Northern Colorado baseball beats North Dakota State, qualifies for Summit League Tournament

The Northern Colorado baseball team qualified for the Summit League Tournament following a 5-2 win Friday over North Dakota State in Fargo, North Dakota.

The Bears started the day Friday with a one-half game lead on South Dakota State for the tournament’s fourth and final spot.

The University of Nebraska Omaha beat South Dakota State 10-2 earlier in the day Friday, which was Omaha’s second win in two days against the Jackrabbits. UNC started the weekend with a magic number of three games to clinch a playoff spot. After South Dakota State’s two losses Thursday and Friday, the Bears had to win either Friday night or Saturday’s season finale to eliminate the Jackrabbits.

The four-team, double-elimination Summit League Tournament is May 22-25 at J.L. Johnson Stadium in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The league champion earns an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Northern Colorado is 12-16-1 in the league and 13-36-1 overall heading into the final game of the regular season against North Dakota State. UNC didn’t win a game in 21 non-conference games to start the season. The Bears’ first win of the year came March 22 at home against Omaha.

UNC starting pitcher Murphy Gienger matched a season high with seven innings pitched and six strikeouts, allowing two runs on four hits with one walk.

Caden Wagner had two hits with a double and two RBI, Kai Wagner, Caden’s brother, added two hits and an RBI and Jackson Romero also had two hits.

Omaha (16-12-1 in the league) heads into the final day of the regular season with the No. 1 seed for the league tournament.

League-leading St. Thomas (14-10) cannot compete in the league tournament as part of its transition to Division I.

Omaha and North Dakota State clinched spots in the league tournament and can still win the regular-season title after Friday’s games.

The league standings will be based on winning percentage because not all teams played the same number of games.