Thursday, May 14
St. Paul, Minn.
12 p.m.
North Dakota State
at
St. Thomas
Photo by: Zachary Lucy
NDSU Baseball Closes Regular Season Play at St. Thomas
5/13/2026 2:21:00 PM | Baseball
THIS WEEK
The North Dakota State (11-30, 7-14 Summit) baseball team is set to wrap up regular season play at St. Thomas (10-36, 7-16 Summit) with a four-game series beginning on Thursday with a doubleheader starting at 12:00 p.m., at Koch Diamond. The first game of the doubleheader is rescheduled from April 4.
COVERAGE
All four games will feature live statistics and broadcast on the Summit League Network for subscribers. Live statistics and video links are available on GoBison.com/coverage.
LAST TIME OUT
NDSU dropped the series finale against Northern Colorado, 9-7, on Sunday in Fargo. NDSU tallied nine hits as a team with Dante Smith going 3-of-4 at the plate with three RBI, two runs and one home run. It marked his second straight multi-hit game.
THE SERIES VS. ST. THOMAS
This will be the 27th all-time meeting between NDSU and St. Thomas dating back to 1910 with the Tommies leading the all-time series, 15-11. St. Thomas has won each of the last three meetings, including a 9-2 win in the series finale in St. Paul last season.
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 played 27 straight on the road before opening its home schedule with a doubleheader against Omaha on April 19.
POWER FOUR WINS
The Bison have faced opponents from three of the four power conferences this season. NDSU has taken on teams from the ACC (Virginia), SEC (Missouri, Vanderbilt) and Big Ten (Nebraska, Minnesota) across 10 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 28 home runs over the last 22 games. NDSU assembled a streak of 12 straight games with a homer from March 17 at Minnesota to April 24 at Oral Roberts, which was the longest streak since at least the 2000 season. Colten Becker leads the Bison with a team-best six over the 22-game stretch.
TIDBITS FROM THE LAST FIVE GAMES
- Dante Smith has notched a team-best .409 batting average over the last five games with nine hits, including three doubles, one triple and one home run. He has logged at least three hits in each of the last two games.
- Dante Smith has posted a team-high 10 RBI over the last five games and has contributed at least two in each of his last four games. He leads the Bison with nine multi-RBI games this season.
- Diego Trujillo (.364) and Blake Timmons (.300) join Smith as the only players over the last five games with at least a .300 batting average. Timmons has started four games over the stretch.
- Sheamus Ryan made his first career start in the 10-4 loss against Northern Colorado last week. He posted two strikeouts and two walks across 5.2 innings.
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 106-143-1 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.
WALKER TABBED PEAK PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Jonah Walker was named the Summit League Peak Pitcher of the Week and helped the Bison to an 11-3 win at Oral Roberts in the series finale. The Lincoln, Neb., native tossed two strikeouts with three walks and one run across 5.0 innings. Walker also registered a 1.80 ERA and held the Golden Eagles to a .263 batting average. He became the third different Bison pitcher to earn the award this season, joining Zak Szabo and Parker Puetz.
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.
SUMMIT LEAGUE PRESEASON POLL
The Bison were picked fifth in the Summit League Preseason Poll with 11 total points. Oral Roberts earned the top spot with 24 points and four first-place votes.
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 267-157-1 overall record over that span at home.
#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 Summit League Championship is set for May 20-23 at Siebert Field in Minneapolis. The full bracket will be announced on Saturday.
The North Dakota State (11-30, 7-14 Summit) baseball team is set to wrap up regular season play at St. Thomas (10-36, 7-16 Summit) with a four-game series beginning on Thursday with a doubleheader starting at 12:00 p.m., at Koch Diamond. The first game of the doubleheader is rescheduled from April 4.
COVERAGE
All four games will feature live statistics and broadcast on the Summit League Network for subscribers. Live statistics and video links are available on GoBison.com/coverage.
LAST TIME OUT
NDSU dropped the series finale against Northern Colorado, 9-7, on Sunday in Fargo. NDSU tallied nine hits as a team with Dante Smith going 3-of-4 at the plate with three RBI, two runs and one home run. It marked his second straight multi-hit game.
THE SERIES VS. ST. THOMAS
This will be the 27th all-time meeting between NDSU and St. Thomas dating back to 1910 with the Tommies leading the all-time series, 15-11. St. Thomas has won each of the last three meetings, including a 9-2 win in the series finale in St. Paul last season.
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 played 27 straight on the road before opening its home schedule with a doubleheader against Omaha on April 19.
POWER FOUR WINS
The Bison have faced opponents from three of the four power conferences this season. NDSU has taken on teams from the ACC (Virginia), SEC (Missouri, Vanderbilt) and Big Ten (Nebraska, Minnesota) across 10 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 28 home runs over the last 22 games. NDSU assembled a streak of 12 straight games with a homer from March 17 at Minnesota to April 24 at Oral Roberts, which was the longest streak since at least the 2000 season. Colten Becker leads the Bison with a team-best six over the 22-game stretch.
TIDBITS FROM THE LAST FIVE GAMES
- Dante Smith has notched a team-best .409 batting average over the last five games with nine hits, including three doubles, one triple and one home run. He has logged at least three hits in each of the last two games.
- Dante Smith has posted a team-high 10 RBI over the last five games and has contributed at least two in each of his last four games. He leads the Bison with nine multi-RBI games this season.
- Diego Trujillo (.364) and Blake Timmons (.300) join Smith as the only players over the last five games with at least a .300 batting average. Timmons has started four games over the stretch.
- Sheamus Ryan made his first career start in the 10-4 loss against Northern Colorado last week. He posted two strikeouts and two walks across 5.2 innings.
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 106-143-1 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.
WALKER TABBED PEAK PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Jonah Walker was named the Summit League Peak Pitcher of the Week and helped the Bison to an 11-3 win at Oral Roberts in the series finale. The Lincoln, Neb., native tossed two strikeouts with three walks and one run across 5.0 innings. Walker also registered a 1.80 ERA and held the Golden Eagles to a .263 batting average. He became the third different Bison pitcher to earn the award this season, joining Zak Szabo and Parker Puetz.
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.
SUMMIT LEAGUE PRESEASON POLL
The Bison were picked fifth in the Summit League Preseason Poll with 11 total points. Oral Roberts earned the top spot with 24 points and four first-place votes.
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 267-157-1 overall record over that span at home.
#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 Summit League Championship is set for May 20-23 at Siebert Field in Minneapolis. The full bracket will be announced on Saturday.
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