THIS WEEK
The North Dakota State (13-24-1, 9-8-1 Summit) baseball team travels to Iowa (24-17, 10-8 Big Ten) for its final midweek game of the season on Wednesday night at 4:00 p.m. The Bison then return home to begin a three-game series against St. Thomas (17-19, 11-6 Summit) on Friday. First pitch is set for 6:00 p.m., at Newman Outdoor Field.
 
COVERAGE
All four games will feature live statistics. The Wednesday night contest at Iowa will broadcast on B1G+, while all three games against St. Thomas will be available on the Summit League Network for subscribers.
 
PARKING INFORMATION
Parking for all NDSU baseball games is allowed in FA and R lots. No parking is allowed in HR. Cars parked in the HR lot will be ticketed without the proper permit.
 
THE SERIES VS. IOWA
This will be the 10th overall meeting between NDSU and Iowa dating back to 1995 with the Hawkeyes leading the series, 8-1. In their most recent meeting in 2007, Iowa topped NDSU, 9-7, in Iowa City. Iowa is also third different Big Ten opponent NDSU will face this season for a midweek matchup after playing at Nebraska on March 20 and Minnesota on April 9.
 
THE SERIES VS. ST. THOMAS
This will be the 18th all-time meeting between NDSU and St. Thomas dating back to 1910 with the Tommies leading the series, 9-8. NDSU is 4-2 against St. Thomas dating back to the 2022 season and fell short in the most recent meeting last season, 2-1. The two teams were scheduled to play earlier this season on March 28-30 before the series was canceled in St. Paul due to weather.
 
LAST TIME OUT
After dropping a doubleheader to begin the series, NDSU and Omaha battled through four scoreless innings and heavy rain before ending in a 2-2 after eight innings on Sunday. Landon Koenig made the start with four strikeouts, while Joey Danielson finished the final three frames with one strikeout.
 
PARK THE BUS IN FARGO
After playing their first 28 games away from home, the Bison are finishing out regular season play with 13 of the their final 17 games at Newman Outdoor Field. NDSU will only leave Fargo for a midweek game at Iowa on May 1 and a three-game series at South Dakota State on May 10-12.
 
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 on April 15. 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 SWAG
Jake Schaffner hasn't wasted any time settling into the lineup in his freshman season and has appeared in 35 games with 34 starts. The Janesville, Wis., native has notched a team-best .356 batting average, which ranks second in the Summit League. Schaffner has also connected on a team-high 48 hits this season, which ranks 11th in the Summit League. He currently leads the Bison in batting average (.356), on-base percentage (.436), runs (28), hits (48) and total bases (62).
 
Additionally, Schaffner has tallied a team-high 15 multi-hit games and assembled a 27-game reached base streak earlier this season.
 
DANIELSON CLOSES IT OUT
Joey Danielson has already recorded a team-high seven saves this season, which leads the Summit League and ranks 19th 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 on April 20 to move into first place on the NDSU all-time career stolen bases list. 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 has stolen 55 total bases over three seasons at NDSU.
 
SCHWABE SPEED
Cadyn Schwabe has tied a career-high four triples this season, which ranks second in the Summit League and 19th in the nation. Schwabe currently ranks tied for fourth on the NDSU all-time triples list with 10 over three seasons.
 
PUTTING IN THE WORK
Sam Canton is in his first season at NDSU after spending the first two seasons of his career at Gonzaga. He's the only player on the roster to both appear and start all 38 games this season. Canton has totaled a team-high 27 total RBI and posted a team-best nine multiple RBI games.
 
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 23 relief appearances this season, which leads the Summit league and ranks 16th in the nation. Joey Danielson and Skyler Riedinger have both also made 20 appearances. Danielson leads the Bison with a team-high seven saves.
 
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 42-20-1 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. Parker Harm, who signed with the Kansas City Royals organization as an undrafted free agent in 2021, was recently moved up to the Double-A Northwest Arkansas Naturals.
 
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 South Dakota State on Friday, May 10. First pitch is set for 3:00 p.m.