THIS WEEK
The North Dakota State (12-22, 9-6 Summit) baseball team continues its seven-game homestand hosting Mayville State (11-36, 6-17 NSAA) on Tuesday night at 6:30 p.m. The Bison will conclude the week with a three-game series with Omaha (12-23, 10-8 Summit) beginning on Friday at 6:30 p.m., at Newman Outdoor Field.
 
COVERAGE
All four games will feature live statistics and broadcast on Bison 1660. The Tuesday night game against Mayville State will be available on both WDAY Xtra and the Summit League Network, while all three games against Omaha will broadcast on the Summit League Network for subscribers.
 
THE SERIES VS. MAYVILLE STATE
This will be the eighth overall meeting between NDSU and Mayville State dating back to 2010 with the Bison leading the series, 6-1. In their most recent meeting in 2022, NDSU topped Mayville State, 10-0, in its home opener in seven innings.
 
THE SERIES VS. OMAHA
This will be the 107th all-time meeting between NDSU and Omaha dating back to 1978 with the Bison leading the series, 57-49. Earlier this season, the Bison topped the Mavericks, 8-5, on the road to win the series. Cadyn Schwabe paced the Bison with three hits and one run. NDSU is 6-4 against Omaha in the last 10 meetings.
 
LAST TIME OUT
NDSU came from behind in the series finale against Oral Roberts plating three runs in the ninth inning to secure a 5-4 walk-off win after Garret Hill sent a hit into center field to seal the series victory. The Bison notched 11 hits as a team with Cadyn Schwabe, James Dunlap and Davis Hamilton each contributing two.
 
PARK THE BUS IN FARGO
The Bison are in the middle of a season-long seven-game homestand after playing 28 of their first 31 games away from home. The stretch began with a three-game series with Oral Roberts and will conclude with another three-game set against Omaha.
 
GARRET HILL WALK-OFF MAGIC
Garret Hill came up with two clutch moments to help lift NDSU past Oral Roberts. In game two of the series, he blasted a two-out solo home run to right field to seal the 9-8 walk-off win over the Golden Eagles. Hill then followed it up in the finale capping off a three-run ninth inning rally with a single to deep center to score Kyle Law and secure the 5-4 walk-off victory.
 
KNIGHT MODE ACTIVATED
Logan Knight was named the Summit League Peak Pitcher of the Week for the first time in his career last week. He helped lift the Bison to a 3-2 win at Northern Colorado after tossing a career-high 10 strikeouts over 7.0 innings with one walk, one run and six hits. Knight worked five scoreless frames before the Bears scored in the sixth inning. He notched a 1.29 ERA and held Northern Colorado to a .231 batting average.
 
SCHAFFNER IS SETTLING IN
Jake Schaffner hasn't wasted any time settling into the lineup in his freshman season and has appeared in 31 games with 30 starts. The Janesville, Wis., native has notched a team-best .377 batting average, which ranks third in the Summit League. Schaffner has also connected on a team-high 46 hits this season, which is tied for fifth in the Summit League and leads all freshmen. He currently leads the Bison in batting average (.377), slugging percentage (.492), on-base percentage (.438), runs (23), hits (46) and total bases (60).
 
Additionally, Schaffner has tallied a team-high 15 multi-hit games and is currently on a 24-game reached base streak. It's the longest reached base streak for NDSU since Jack Steil assembled a 27-game streak last season.
 
DANIELSON CLOSES IT OUT
Joey Danielson has already recorded a team-high seven saves this season, which leads the Summit League and ranks 11th in the nation. His seven saves are tied for the sixth-most in a single-season in NDSU history. Parker Harm (2021) and Neal Wagner (2004) share the top spot with 12 saves. Prior to this season, Danielson earned only one career save and he's now totaled eight over four seasons.
 
THE STOLEN BASES KING
Cadyn Schwabe stole one base against Oral Roberts to move into first place on the NDSU all-time career stolen bases list last week. He passed Tim Colwell for the spot after he totaled 52 stolen bases from 2011-14. Schwabe flew up the list stealing a team-high 18 in his first season in 2022 and followed it up with a team-best 27 last season, which ranked second on the all-time NDSU single-season list.
 
SCHWABE SPEED
Cadyn Schwabe has tied a career-high four triples this season, which ranks second in the Summit League and 18th in the nation. Schwabe currently ranks tied for fourth on the NDSU all-time triples list with 10 over three seasons.
 
JOHNSON LEADING THE WAY
Nolan Johnson has put together a team-best 2.73 ERA and a 2-0 mark on the mound this season. He has already tossed a career-high 28 strikeouts over his six appearances and has limited opponents to a .189 batting average.
 
JOHNSON GETS WIN
Left-hander Nolan Johnson worked a career-long seven innings for the win in the series opener at Southeastern Louisiana. Johnson needed only 88 pitches and held the Lions to three runs on four hits with one walk and fanned eight, one strikeout shy of his career high. Skyler Riedinger pitched a scoreless eighth and Joey Danielson tossed a 1-2-3 ninth for his first save of the year.
 
HOW'S THAT FOR A FIRST CAREER START?
Nolan Johnson made his first career start in the series opener at Pacific. He fired a career-high nine strikeouts over 5.0 frames with three hits, one run and no walks. He followed up his first career start tossing five strikeouts over 5.0 innings at Oregon State.
 
THE BULLPEN AT A GLANCE
Reese Ligtenberg has made a team-high 20 relief appearances this season, which leads the Summit league and ranks 33rd in the nation. Joey Danielson and Skyler Riedinger have both also made 19 appearances. Danielson leads the Bison with a team-high seven saves.
 
NEW GUYS SHOWING UP
Among players appearing in at least 25 games this season, the Bison have two hitting above .290 and both are newcomers to the roster. Jake Schaffner has played in 31 games and has a team-best .377 batting average with a team-high 46 hits. Colten Becker has played in 25 games and has registered a .299 batting average with 29 hits, six doubles, two triples and two home runs.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
SUMMIT LEAGUE SUCCESS
Under third-year head coach Tyler Oakes, the Bison have played a challenging non-conference schedule in preparation of Summit League play.
 
Over the last two seasons, the Bison are a combined 42-18 in conference play with 25 of those victories coming on the road. NDSU has reached the 15-win mark in each of the last three seasons and seven total times in Summit League play since joining the league in 2008.
 
In Oakes' first season as head coach in 2022, the Bison secured their first Summit League regular season title in program history.
 
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.
 
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, including 6,522 at Texas on March 15, 2023, which is the third-highest road attendance in program history. That trend has continued this season as NDSU played in front of 9,833 fans at LSU on March 13, the second-highest road attendance in program history. The Bison also played in front of 9,909 fans at LSU on March 12, the highest road attendance in program history.
 
#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
NDSU will be back in action at Iowa on Wednesday, May 1. First pitch is set for 6:00 p.m.