have four players who hail from Hawaii plus head coach Carl Iwasaki and assistant Kaiona Correa all coming to Colorado from the islands.
Class of 2018
Help arrives for Northern Colorado with eight new players joining their roster for the 2018 season. The Bears add three infielders, a catchers, two utility players and a pair of right handed pitchers.
On Deck
It will be a busy week for UNC as they head to the Cornhusker state for five games. The trip starts with a pair of mid-week games at Nebraska. They will then go an hour up the road to Omaha to face Nebraska Omaha for three games over March 10-12.
In the Hole
After the trip to Nebraska, Northern Colorado will make a pit stop to Wichita State on the way back home from Nebraska to play the Shockers for a pair of game on March 14 and 15.
Northern Colorado Notes | North Dakota State | WAC
| Game | Probable Starters | Game Links |
| Friday, Mar, 3 at 2 pm | RHP Aaron Hamilton (1-1, 3.27 ERA) vs RHP Like Lind (1-1. 4.09 ERA) | Audio Stream | Live Stats |
| Saturday Mar. 4 at 11 am (7 Inn) | RHP Cody Carroll (0-1, 13.50 ERA) vs LHP Zach Mayo (1-0, 1.00 ERA) | Audio Stream | Live Stats |
| Saturday, Mar. 4 at 2:30 pm (9 inn) | RHP Troy Watson (1-0, 3.86 ERA) vs RHP Reed Pfannenstein (1-1, 5.79 ERA) | Audio Stream | Live Stats |
| Sunday, Mar. 5 at 12 pm | LHP Keenan Lum (0-1, 8.38 ERA) vs TBA | Audio Stream | Live Stats |
Leading Off
• Northern Colorado struggled in the second weekend of the season dropping both games against BYU and splitting a two-game series with San Jose State. The Bears record stands at 3-6 going into the first home series of the season.
• The Bears are on a power surge to after hitting 11 home runs in the first nine games of the season, which is tied for 15th in the nation.
• Northern Colorado has a team batting average of .250 and scored 42 runs in nine games this season.
• Out of the team's first 20 games of the season, the four this weekend are the only ones at home.
• Including the San Francisco State game last Tuesday, Cole Maltese hitting an impressive .389 for the year, including scoring a team-high five runs for the week and hitting a pair of long balls.
• The Bears outhit its opponents last week .290-.239.
• This is the second time in three years that Northern Colorado hosts North Dakota State for its home opener. The other time came in the 2015 season when UNC went 1-3 against NDSU.
• Saturday's doubleheader will feature a seven inning game in the first one, and then a nine inning game in the second.
Scouting North Dakota State
North Dakota State enters the weekend against UNC with a record of 5-3. The Bison opened the season with a four-game sweep of Mississippi Valley St., but were swept by Abilene Christian in three games to follow it up. Mason Pierzchalsk leads the Bison in hitting with a .370 average. He also has 1 home run with 5 RBIs. North Dakota State has a team batting average of .256, producing 43 runs in eight games. Logan Busch and Ben Petersen are tied for the team lead with 2 home runs. Petersen leads the team with 7 RBIs and Busch is second with 6. The Bison have a team ERA of 3.84 with 60 strikeouts in 68 innings pitched. NDSU starting pitcher Zach Mayo has a 1.00 ERA in two starts with a 1-0 record and 10 strikeouts. Chris Choles has pitched well out of the bullpen for the Bison with a 0.96 ERA in 9.1 innings and 6 strikeouts. The NDSU defense has struggled with 11 errors in eight games.
History Against North Dakota State
UNC is 11-11 all-time against NDSU. The Bison won the most recent series against UNC with a 3-1 series victory in March of 2015.
14 K Gold Performance
Aaron Hamilton turned in a performance for the ages last Friday night against San Jose State. He pitched a complete game two-hit shutout striking out 14, and allowing no walks. The 14 strikeouts tied a school-record, with Donnie Alexander.
Bears Dig The Long Ball
UNC can hit the long ball. The team has 11 home runs this season including three of multi-home run games. The team ranks 15th in the NCAA in home runs hit.
Cole Maltese and Evan Johnson lead the team with three home runs each. One of Jonshon's three home runs was a grand slam against San Francisco State. It was the first grand slam for Northern Colorado since Nick Miller against New York Institute of Technology in May of 2013.
Two other Bears have hit their first career home runs this season, in Jack Pauley and Tyler Yamaguchi.
Maltese, Brett Minnick and Payton Tapia each hit dingers against BYU last Friday in the 10-9 loss.
Along Came Pauley
Redshirt sophomore Jack Pauley recorded multi-hit games in three of the four over the weekend. Pauley's .371 batting average is good for second on the team. For the season he has 13 hits including four multi-hit games.
Close Calls
Over the first two weeks of play for Northern Colorado, they have played in four one-run games, with a 1-3 record in them. Of those four games, two have gone to extras where UNC is 1-1 in them.
New Faces
Fans are going to need to keep a roster page handy for the first few weeks of the season as UNC welcomes 19 newcomers this year. The group of 19 is a mixture of true freshmen and junior college transfers.
Three of the fresh faces for the Bears are receiving some attention nationally. They are RHP Aaron Hamilton, OF Jack Pauly and RHP Troy Watson. DIBaseball.com rated both Hamilton and Pauly as some of the top draft prospects for the 2017 and 2018 draft, respectively from the WAC. Watson was ranked the No. 3 impact freshman for this season.
UNC also welcomes Nate Rasmussen as a volunteer assistant to staff. Rasmussen will serve as outfield coach, first base coach, and camp director as well as assisting hitters.
During the first weekend of play, Northern Colorado saw 12 different newcomers make their debut for the team. In that group included starters Jack Pauley, Evan Johnson, Alex Kiel and pitchers Sam Leach, Aaron Hamilton and Troy Watson.
Lean Dean Hitting Machine Continues
Dean Lawson had a strong 2016 campaign, has brought that same effort into the 2017 season. Last year, he hit a team leading .357 batting average. His average was good for fifth in the conference and 126th in the nation. Lawson also batted in 16 runs during the season.
Lawson started the first week of the season strong, but was slowed a little last week. For the season he is hitting .286 overall, but has a .405 on-base percentage.
Say W(h)atson?
Freshman Troy Watson earned his first career start Tuesday when UNC took on San Francisco State. The righty from Texas didn't disappoint either. He went five and a third innings without allowing a hit to the Gators. His final line was six innings, two hits, two runs, both earned and three strike outs and walks. He ended up getting the win.
Interesting Ending
Northern Colorado's final game against San Francisco had a very interesting ending. First, the conclusion of the game was pushed to two days after it began due to darkness and weather. Then in the bottom of the 10th San Francisco's final two outs came when they were caught trying to steal second base.
Tanner on a Terror
Nick Tanner was the best Bear last season, earning second team All-WAC. He finished the 2016 season with a slash line of .327/.401/.388 and added one home run along with 15 RBIs. Tanner was also one of UNC's key pitchers, finishing with a 4-1 record. His team leading 2.89 ERA was good for third in the conference and 158th in the nation. Tanner pitched in a team-high 53 innings with 33 strikeouts and 13 walks during the season.
Exceeding Expectations
In the preseason WAC coaches poll, Northern Colorado has been picked to finish eighth in the conference for the second consecutive year. The Bears will need to surprise the teams in the conference in order to book a trip to Mesa, Arizona at the end of May.
UNC has been able to exceed expectations the past two seasons. Last year the team was picked to finish eighth and ended up fifth in the conference. While in 2014 Northern Colorado was picked last, but finished seventh in the WAC.
Following the Bears
Want to stay up to date with all things UNC Bears Baseball? There are a few ways to. During all games this year there will be live updates on the team's Twitter account @NCBearsBaseball.
For home games there will also be a live audio broadcast of the games as well as live stats on UNCBears.com.
Making the Grades
There were seven UNC players who earned spots on the 2016 Academic Honors list. Those earning honors are Jake Garcia, Cam Huber, Brett Minnick, Cole Maltese, Dan Reese, Payton Tapia, Corey Nakakura.
Wild Wild West
The Bears roster is comprised of almost every state in the western part of the US. Eleven different states are represented on the roster, as far east as Nebraska and as west as Hawaii.
Home Grown
Head coach Carl Iwasaki and his staff have done a good job of keeping the home grown talent in the state. 12 of UNC's 35 hail from the Centennial State.
Hawaiian Connection
The Bears have four players who hail from Hawaii plus head coach Carl Iwasaki and assistant Kaiona Correa all coming to Colorado from the islands.
Class of 2018
Help arrives for Northern Colorado with eight new players joining their roster for the 2018 season. The Bears add three infielders, a catchers, two utility players and a pair of right handed pitchers.
On Deck
It will be a busy week for UNC as they head to the Cornhusker state for five games. The trip starts with a pair of mid-week games at Nebraska. They will then go an hour up the road to Omaha to face Nebraska Omaha for three games over March 10-12.
In the Hole
After the trip to Nebraska, Northern Colorado will make a pit stop to Wichita State on the way back home from Nebraska to play the Shockers for a pair of game on March 14 and 15.
Players Mentioned
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