NDSU Baseball Travels to Creighton and South Dakota State

THIS WEEK
The North Dakota State (13-22, 10-7 Summit) baseball team begins a five-game road swing at Creighton (23-12, 6-3 Big East) on Tuesday night at 6:00 p.m. The Bison then travel to South Dakota State (8-26, 5-11 Summit) for a four-game series beginning on Friday at 3:00 p.m.
 
COVERAGE
The midweek matchup at Creighton will be available on FloBaseball, while all four games at South Dakota State will broadcast on the Summit League Network for subscribers. All five games will also feature live statistics.
 
LAST TIME OUT
NDSU scored all four runs over the final four innings before dropping the series finale against Northern Colorado, 6-4. The Bison posted six hits as a team with Dante Smith contributing two hits, two runs and one RBI. Garrett Shupe made the start on the mound and threw one strikeout over 3.1 innings. Hayden Sylte also logged a season-high 3.2 innings of relief with three strikeouts and no walks.
 
THE SERIES VS. CREIGHTON
This will be the 28th all-time meeting between NDSU and Creighton dating back to 1956 with the Bluejays leading the series, 23-4. This will be the second midweek matchup between the two teams this season after the Bison grinded out a 3-2 win over the Bluejays in Omaha on April 8 after Sam Canton connected on a clutch RBI single in the ninth inning.
 
THE SERIES VS. SOUTH DAKOTA STATE
This will be the 219th all-time meeting between NDSU and South Dakota State dating back to 1956 with the Jackrabbits leading the series, 131-87. The Bison have won four of the last five meetings in the series and most recently swept a doubleheader, 5-2, and, 3-2, in Fargo back on March 28. The two teams will make-up the rescheduled game from March 29 on Saturday in Brookings.
 
TESTING OURSELVES AGAINST THE BEST
Entering the week, the Bison have played the No. 1 non-conference strength of schedule in the nation and No. 75 overall strength of schedule, which is the second-highest in the Summit League. The Bison are also slotted No. 123 in the RPI rankings and have been positioned as high as No. 22 this season.
 
SCHAFFNER ON TOP OF THE LINEUP CARD
Jake Schaffner has been the leadoff hitter in all 35 games this season and has registered a team-best .366 batting average and leads the Summit League with 53 hits and team-best 31 runs.  The Janesville, Wis., native has notched a hit in 30 of 35 games this season. Schaffner recently surpassed the 100 career hits milestone with 117 and has a .349 batting average over his first two seasons.
 
SCHAFFNER ON BROOKS WALLACE PLAYER OF THE YEAR WATCH LIST
Jake Schaffner was one of the top 100 shortstops in the nation to earn a spot on the Brooks Wallace Player of the Year Award watch list, which recognizes the nation’s top shortstop. He was as one of two players in the Summit League named to list, joining Carter Sintek from South Dakota State.
 
THE FRIDAY STARTER
Nolan Johnson has started 10 games and totaled a career-best 51 strikeouts over 51.1 innings this season. His 51 strikeouts rank second in the Summit League this season. Johnson helped guide the Bison to a 6-3 win over Omaha after tossing a career-best 10 strikeouts over a season-high 7.0 innings with no walks and no runs. Johnson sent the Mavericks down in order each of the first five innings and retired his first 17 batters before Omaha connected on a two-out single in the sixth inning.
 
KNIGHT MODE ACTIVATED
Logan Knight helped lift the Bison to a 3-0 win at Oral Roberts on March 15. He posted his first career complete game shutout with a season-high seven strikeouts across a career-high 9.0 innings with no walks. It marked the first complete game shutout in a nine-inning game for a Bison pitcher since Cade Feeney accomplished the feat against Western Illinois on April 9, 2021. Knight ranks fourth in the Summit League with 45 strikeouts over 50.2 innings with a 5.86 ERA.
 
PUT THE GAME ON LOCK
Danny Lachenmayer leads the Summit League with six saves this season, including five in Summit League play. He hasn’t allowed a run or a hit in his last four appearances (4.2 innings) and has tossed 30 strikeouts over 20.1 innings. The Eagan, Minn., native is also holding opponents to a .171 batting average with a 3.54 ERA.
 
CANTON MAKES HIS RETURN
After missing the first nine games to begin the season, Sam Canton made his season debut at Alabama on March 1. He’s appeared in each of the last 23 games and has contributed 23 hits, including a career-high four on five appearances at Oral Roberts on March 16. Last season, Canton was the only Bison to play in all 51 games and contributed a team-high seven home runs and team-best 47 RBI.
 
EXPERIENCE IN THE BULLPEN
Reese Ligtenberg and Skyler Riedinger both return this season out of the bullpen. Last season, Ligtenberg made 31 relief appearances, which set the NDSU single-season record for appearances. His 31 appearances led the Summit League and ranked 27th in the nation. He has totaled 66 appearances over five seasons, which ranks seventh in Bison history.
 
Riedinger made a career-high 29 appearances last season, which was the second-most in a single-season in Bison history. The Bismarck, N.D., native ranks second all-time in Bison history with 79 career appearances. Kyle Kingsley (2010-13) is the all-time leader with 83 career appearances.
 
THE CHALLENGING SCHEDULE AHEAD
The Bison are scheduled to play 52 total games and will face nine different opponents across 22 total non-conference games. Of that group, five teams qualified for the NCAA Tournament last season, including Dallas Baptist, Alabama, LSU, Tulane and Oklahoma State. The schedule also boasts three teams ranked in the USA Today Preseason Coaches Top 25 Poll, including No. 3 LSU, No. 17 Oklahoma State and No. 21 Dallas Baptist.
 
SUMMIT LEAGUE PRESEASON POLL
The Bison were picked fourth in the Summit League preseason poll with 17 total points and one first place vote. Oral Roberts was picked first with 22 points and three first place votes.
 
SUMMIT LEAGUE PLAYERS TO WATCH
Sophomore infielder Jake Schaffner and senior left-handed pitcher Nolan Johnson were named to the Summit League Players and Pitchers to Watch list. Schaffner, who was named to the All-Summit League First Team last season, recorded a team-best .337 batting average and .436 on-base percentage last season to go along with a team-high 64 hits. Johnson appeared in six games last season with a career-best five starts and registered a 2.73 ERA before an injury sidelined him March.
 
RETURNING ALL-SUMMIT LEAGUE PLAYERS
NDSU earned eight All-Summit League selections last year and return three from that group this season. Shortstop Jake Schaffner was named to the All-League First Team in his freshman season, while outfielder Sam Canton and right-handed pitcher Logan Knight were named to the honorable mention list.
 
BISON PLAY IN BIG TIME VENUES
Under fourth-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 three seasons, the Bison have played in front of five of the largest road crowds in program history since 1977. Earlier this season, NDSU played in front of 10,446 fans at LSU on March 5, the highest road attendance in program history.
 
#PROBISON
NDSU has had eight 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 last season. 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 named to the opening day roster for the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp, the Triple-A affiliate of the Miami Marlins.
 
WHO’S BACK?
NDSU returns 16 letterwinners this season, including five starters that played in at least 50 percent of the games last season. The roster also features 14 seniors: Alex Urlaub, Sam Canton, Luis Garcia, Colten Becker, Sam Roberts, Logan Knight, Seth Thompson, Cole Mahlum, Alex Karns, Austin Bergum, Hayden Sylte, Reese Ligtenberg, Leland Wilson and Skyler Riedinger.
 
WELCOME TO THE SQUAD
The Bison welcome 14 newcomers this season: Alex Urlaub, Evan Gustafson, Will Mann, Tate Martin, Sam Roberts, Tommy Simon, Tyman Long, Luke Shannahan, Ethan Swaby, Danny Lachenmayer, Dante Smith, Cade Wiegert, Garrett Shupe and Luke Agnew.
 
STEIL JOINS COACHING STAFF
Jack Steil joined the NDSU coaching staff as the Director of Operations this offseason after spending two seasons with the Bison from 2023-24. He’s the second former Bison player on the coaching staff, joining Trent Keefer, who played at NDSU from 2014-15.
 
LOOKING AHEAD
NDSU will be back in action at Minnesota on Tuesday, April 29.