December 3, 2024

MADISON, S.D. – Dakota State (S.D.) has scheduled a total of 50 games on their 2025 schedule, announced Monday.  The 2025 schedule features three preseason tournaments on their first three weekends of the season in February, facing seven different teams that qualified for the 2024 NAIA Baseball National Tournament, and playing in the final year of North Star Athletic Association with 20 contests scheduled.
 
Dakota State also plays 15 games on their home schedule at Flynn Field, including their season-high 11-game home stand in mid-March through early April.
 
DSU completed their third consecutive 30-plus victories, finishing 36-16 overall record in 2024.  The Trojans also finished second in the North Star Athletic Conference for the third consecutive season.
 
The Trojans begin their 2025 challenging preseason tournaments schedule, facing five teams that are currently ranked or received votes (RV) in the NAIA Baseball Coaches' Top 25 Preseason Poll, announced in early November.  Dakota State plays four games in the Cajun Collision, hosted by LSU-Shreveport at Sterlington Sports Complex in Sterlington, La.
 
Derrion Hardie, who is entering his sixth season as DSU baseball head coach, takes his squad to their season opening game against Texas A & M Texarkana on Feb. 7 followed by a contest versus (RV) Science & Arts (Okla.).  The Trojans face No. 13 ranked Mid-America Christian (Okla.) and host-team No. 4 ranked LSU-Shreveport (was ranked as high as No. 2 in the NAIA Baseball Top 25 national poll last season) on the second day of the tournament on Feb. 8.
 
Three of those four teams in the Cajun Collision qualified for the NAIA national tournament last season.

Dakota State returns to Joplin, Mo., for another four-game preseason tournament hosted by Graceland (Iowa) at Joe Becker Stadium.  The Trojans face No. 20 ranked Concordia (Neb.) (NAIA national tournament qualifier and ranked No. 18 in last year's national poll) and Mission (Mo.) on the first day of the tournament on Feb. 15.  DSU also takes on Morningside (Iowa) and Culver-Stockton (Mo.) on the second day on Feb. 16.

The Trojans play their third straight preseason tournament on the weekend of Feb. 21-22 in the Tiger Classic.  The two-day tournament will be held at PBR Homefield Baseball Complex in Kansas City, Mo.  DSU faces No. 25 ranked 2024 NAIA national qualifier MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan) and Midland (Neb.) on Feb. 21.  The Trojans play another national qualifier Park (Mo.) and host-team Baker (Kan.) on Feb. 22.
 
Dakota State heads to Sterling (Kan.) of the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference for their first four-game series of the season on Feb. 28-March 1.

The Trojans head to Texas for their spring break, visiting Texas A & M Texarkana for a four-game series on March 7-8.  DSU then travels to Jarvis Christian (Texas) for a nine-inning game on March 11 before wrapping up their spring break schedule on March 14-15 with a four-game series at Evangel (Mo.).

DSU plays in the state of South Dakota for the first time on March 18, visiting their rival Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) in a nine-inning contest.

Dakota State kicks off their season-high 11-game home stand on March 21-22, hosting Tabor (Kan.) in a three-game series at Flynn Field.  The Bluejays are ranked No. 22 in the preseason national poll and qualified for the NAIA national tournament last season (sixth NAIA preseason nationally ranked team). 

The Trojans continue their home stand as they open their 20-game North Star conference slate versus Jamestown (N.D.) on March 28-29.  Each North Star conference member will play a four-game series.

DSU hosts Valley City State (N.D.) on April 4-5 at Flynn Field before heading to Dickinson State (N.D.) for another NSAA's four-game series on April 11-12.  The Trojans play their final home contests versus DWU on April 15 in a nine-inning game before facing the NSAA's perennial powerhouse Bellevue (Neb.) (seventh preseason NAIA nationally ranked team) on April 18-19 (Senior Weekend).

DSU closes out their regular-season schedule with a four-game series at Mayville State (N.D.) on April 25-26.

All six North Star members will compete in the conference postseason tournament, hosted by Dickinson State, on May 2-6 at Dakota Community Bank and Trust Ballpark in Dickinson, N.D.

There will be a total of eight teams competing in the tournament, with two teams coming from the Cal-Pac conference.  For automatic qualification purposes this coming spring, the North Star conference regular season champion will receive an automatic bid to the NAIA Baseball National Tournament Opening Round, which is slated for May 12-15.

The North Star tournament's champion will receive the second automatic bid to the national tournament.  If the regular season champion from the North Star conference is the tournament's champion, the tournament's runner-up will receive the second automatic bid to the NAIA national tournament.

The Avista-NAIA World Series is set for May 23-30 in Lewiston, Idaho.

Below is the complete 2025 Dakota State baseball schedule:
 

2025 Dakota State Trojan Baseball Schedule
Day	Date	Opponent	Time (CST)	Location
Friday	Feb. 7	Texas A&M Texarkana #	11 a.m.	Sterlington, La.
Friday	Feb. 7	Science & Arts (Okla.) #	2:30 p.m.	Sterlington, La.
Saturday	Feb. 8	Mid-America Christian (Okla.) #	11 a.m.	Sterlington, La.
Saturday	Feb. 8	LSU-Sherveport (La.) #	2:30 p.m.	Sterlington, La.
Saturday	Feb. 15	Concordia (Neb.) $	11 a.m.	Joplin, Mo.
Saturday	Feb. 15	Mission (Mo.) $	1:30 p.m.	Joplin, Mo.
Sunday	Feb. 16	Morningside (Iowa) $	11 a.m.	Joplin, Mo.
Sunday	Feb. 16	Culver-Stockton (Mo.) $	1:30 p.m.	Joplin, Mo.
Friday	Feb. 21	MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) %	11:30 a.m.	Kansas City, Mo.
Friday	Feb. 21	Midland (Neb.) %	4:30 p.m.	Kansas City, Mo.
Saturday	Feb. 22	Park (Mo.) %	12 p.m.	Kansas City, Mo.
Saturday	Feb. 22	Baker (Kan.) %	2:30 p.m.	Kansas City, Mo.
Friday	Feb. 28	Sterling (Kan.) - Doubleheader	11 a.m./1:30 p.m.	Sterling, Kan.
Saturday	March 1	Sterling (Kan.) - Doubleheader	11 a.m./1:30 p.m.	Sterling, Kan.
Friday	March 7	Texas A&M Texarkana - Doubleheader	12 p.m./2:30 p.m.	Texarkana, Texas
Saturday	March 8	Texas A&M Texarkana - Doubleheader	12 p.m./2:30 p.m.	Texarkana, Texas
Tuesday	March 11	Jarvis Christian (Texas)	12 p.m.	Hawkins, Texas
Friday	March 14	Evangel (Mo.) - Doubleheader	12 p.m./2:30 p.m.	Springfield, Mo.
Saturday	March 15	Evangel (Mo.) - Doubleheader	12 p.m./2:30 p.m.	Springfield, Mo.
Tuesday	March 18	Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.)	3 p.m.	Mitchell, S.D.
Friday	March 21	Tabor (Kan.) - Doubleheader	1 p.m./3:30 p.m.	Madison, S.D.
Saturday	March 22	Tabor (Kan.)	12 p.m.	Madison, S.D.
Friday	March 28	Jamestown (N.D.)* - Doubleheader	1 p.m./3:30 p.m.	Madison, S.D.
Saturday	March 29	Jamestown (N.D.)* - Doubleheader	12 p.m./2:30 p.m.	Madison, S.D.
Friday	April 4	Valley City State (N.D.)* - Doubleheader	1 p.m./3:30 p.m.	Madison, S.D.
Saturday	April 5	Valley City State (N.D.)* - Doubleheader	12 p.m./2:30 p.m.	Madison, S.D.
Friday	April 11	Dickinson State (N.D.)* - Doubleheader	2 p.m./4:30 p.m.	Dickinson, N.D.
Saturday	April 12	Dickinson State (N.D.)* - Doubleheader	1 p.m./3:30 p.m.	Dickinson, N.D.
Tuesday	April 15	Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.)	5 p.m.	Madison, S.D.
Friday	April 18	Bellevue (Neb.)* - Doubleheader - Senior Weekend	1 p.m./3:30 p.m.	Madison, S.D.
Saturday	April 19	Bellevue (Neb.)* - Doubleheader - Senior Weekend	12 p.m./2:30 p.m.	Madison, S.D.
Friday	April 25	Mayville State (N.D.)* - Doubleheader	1 p.m./3:30 p.m.	Mayville, N.D.
Saturday	April 26	Mayville State (N.D.)* - Doubleheader	12 p.m./2:30 p.m.	Mayville, N.D.
Friday-Tuesday	May 2-6	North Star Athletic Association Baseball Postseason Tournament	TBA	Dickinson, N.D.
Monday-Thursday	May 12-15	NAIA Baseball National Tournament Opening Round	TBA	Campus Sites
Friday-Friday	May 23-30	Avista-NAIA Baseball World Series	TBA	Lewiston, Idaho
# Cajun Challenge – Sterlington, La. $ Joplin (Mo.) Invitational – Joplin, Mo. % Tiger Classic (hosted by Baker, Kan.) – Kansas City, Mo. *North Star Athletic Association contest