NDSU Baseball Set for Creighton and South Dakota State - NDSU (2024)

Ben Cohen

Baseball 4/2/2024 1:09:00 PM

THIS WEEK
The North Dakota State (7-16, 4-2 Summit) baseball team travels to Creighton (20-4) on Wednesday night at 6:00 p.m. The Bison will then make their home debut hosting South Dakota State (11-15, 4-4 Summit) for a three-game series beginning on Friday at 6:00 p.m.

COVERAGE
All four games will feature live statistics. The game at Creighton will broadcast on FloBaseball for subscribers. All three games against South Dakota State will be available on the Summit League Network and Bison 1660 along with the Friday matchup also broadcasting on the WDAY Xtra.

PROMOTIONS FOR THE SDSU SERIES
Friday, April 5: Home opener/schedule poster giveaway
Saturday, April 6: Mini bat mayhem/mini bat giveaway
Sunday, April 7: Drink responsibly day/koozie giveaway

THE SERIES VS. CREIGHTON
This will be the first meeting between NDSU and Creighton since 2011 with the Bluejays leading the all-time series, 18-0. In the most recent meeting in 2011, NDSU fell short against Creighton, 3-2, in Omaha. Creighton also enters the week receiving votes in the USA Today Coaches Poll.

THE SERIES VS. SOUTH DAKOTA STATE
This will be the 211th all-time meeting between NDSU and SDSU dating back to 1956 with the Jackrabbits holding the edge in the series, 128-82. NDSU is 2-2 against SDSU in the last four meetings and most recently dropped an 8-2 decision against the Jackrabbits in the Summit League Tournament last season in Fargo.

LAST TIME OUT
NDSU grinded out an 8-6 win at Oral Roberts to secure their second Summit League series of the season. Sam Canton led the way for the Bison going 2-of-5 at the plate with two runs and a season-high four RBI. Jake Schaffner also went 3-of-5 at the plate with two runs and one RBI.

THE BISON ARE FINALLY HOME
The Bison will have played 24 straight road games before making their home debut against South Dakota State on Friday night. It will mark the earliest home opener for the Bison since 2017 when NDSU hosted Minot State on April 5, 2017 at Newman Outdoor Field. The Bison rallied from a three-run deficit to top the Beavers, 7-4.

SCHAFFNER IS SETTLING IN
Jake Schaffner has appeared in 20 games with 19 starts in his freshman season. He currently leads the Summit League with a .392 batting average and has recorded 29 hits with five doubles and two triples. Schaffner has tallied a team-high nine multi-hit games this season, including three hits in each of his last two games.

DANIELSON CLOSES IT OUT
Joey Danielson has already recorded a team-high five saves this season, which leads the Summit League and ranks 13th in the nation. Prior to this season, Danielson earned only one career save and he's now totaled six over four 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 13 relief appearances this season, while Skyler Riedinger and Joey Danielson have also appeared in 12 games. Danielson leads the Bison with a team-high five saves.

NEW GUYS SHOWING UP
Among players that have played in at least 13 games this season, the Bison have two hitting above .290 and both are newcomers to the roster. Colten Becker has played in 14 games this season and has registered a .294 batting average with 15 hits, including four doubles, two triples and one home run. Jake Schaffner has appeared in 19 games and has notched a team-best .392 batting average with 29 hits, including five doubles.

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 tied for second on the NDSU all-time list with 48 career stolen bases.

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.

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 37-14 in conference play with 23 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.

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.

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.

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
The Bison will be back in action at Minnesota on Tuesday, April 9. First pitch is set for 6:00 p.m.