NDSU Baseball Set for Creighton and St. Thomas

THIS WEEK
The North Dakota State (9-18, 7-4 Summit) baseball team wraps its road trip at Creighton (19-8, 2-1 Big East) on Tuesday night at 6:00 p.m. The Bison will then return home to begin a three-game series with St. Thomas (16-10, 10-1 Summit) on Friday. First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m. at Newman Outdoor Field.
 
COVERAGE
The midweek matchup at Creighton will be available on FloBaseball, while all three games with St. Thomas will broadcast on the Summit League Network for subscribers. Fans can listen to St. Thomas series on Bison 1660 with free streaming available on GoBison.com/allaccess and the NDSU Athletics mobile app. All four games will also feature live statistics.
 
LAST TIME OUT
Omaha scored six runs in the opening inning on Sunday and didn’t look back as NDSU came up short, 11-1, in seven innings in the series finale. Parker Puetz made his season debut after making the start on the mound. Landon Koenig also provided 4.2 innings of relief with three strikeouts. The Bison notched four hits as a team with Colten Becker going 2-of-3 at the plate.
 
THE SERIES VS. CREIGHTON
This will be the 27th all-time meeting between NDSU and Creighton dating back to 1956 with the Bluejays leading the series, 23-3. This will be the second straight season NDSU and Creighton have met in a midweek matchup after not facing each other since 2011. In their only meeting last season, the Bluejays edged the Bison, 8-7, in Omaha after the two teams combined to use 19 different pitchers.
 
THE SERIES VS. ST. THOMAS
This will be the 20th all-time meeting between NDSU and St. Thomas dating back to 1910 with the Tommies holding the slight edge in the series, 11-9. The Bison are 6-3 against the Tommies since 2022 and won the most recent matchup, 5-4, in Fargo last season on May 5. Landon Koenig tossed nine strikeouts over 6.0 innings in the victory.
 
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. 53 overall strength of schedule, which ranks second in the Summit League. The Bison are also slotted No. 105 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 27 games this season and has registered a team-best .367 batting average with a team-high 40 hits and team-best 25 runs.  The Janesville, Wis., native has notched a hit in 23 of 27 games this season, including starting the season on a 10-game hit streak. Schaffner recently surpassed the 100 career hits milestone with 104 and has a .348 batting average over his first two seasons.
 
THE FRIDAY STARTER
Nolan Johnson has started eight games and totaled a career-best 39 strikeouts over 39.1 innings this season. He 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 leads the Bison with a team-high 40 strikeouts with a 5.72 ERA over eight starts.
 
SMITH KEEPS PRODUCING
Dante Smith has continued to move himself up the lineup card this season and has logged at least two hits in eight of the last 13 games, including a season-best 4-of-4 in the series finale win at Northern Colorado. He has also stolen six bases on 10 attempts this season.
 
THE DO IT ALL CANADIAN
Tate Martin has been a utility player for the Bison this season making 11 starts across three different positions. He started the season with three appearances on the mound, including two starts and tossed four strikeouts. Martin has also started one game at first base and eight as a designated hitter. He has notched nine hits with five runs this season.
 
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 16 games and has contributed 15 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.
 
CHECKING IN FROM THE BULLPEN
The trio of Landon Koenig, Danny Lachenmayer and Reese Ligtenberg have each made a team-high 11 relief appearances this season. Lachenmayer ranks third on the team with 27 strikeouts over 17.0 innings, while Koenig has added 26 strikeouts over 24.0 innings.
 
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. Reidinger 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 75 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 15. First pitch is set for 6:00 p.m.