THIS WEEK
The North Dakota State (5-22, 2-7 Summit) baseball team is set to open its home schedule hosting Omaha (12-17, 7-5 Summit) for a doubleheader on Sunday beginning at 12:00 p.m., at Newman Outdoor Field.
 
SCHEDULE UPDATE
Due to anticipated weather on Friday and Saturday, the series against Omaha shifted to a doubleheader on Sunday beginning at 12:00 p.m., with game two to follow approximately 30 minutes after the conclusion of game one. The third game of the series will be canceled.
 
COVERAGE
Both games will feature live statistics and be available on Summit League Network for subscribers. Fans can listen to the doubleheader on Bison 1660 with free streaming available on GoBison.com/allaccess and the NDSU Athletics mobile app. Live statistics, video and audio links are available on GoBison.com/coverage.
 
LAST TIME OUT
Colten Becker posted a season-best three hits with two RBI and one run as NDSU came up short in the series finale at Northern Colorado, 10-5. Ethan Swaby provided a season-best 2.0 innings of relief with three strikeouts, while Hudson Hart and Braden Gluth each added one strikeout apiece.
 
THE SERIES VS. OMAHA
This will be the 119th all-time meeting between NDSU and Omaha dating back to 1978 with the Bison leading the series, 61-56-1. Earlier this season, Omaha swept the series against NDSU to open Summit League play, including a 2-0 win the series finale.
 
LIFE ON THE ROAD
The Bison were originally scheduled to play their first 24 games away from home, but weather forced schedule changes after each of the first two home series were adjusted. NDSU will now play 28 straight on the road before beginning the home schedule against Omaha. In 2022, the Bison played 37 straight on the road to start the season.
 
ONLY A STARTING POINT
The Bison started the season with an 0-6 mark before picking up their first win of the season over Monmouth, 5-1, at the Stetson Tournament. NDSU, who lost its first two games of the season in extra innings, enters the week with a 5-22 overall record. Last season, the Bison started the season 1-15 before going on to win the Summit League Tournament and upending Kansas in the NCAA Tournament.
 
POWER FOUR WINS
The Bison have faced opponents from three of the four power conferences this season. NDSU has taken on taken on teams from the ACC (Virginia), SEC (Missouri, Vanderbilt) and Big Ten (Nebraska, Minnesota) across nine games, including a 5-2 win at Vanderbilt and a 7-4 extra-inning win at Minnesota.
 
HOMERUN BALL
After only hitting eight home runs over the first 19 games, the Bison have erupted for 15 homers over the last eight games and have hit least one in each game over that stretch. Colten Becker and Evan Gustafson pace the Bison with five each over that span. In Summit League play, Becker leads the conference with four home runs, while Gustafson is tied for second with three.
 
BISON STREAKS AND MULTI-HIT GAMES
- Caleb Corbin has totaled a team-high seven multiple hit games.
- Colten Becker has posted a team-best four multi RBI games.
- Colten Becker assembled a team-high 10-game hit streak earlier this season, which was the longest of any player on the roster.
- Evan Gustafson enters the week on team-best five-game hit streak.
- Caleb Corbin and Colten Becker begin the week on a team-best eight-game reached base streak.
 
YEAR FIVE UNDER OAKES
Head coach Tyler Oakes enters his fifth season as the head coach and 13th season overall at NDSU. He recently surpassed the 100 career wins mark in the 4-3 win at Northern Colorado with a 100-135-1 overall record. Oakes joins Mitch McLeod (347 wins), Tod Brown (341 wins) and Jim Pattersen (131 wins) as the only coaches in Bison history to reach the mark. Oakes led the Bison to their first-ever Summit League regular season title in his first season in 2022 and their third Summit League Tournament championship last season.
 
SZABO NAMED PEAK PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Zak Szabo was tabbed the Summit League Peak Pitcher of the Week for the first time in his career on March 10 after posting a team-high seven strikeouts over two relief appearances. He notched a 0.00 ERA and limited opponents to a .227 batting average across two appearances. Szabo contributed 4.1 scoreless frames with five strikeouts and no walks in the 5-2 win over Vanderbilt in the series finale.
 
PUETZ GRABS PEAK PITCHER OF THE WEEK HONORS
Parker Puetz was named the Summit League Peak Pitcher of the Week for the first time in his career on Feb. 17. He logged 5.0 scoreless frames in the season-opener at Florida Gulf Coast. Puetz tossed a career-best eight strikeouts with one hit and two walks and held the Eagles to a .067 batting average.
 
THE CHALLENGING SCHEDULE AHEAD
The Bison are set to play 51 games and will take on 11 different opponents across 21 total non-conference games. The non-conference portion of the schedule features four opponents that qualified for the NCAA Tournament last season, including Stetson, Vanderbilt, Nebraska and Creighton.
 
BISON RETURN TO THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
The Bison returned to the NCAA Tournament for the third time in the NDSU Division I era last season and first time since 2021. It marked their second straight appearance winning at least one game after upending then-ranked No. 23 Kansas, 4-3, in an elimination game in the Fayetteville regional. NDSU clinched its spot in the NCAA Tournament after winning the Summit League Tournament for the third time in program history.
 
SUMMIT LEAGUE PLAYERS TO WATCH
Dante Smith and Parker Puetz were named to the Summit League Players and Pitchers to Watch List. Smith is the only returning All-Summit League player on the roster from last season after posting a .375 batting average with 17 runs and 11 RBI in league play. Puetz made five starts on the mound last season after working himself back from injury for a majority of the season. He earned a spot on the 2023 D1Baseball Freshman All-America Second Team and 2023 All-Summit League Second Team.
 
WHO'S BACK?
NDSU returns four players that started in at least 50 percent of the games last season, including Dante Smith, Colten Becker, Noah Gordon and Tommy Simon. Matt Sargeant and Garrett Shupe are the only two pitchers on the roster to have appeared in at least 10.0 innings last season. The roster also features nine seniors: Caleb Corbin, Diego Trujillo, Colten Becker, Bennett Freiter, Tyman Long, Jonah Walker, Brayden Marks, Hudson Hart and Braden Gluth.
 
WELCOME TO THE SQUAD
The Bison welcome 23 newcomers this season, including six true freshman: Landon Sandy, Sheamus Ryan, Easton Reimers, Austin Boylan, Kaden Connor and Sam Anderson.
 
JUCO ROOTS
The Bison have added roster depth through junior colleges with the roster featuring seven players having played at the junior college level prior to NDSU, including six newcomers: Lathan Van Ausdall, Chase Womack, AJ Doll, Chris Billings, Connor McCaleb and Jack Surdey.
 
BISON PLAY IN BIG TIME VENUES
Under fifth-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. Over the last four seasons, the Bison have played in front of five of the largest road crowds in program history since 1977. Last season, the Bison played in front of 10,446 fans at LSU on March 5, 2025, the highest road attendance in program history.
 
30TH SEASON AT NEWMAN OUTDOOR FIELD
This season will mark the 30th season of Bison baseball at Newman Outdoor Field dating back to 1997. NDSU has amassed a 264-153-1 overall record over that span at home.
 
BISON TAKE ON REDHAWKS IN EXHIBITION PLAY
For the second straight season, NDSU will take on the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks in exhibition play at Newman Outdoor Field on May 6 at 6:00 p.m. The RedHawks edged the Bison last season in front of 1,908 fans. The RedHawks are members of the American Association and also play home games at Newman Outdoor Field.
 
#PROBISON
NDSU has had nine incoming or current players selected in the MLB Draft since 2013. Joey Danielson became the 14th NDSU player selected in the MLB Draft dating back to 1968 after the Texas Rangers picked him in the 17th round in 2024. It marked the second straight season NDSU had a current pitcher selected in the draft after Cade Feeney was picked by the Boston Red Sox in the 13th round in 2023. Bennett Hostetler was also selected in the 18th round of the 2021 MLB Draft by the Miami Marlins. He was recently activated to the roster for the Triple-A Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp on April 9.
 
BELZER JOINS COACHING STAFF
Nick Belzer joined the NDSU coaching staff this offseason as an assistant coach. He started his college career at DMACC before playing two seasons at Minnesota State from 2017-18. Belzer also spent time within the Milwaukee Brewers organization until 2022 and was a pitching coach with the Willmar Stingers in the Northwoods League last summer.
 
UP NEXT
The Bison will be back in action at Minnesota on Tuesday, April 21. First pitch is set for 6:05 p.m.