NDSU Baseball Wraps Regular Season Play Against Northern Colorado - NDSU (2024)

Zachary Lucy

Baseball 5/15/2024 1:02:00 PM

THIS WEEK
The North Dakota State (18-26-1, 13-10-1 Summit) baseball team wraps up regular season play beginning a three-game series with Northern Colorado (12-35-1, 11-15-1 Summit) on Thursday. First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m., at Newman Outdoor Field.

COVERAGE
All three games will feature live statistics and be available on the Summit League Network along with Bison 1660. The Thursday night contest will also broadcast on WDAY Xtra 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.

SATURDAY IS SENIOR DAY
NDSU will recognize 10 players in the series finale on Saturday. Will Busch, Joey Danielson, James Dunlap, Jack Steil, Carson Hake, Garret Hill, Zach Kluvers, Hunter Rosenbaum, Cadyn Schwabe and Colbey Klepper will all be honored pregame.

THE SERIES VS. NORTHERN COLORADO
This will be the 56th all-time meeting between NDSU and Northern Colorado dating back to 1962 with the Bison leading the series, 32-23. NDSU is 9-1over the last 10 meetings against Northern Colorado. The Bears took the first game of the series earlier this season, 13-12, in Greeley, Colo., before the Bison bounced back to win the final two games of the series, 3-2, and 11-4.

LAST TIME OUT
NDSU picked up its sixth Summit League series win of the season after taking the first two games at South Dakota State last week. The Bison topped the Jackrabbits, 11-10, in the opener before escaping with a 7-6 win in 11 innings on Saturday. NDSU went on to drop the series finale, 8-5, after SDSU scored five runs in the seventh inning.

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.

CANTON TABBED PEAK PERFORMER OF THE WEEK
Sam Canton helped lead the Bison to a series win at South Dakota State after posting a team-best .455 batting average. The Port Orchard, Wash., native totaled five hits in 11 at-bats, including a team-high three home runs. Canton contributed a team-best eight RBI and added four runs. He also provided the key throw from the outfield for the final out to secure the 7-6 win in 11 innings to win the series on Saturday.

SCHWABE IS ON A HOT STREAK
Cadyn Schwabe enters the week on a team-best and career-high 20-game hitting streak. He has tallied a team-high 19 multiple hit games this season. Schwabe has also tied a career-best 23-game reached base streak after also doing so last season.

SCHAFFNER SWAG
Jake Schaffner hasn't wasted any time settling into the lineup in his freshman season and has appeared in 42 games with 41 starts. The Janesville, Wis., native has notched a .325 batting average, which ranks ninth in Summit League play. Schaffner has also connected on a 53 hits this season, which ranks 12th in the Summit League. He has contributed a team-high 35 runs and 12 stolen bases. Additionally, Schaffner has tallied 16 multi-hit games and assembled a 27-game reached base streak earlier this season.

150 CAREER GAMES
Will Busch enters the week having appeared in 149 career games over four seasons at NDSU. He is set to appear in his 150th game on Thursday against Northern Colorado. Busch has started 134 career games, including 132 as a catcher.

DANIELSON CLOSES IT OUT
Joey Danielson has recorded a team-high 11 saves this season, which leads the Summit League and ranks third in the nation. His 11 saves are slotted as the third-most in a single-season in NDSU history. Parker Harm (2021) and Neal Wagner (2004) share the top spot with 12 saves each. Prior to this season, Danielson earned only one career save and he's now totaled 12 over four seasons, which ranks tied for sixth all-time in Bison history.

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 57 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 29th in the nation. Schwabe is currently positioned 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 45 games this season. Canton has totaled a team-high 37 total RBI and posted a team-best 11 multiple RBI games.

CHECKING IN FROM THE BULLPEN
Reese Ligtenberg has made a team-high 27 relief appearances this season, which leads the Summit league and ranks 18th in the nation. That mark is also slotted second on the all-time NDSU single-season list. Joey Danielson and Skyler Riedinger have both also made 25 appearances. As a team, NDSU has combined for 13 total saves, which ranks tied for fourth all-time in a single-season in Bison history.

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 7-6 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.

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 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 with 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.

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 travel to Tulsa, Okla., for the Summit League Championship on May 22-26.