THIS WEEK
The North Dakota State baseball team is set to begin the 2024 baseball season with a three-game series against UC Irvine beginning on Friday night at 8:00 p.m. CT. The Bison will then play a single game on Saturday at 3:00 p.m. CT before wrapping up the series on Sunday at 3:00 p.m. CT.
 
COVERAGE
GoBison.com: Live statistics and video links are available on GoBison.com. All three games will also be available on ESPN+ for subscribers.
 
IN SEASON OPENERS
For the second straight season, NDSU will begin the season in the state of California. Last season, NDSU played a four-game series against Sacramento State to start the season and dropped the season opener to the Hornets, 5-3.
 
THE SERIES VS. UC IRVINE
This will be only the second all-time meeting between NDSU and UC Irvine. In the only meeting in 2021 at the NCAA Regional in Stanford, Calif., the then-ranked No. 17 Anteaters plated nine runs over the first two innings to help secure an 18-3 win over the Bison. The loss ended an historic season for NDSU after setting school records for most victories and games played in a season with a 42-29 overall record. UC Irvine enters the week receiving votes in the USA Today Coaches Poll.
 
THE CHALLENGING SCHEDULE AHEAD
The Bison are set to embark on a 53-game regular season schedule spanning 10 different states and are scheduled to play the first 28 games away from home. The schedule also features three teams ranked in the D1Baseball Preseason Top 25, including LSU, Oregon State and Iowa.
 
SUMMIT LEAGUE PRESEASON POLL
The Bison were picked second in the Summit League Preseason Poll after picking up 21 total points and one first place vote. Oral Roberts earned 25 points and five first place votes to take the top spot and South Dakota State closed out the top three in third place with 16 points.
 
SUMMIT LEAGUE PLAYERS TO WATCH
Will Busch and Parker Puetz were named to the Summit League Preseason Players to Watch list. Busch has appeared in 106 games with 93 starts over three seasons. Last season, Busch posted a .252 batting average with 32 hits, 11 doubles and two home runs.
 
Puetz made 16 appearances with 10 starts on the mound last season. He led the Summit League with a 2.51 ERA in his freshman season and totaled 47 strikeouts over 61.0 innings. The Volga, S.D., native earned a spot on the All-Summit League Second Team and the D1Baseball Freshman All-America Second Team.
 
RETURNING ALL-SUMMIT LEAGUE PLAYERS
NDSU earned nine All-Summit League selections last season, which was the most since joining the conference in 2008. The Bison return four players from that list this season, including James Dunlap, Cadyn Schwabe, Parker Puetz and Skyler Riedinger after all four grabbed a spot on the All-Summit League Second Team.
 
PUETZ LANDS ON D1BASEBALL FRESHMAN ALL-AMERICA SECOND TEAM
Parker Puetz made 16 appearances with 10 starts on the mound and boasted a 3-0 overall record in his freshman season. The Volga, S.D., native paced the Summit League with a 2.51 ERA. He tossed 47 total strikeouts over 61.0 innings and held opposing batters to a .187 average in Summit League play. Puetz was one of 10 starting pitchers to be named to the list and was the only Summit League player selected.
 
SCHWABE SWIPING BAGS AT RECORD PACE
Cadyn Schwabe has flown up the Bison all-time stolen bases list after swiping a team-high 18 in his first season in 2022 and following it up with a team-best 27 last season, which ranked second on the all-time NDSU single-season list. The Thompson, N.D., native currently ranks fifth on the NDSU all-time list with 45 career stolen bases.
 
GOIN' FOR TWO AND MAKING HISTORY
The Bison ranked second in the Summit League with 116 doubles last season, which is the most in a single-season in NDSU history. NDSU notched at least one double in 44 of 52 games last season.
 
THE ROAD WARRIORS
The Bison are set to play 37 of 53 regular season games away from home, including the first 28 straight before making their home debut against South Dakota State on April 5.
 
Last season, NDSU ended up playing its first 38 games on the road after weather forced schedule changes. The Bison went on to play at least one game in seven different states.
 
BISON PLAY IN BIG TIME VENUES
Under third-year head coach Tyler Oakes, the Bison have made a habit of scheduling a challenging non-conference schedule in preparation of Summit League play and have done it in some of the best venues in college baseball. Last season, NDSU played in front of five of the largest road crowds in program history since 1977. The top five is as follows at Texas on March 15, 2023 (6,522), at Texas on March 14, 2023 (6,457), at Nebraska on May 3, 2023 (5,374), at Texas Tech on April 8, 2023 (4,432) and at Nebraska on March 28, 2023 (4,218).
 
#PROBISON
NDSU has had seven incoming or current players selected in the MLB Draft since 2013. Cade Feeney became the 13th NDSU player selected in the MLB Draft dating back to 1968 after the Boston Red Sox selected in him in the 13th round last season. Bennett Hostetler was also selected in the 18th round of the 2021 MLB Draft by the Miami Marlins and most recently earned a spot on the non-roster invitees list for spring training with the Marlins.
 
WHO'S BACK?
NDSU returns 12 letterwinners this season, including seven starters that played in at least 50 percent of the games last season. The roster also features nine seniors: James Dunlap, Will Busch, Garrett Hill, Jack Steil, Cadyn Schwabe, Hunter Rosenbaum, Carson Hake, Joey Danielson and Colbey Klepper.
 
WELCOME TO THE SQUAD
The Bison welcome 19 newcomers this season: Noah Gordon, Blake Timmons, Jake Schaffner, Sam Canton, Luis Garcia, Matt Sargeant, Roman Trapani, Colten Becker, Aiden Schenk, Logan Knight, Julien Hachem, Ben Soke, Ben Berkhof, Seth Thompson, Landon Koenig, Colbey Klepper, Cole Mahlum, Alex Karns and Austin Bergum.
 
UP NEXT
The Bison will continue their California road trip at Long Beach State on Tuesday night. First pitch is set for 8:00 p.m. CT