Bashin' Joel Named NSIC First Team All-Conference
Fisbeck and Kieffer Named Honorable-Mention
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May 13th, 2005
St. Paul, Minn. – Northern State baseball had three of its players honored by the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC). Joel Backous (Sr., IF, Aberdeen, S.D.) was named NSIC First Team All-Conference, while Wes Fisbeck (Sr., 1B, Loveland, Colo.) and Benji Kieffer (Sr., OF, Morris, Minn.) were named to the honorable mention team.
Joel Backous took to the long ball as he hit 10 homeruns in 2005, which doubled his career mark (15 career). His seven homers in NSIC games ranked him third in the league in homers. On the season Backous hit .360 (45-125), led the team in runs with 37 and was second in walks with 16. Backous, over his three years at Northern State, walked more than any other batter; 46 times. He also had the most sacrifice hits (9) and sac flies (9) at Northern dating back through the 1999 season.
Wes Fisbeck led the Wolves in batting with a .377 average (55-146). His 55 hits and 12 doubles led the team, while his 38 RBIs were second on the team. Fisbeck holds nine records at Northern State over his four years, including: games played (177), games started (175), at bats (579), runs scored (121), hits (218), doubles (52), RBIs (163), total bases (361) and put outs (1063). He also finished second at NSU in home runs (29 – one shy of Deacon Burn’s 30) and hit by pitch (19).
Benji Kieffer hit .370 (51-138) as he accumulated the most walks (18) and second most hits (51) for the Wolves. He had the most stolen bases and highest stolen base percentage at Northern dating back through 1999. Kieffer successfully stole 23 bases in 27 attempts (.852). His 13 stolen bases in NSIC games lead the league. Kieffer has the most stolen bases and attempts at Northern State dating back through 1999, as he finished his two-year career reaching on 36 of 41 stolen base attempts.
Northern State baseball continues to improve as they finished the 2004 season with a 19-24 overall record and an 8-14 mark in the NSIC. Although they went 10-16 in the NSIC a year ago, the Wolves finished a spot higher in the league as they tied with Bemidji State for fifth place in the league. The two teams split head to head competition, but the Wolves overall record had nine more wins than the Beavers.
The Wolves 19 wins marks their highest win total dating back through the 1999 season. Their 24 losses is the lowest as well dating back through 1999. Coach Curt Fredrickson has shown steady improvement as he finishes his third season as skipper. In 2003 the Wolves went 14-35 overall, but 3-18 in the NSIC, then last year they had a 17-26 overall mark and a 10-16 mark in the NSIC.
In the 2005 season the Wolves had their opportunities to finish even higher, and possiblely make the conference tournament (top four teams), but just could come through against some of the top teams. Of the Wolves 14 conference losses, eight of them were by two runs or less, including a pair of losses to SW Minnesota State by the score of 2-1.
The Wolves will lose eleven seniors to graduation this season. They are: Mike Murdy (Aberdeen, SD), Joel Backous (Aberdeen, SD), Benji Kieffer (Morris, MN), Charlie Woida (Eagle Bend, MN), Ben Cupp (Rapid City, SD), Joe Dinger (Aberdeen, SD), Matt Paulson (Milbank, SD), Rhett Gunderson (Richfield, MN), Jeff Demarco (London, Ontario), Wes Fisbeck (Loveland, CO), Jared Olson (Medicine Hat, Canada).
The Wolves had some of their best individual season performances in years. Some of the top performer’s not making the all-conference team are: Adam Kampsen (Fr., 3B, Paynesville, Minn.) had a standout rookie season with the Wolves. He knocked out 13 home runs (third most since 1999 behind Deacon Burns 14 in 2003 and 16 in 2004). Six of those long balls came in NSIC games, which was good enough for fourth in the league. Kampsen also drove in 45 runs (third most in a season since 1999). Matt Paulson (Sr., P, Milbank. S.D.) recorded the lowest ERA of any pitcher back through 1999 as he finished the season with a 4.15 ERA. He also allowed the fewest walks per nine innings (1.51) and his strikeouts per nine innings was 7.36. Joe Dinger (Sr., P, Aberdeen, S.D.) also tied his season record for wins as he finished with a 5-1 record. On the mound no one has won more games the last seven years than Joe Dinger. Dinger earned eight records as a pitcher over the past four years at NSU including: wins (16 – nine more than anyone else), saves (3), appearances (55), starts (33), games finished (19), innings pitched (213.1), strike outs (118), and batters faced (1133). Dinger was used out of the bullpen in 2005 as he went 5-1 with a 7.03 ERA in 16 appearances. Matt Paulson finished his two-year career with the second lowest ERA. Paulson had a 5.78 ERA after pitching 104.1 innings.
Northern State University (located in Aberdeen, S.D.) is an NCAA division II institution and a member of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC).
| Final NSIC Standings | NSIC | Overall | ||||||||||||
W |
L |
Win % |
GP |
RF |
RA |
W |
L |
Win % |
GP |
RF |
RA |
|||
| 1 | Wayne State (NE) | 19 |
3 |
0.864 |
22 |
230 |
122 |
41 |
11 |
0.788 |
52 |
449 |
241 |
|
| 2 | Concordia St. Paul | 17 |
5 |
0.773 |
22 |
172 |
99 |
29 |
10 |
0.744 |
39 |
312 |
177 |
|
| 3 | Southwest Minnesota State | 12 |
10 |
0.545 |
22 |
148 |
111 |
23 |
20 |
0.535 |
43 |
278 |
262 |
|
| 4 | Winona State | 12 |
12 |
0.5 |
24 |
203 |
179 |
26 |
24 |
0.52 |
50 |
398 |
355 |
|
| 5 | Northern State | 8 |
14 |
0.364 |
22 |
122 |
148 |
19 |
24 |
0.442 |
43 |
258 |
320 |
|
| Bemidji State | 8 |
14 |
0.364 |
22 |
122 |
165 |
10 |
39 |
0.204 |
49 |
222 |
453 |
||
| 7 | Minnesota Crookston | 2 |
20 |
0.091 |
22 |
62 |
235 |
2 |
36 |
0.053 |
38 |
99 |
432 |
 |
 |
Northern State University (located in Aberdeen, SD) is an NCAA Division II institution and a member of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC).
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