March 18, 2025

This Week's Preview
MADISON, S.D. (March 18, 2025)—The Dakota State University Trojan baseball team (11-9 overall record) returns closer to home in the state of South Dakota with five games scheduled this week.

The Trojans play their final contest on their 21-game away from Flynn Field Tuesday afternoon as they visit their rival Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) (4-16 overall record)  The first pitch is set for 3 p.m. at Drake Field (W 15th Ave.) in Mitchell, S.D.

Dakota State plays their season home opener on Friday and Saturday, hosting Tabor (Kan.) (14-9 overall record) of the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference.  The series was originally scheduled for a 3-game series, and now will be a four-game series with a doubleheader on each day.  The first game is set for 1 p.m. on Friday and 12 p.m. on Saturday.  This weekend's contests kick off their season-high 12-game home stand at Flynn Field.

DSU went 5-2 record since March 10 in their contests held in Texas and Missouri.  The Trojans finished their four-game series with a split with Texas A&M-Texarkana on March 10, followed by a 11-1 seven-inning victory at Jarvis Christian (Texas) on Mach 11.  Dakota State then went on to win their second four-game series this season with a 3-1 record over Evangel (Mo.) of the KCAC Conference on March 14-15.

Dakota Wesleyan kicked off the Great Plains Athletic Conference with a 3-1 series victory at Dordt (Iowa) on March 13-14.  Tabor went 2-1 record in the KCAC conference series with Sterling (Kan.) on March 14-15.  The Bluejays play at Oklahoma Wesleyan in a nine-inning contest Tuesday (today).

Next Up:  Dakota State continues their home stand next weekend as they open their 20-game North Star Athletic Association schedule.  DSU hosts Jamestown (N.D.) in the four-game series on March 28-29 at Flynn Field.
 
This Week's Quick Hits
+ Dakota State (S.D.) went had won five times in the last seven contests in the state of Texas and Missouri since March 10.
+ The Trojans play their second opponent from the Great Plains Athletic Conference on Tuesday.  DSU defeated Midland (Neb.) 5-4 on Feb. 25 in the Tiger Classic in Baldwin City, Kan.
+ Dakota State won the last four meetings with rival Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.), including a season series home-and-away sweep last season.  The Trojans won the last two meetings by the scores of 7-2 on April 23, 2024, at Flynn Field, and 12-6 on March 19, 2024, at Drake Field.
+ The Trojans had won six times in the last seven meetings with the Tigers since Feb. 20, 2022.
+ Tabor (Kan.) will play at Flynn Field in Madison, S.D., for the first time in series meeting.  The last time both teams met was in the NAIA Baseball National Tournament Opening Round in Hutchinson, Kan., where the Bluejays held off the Trojans by the score of 9-7 on May 10, 2012.
+ Dakota State is facing their fourth opponent from the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC) this season.  The Trojans are 6-3 record this season versus KCAC opponents (lost to McPherson, Kan.; and defeated both Sterling, Kan., and Evangel, Mo., with a 3-1 series record each).
+ DSU begins their season-high 12-game home stand at Flynn Field with four games this weekend.  The Trojans were 9-0 home record last season and 5-0 home record during the 2023 season, currently on a 14-game home field winning streak.

Noteworthy...
TROJANS RETURN TO SOUTH DAKOTA:  Dakota State (S.D.) plays in the state of South Dakota for the first time this season on Tuesday as they visit rival Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.).  Prior to this week, the Trojans had been away from the state of South Dakota for 20 straight games, playing in four different states—Louisiana, Texas, Kansas, and Missouri.  Dakota State begins their season-high 12-game home stand this weekend, as well as six-game home stand during the middle of April.
 
BARRY EARNS NSAA PLAYER-OF-THE-WEEK HONOR:  Junior shortstop Darcy Barry was selected to the North Star Athletic Association Baseball Player-of-the-Week, the second straight week that a DSU player received a conference Player-of-the-Week award.  He ended the week with a six-game hitting streak, collecting multi-hit games five times during the week.  Barry posted a batting average of .500, a slugging percentage of 1.036, and produced an on-base percentage of .563.  He swiped four bases for the week.
 
DSU IN THE NSAA RANKS:   According to the NAIA-PrestoStats as of Tuesday, Dakota State (S.D.) leads the North Star Athletic Association with 3.22 batting average and .501 slugging percentage.  Cameron DeMaria ties for most home runs with seven home runs and second in runs batted in with 26 RBIs.  Darcy Barry leads the league with ten stolen bases.  Hunter Vikemyr is third in NSAA with .386 batting average.

DSU BASEBALL DEVELOPMENTAL TEAM UPDATES:  The Dakota State developmental baseball team played their home opener on March 17 with a doubleheader sweep of Iowa Lakes at Flynn Field.  The Trojans recorded a 1-0 walk-off victory in the first game, followed by a 9-2 victory in game two.  DSU's games at Northwestern (Iowa) on Wednesday has been postponed.  DSU returns to action Monday at DWU.

Trojans split four-game series with Eagles in Texas
Texarkana, Texas (March 9-10, 2025)—Dakota State (S.D.) split a four-game series with Texas A&M-Texarkana at Hooks High School Baseball Field.  
 
The Eagles rallied back for a 4-3 victory in the series opener, thanks to their walk-off victory after producing three runs in the final inning on the first day.  DSU earned a doubleheader split with a 16-7 victory in the second game.

Both teams also earned another doubleheader split on March 10, with Dakota State winning the first game 8-6 before Texas A&M-Texarkana took the four-game series finale victory by the score of 8-4.

Dakota State finished with a .319 batting average in the four-game series with the Eagles, led by Hunter Vikemyr and Dawson Portner with .455 batting average each (5-of-11 at the plate).  Cameron DeMaria added .429 batting average with 1.357 slugging percentage.  He smashed four home runs in the series and drove in eight runs.

Sam Tyrpa and Vikemyr each earned a pitching victory in the four-game series for DSU.  Tyrpa tossed six innings and recorded seven strikeouts in game two victory.  Alexander Ferrin added save in the third game of the series.

DSU cruises past Jarvis Christian (Texas) 11-1
Hawkins, Texas (March 11, 2025)—Dakota State (S.D.) used a fast start with six runs in the first two-and-half innings, cruising past Jarvis Christian (Texas) of the Red River Athletic Conference 11-1 in seven innings of the nine-inning contest at Bulldog Baseball Field. 

The Trojans took a 1-0 lead in the first inning and poured in four runs in the top second inning to balloon their lead to 5-0.  The Bulldogs only scored a run in the bottom third frame, as DSU added four runs in the top fifth and a run in the top seventh to earn a 10-run mercy rule victory after seven innings.

Dakota State outhit Jarvis Christian 13-3 in the game.

Hunter Vikemyr led the Trojans with three singles and an RBI.  Seth Altwine, Camaron Haller, and Cassidy Watt each added two hits.  Darcy Barry had a home run and three RBIs.  Dawson Portner had a double and an RBI.  Cameron DeMaria had a single and an RBI. 

Aiden Urbom earned the victory on the pitching mound after tossing five innings and yielding the Bulldogs to one run on three hits.  Alexander Ferrin and Curtis Flint each pitched combined two scoreless innings in relief.

Trojans win second four-game series this season
Madison, S.D. (March 14-15, 2025)—Dakota State (S.D.) earned their second four-game series victory this season, their second time against a member of the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference.

The Trojans kicked off the series with a 21-4 victory, highlighted by a school record's 17 runs in an inning (in fifth inning).  The second game of the series was suspended in the sixth inning due to a tornado warning and was forced to play on the second day, where DSU fell by the score of 8-5.

Dakota State shut down Evangel on the second day, winning 10-0 and 15-3. 

Darcy Barry led the Trojans after batting .611 in the series (11-of-18 at the plate) with three doubles and three home runs.  Cameron DeMaria added eight runs batted in (RBIs).  Camaron Haller also registered .583 batting average.  DSU finished the series with .443 batting average.  Nicholai Arbach, Alex Swack, and Hunter Vikemyr each recorded a victory on the pitching mound for DSU, where they posted an earned run average of 2.67 during the four-game series.

2025 DSU Baseball Team Leaders

· Hits:  Darcy Barry—25 hits

· Batting Average:  Hunter Vikemyr—.386 batting average (22-of-57 at-bats)

· Slugging Percentage:  Cameron DeMaria—.750 slugging percentage (12 singles, 4 doubles, 7 home runs)

· Runs Batted In (RBIs):  Cameron DeMaria—26 RBIs

· Doubles:  Darcy Barry—7 doubles

· Triples:  Hunter Vikemyr, Seth Altwine—1 triple

· Home Runs:  Cameron DeMaria—7 home runs

· Total Bases:  Darcy Barry—50 total bases

· Runs Scored:  Darcy Barry—26 runs

· Walks:  Aidan Perry—15 walks

· Hit-by-Pitch:  Darcy Barry—5 hit-by-pitches

· Stolen Bases: Darcy Barry—10 stolen bases

· On-base percentage:  Hunter Vikemyr—.486 on-base percentage

· Innings Pitched:  Nicholai Arbach—28 2/3 innings

· Earned Runs Average (ERA):  Hunter Vikemyr—2.96 earned run average

· Strikeouts (Pitching):   Hunter Vikemyr—30 strikeouts

· Complete Games (Pitching):   Nicholai Arbach—3 complete games

· Wins:  Hunter Vikemyr—4 wins

· Saves:  Braylon Bear, Aiden Urbom, Alexander Ferrin—1 save

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