April 17, 2025

This Week's Preview
MADISON, S.D. (April 17, 2025)—The Dakota State University Trojan baseball team (20-18 overall record, 6-6 NSAA record) closes out their home schedule this weekend as they continue their North Star Athletic Association action.  The Trojans also conclude their five-game home stand at Flynn Field (300 8th Street SW) in Madison.

DSU welcomes the North Star conference's leader and nationally ranked Bellevue (Neb.) (29-11 overall record, 12-0 NSAA conference record, No. 24 in the latest NAIA Baseball Coaches' Top 25 national poll) in a four-game series.  They will play a doubleheader on Friday, starting at 1 p.m., followed by another doubleheader on Saturday at 12 p.m.  The Trojan baseball team will be honoring their 14 seniors after the completion of the four-game series on Saturday afternoon.

Dakota State went 1-3 record in the most recent North Star's four-game series at Dickinson State (N.D.).  The Trojans and the Blue Hawks split their first two games on April 11, with DiSU rallying back for a 3-2 victory in game one and DSU winning the second game 19-3 in seven innings.  Dickinson State edged Dakota State 6-2 and 6-5 in 10 innings on April 12.  The Trojans returned home to kick off their five-game home stand with a 10-4 victory over rival Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.).

Bellevue ballooned their winning streak to 17 games after going 8-0 record since April 7.  The Bruins swept the Blue Hawks on April 7, followed by an 8-4 victory versus Midland (Neb.) on April 9.  BU swept the NSAA's four-game series with Mayville State (N.D.) on April 11-12 and earned a 13-7 victory at Doane (Neb.) on April 15.

Next Up:  Dakota State heads to the final week of North Star Athletic Association action, traveling to Mayville State (N.D.) on April 25-26 for a four-game series at Scott Berry Field on the campus of Mayville State.

This Week's Quick Hits
+ Dakota State (S.D.) is seeking for their first win over Bellevue (Neb.) since April 28, 2023, where the Trojans earned a 9-6 15-inning victory in Bellevue, Neb.  The Bruins defeated the Trojans in the last eight meetings.
+ The last time DSU and BU played in the NSAA's conference four-game series at Flynn Field was on April 28-29, 2022.  The Trojans earned their second ever home victory over Bellevue in a 10-9 extra inning victory in the second game of the series. 
+ Dakota State and Bellevue met twice in the North Star Athletic Association Postseason Tournament, recently on May 7, 2023, where both teams met with two remaining undefeated teams in the tournament.  Both teams also met in the NSAA championship game in Forest City, Iowa, on May 10, 2022.  Both of those games were decided by one run.
+ The Trojans are 3-6 record at home this season.  The Bruins are 9-8 record on the road.
+ Dakota State's pitching staff had produced double digits strikeouts three times in the last five games, highlighted by Nicholai Arbach's career high 16 strikeouts at Dickinson State (N.D.) on April 11 and Treyten Kolar's career-high 10 strikeouts at home versus Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) on April 15.
+ The North Star Athletic Association Baseball postseason tournament will feature all six teams from the league, as well as two teams from the Cal Pac Conference (La Sierra, Providence Christian, Simpson, Westcliff).  The selected two teams from the Cal Pac Conference will be announced next weekend.
+ All NAIA baseball teams will enter the final week of regular season play next week.

Noteworthy...
NORTH STAR UPDATES:  The North Star Athletic Association are on their fourth four-game series this weekend.  Bellevue (Neb.) currently leads the conference with 12-0 record, followed by Jamestown (N.D.) second with an 8-4 record.  Dickinson State (N.D.) and Dakota State (S.D.) are tied for third with 6-6 conference record each.  Mayville State (N.D.) is fifth with 3-9 record, while Valley City State (N.D.) is sixth with 1-11 record.  Friday-Saturday schedule features BU at DaSU, MSU at VCSU, and DiSU at UJ.
 
DSU IN THE NSAA CONFERENCE TEAM RANKS:  According to the NAIA-PrestoStats as of Thursday, Dakota State ranks third overall in batting average of .305.  The Trojans are also third with .407 on-base percentage and .516 slugging percentage.  Dakota State ranks second in the NSAA conference with 58 home runs this season.  DSU is third with 5.50 earned run average (ERA) and 290 total strikeouts in the league.  The Trojans rank second in the conference with 9.49 strikeouts/per nine inning. 
 
TROJANS IN THE NSAA RANKS:   Nicholai Arbach leads the North Star Athletic Association with 2.56 earned runs average for DSU (56 1/3 innings).  He also leads the league with 62 strikeouts.  Cameron DeMaria and Cassidy Watt are tied for fourth with 40 RBIs for the Trojans.  DeMaria is second in the league with .772 slugging percentage.   Darcy Barry is second in the NSAA with 18 stolen bases.

DSU BASEBALL DEVELOPMENTAL TEAM UPDATES:  The Dakota State developmental baseball team is 7-7-1 overall record this season after falling short in the first game 6-5 and tying the second game 5-5 at home versus Minnesota West CC on April 14.  Despite the cancellation of Northern State (S.D.) games on April 16, DSU returns to action at Midland (Neb.) Monday and returns home Wednesday versus DWU.

Dakota State falls short at Dickinson State (N.D.)
Dickinson, N.D. (April 11-12, 2025)—Dakota State (S.D.) fell short in the North Star Athletic Association's four-game series with host-team Dickinson State (N.D.) at Dakota Community Bank & Trust Ballpark.  The Blue Hawks collected three wins, with two wins coming on walk-off hits, in the series compared to the Trojans one win.
 
The Blue Hawks rallied back with a 3-2 walk-off victory over the Trojans in the first game, despite getting a career high 16 strikeouts from Nicholai Arbach.  Aidan Perry had three hits in the game, including a solo home run.  George Hogan also had two singles.

DSU cruised in the second game, scoring at least two runs in each inning from the second through sixth innings for a 19-3 victory in seven innings.  Cassidy Watt had two home runs in the game with three RBIs.  Dawson Portner added three hits and two RBIs.  Seven DSU players recorded at least two hits in the game.  Sam Tyrpa picked up the pitching win for the Trojans.

The Blue Hawks defeated the Trojans in the third game of the series 6-2.  Perry and Watt each had two hits in the game.  DiSU also earned a 6-5 10-inning victory in the four-game series finale.  Perry, Watt, and Seth Altwine each tallied two hits.  Alex Swack registered seven strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings on the mound.

Trojans hit 20th win of the season
Madison, S.D. (April 15, 2025)—Dakota State (S.D.) kicked off their final five-game home stand at Flynn Field, rolling to a 10-4 victory over rival Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.).  It was the Trojans' 20th victory of the season, their fifth straight season DSU recorded at least 20 wins in a single season.

Dakota State took the first lead of the game 1-0 after Camaron Haller's RBI single in the opening inning.  The Trojans erupted for five runs in the bottom third, capped by Seth Altwine's 3-run home run for a 6-0 lead.

DSU added a run in the bottom fourth and fifth innings, highlighted by Hunter Vikemyr's solo home run for an 8-0 lead.  DWU scored twice in the top seventh, and once in the eighth and ninth innings.   The Trojans added a run in the bottom seventh after Dawson Portner's RBI double and bottom eighth with a home run from Watt to secure the victory.

Watt finished the game with a home run, single, two walks, and two RBIs for the Trojans.  Altwine had a home run and three RBIs.  Connor Raney, Haller, Vikemyr, and Portner each had a hit.

Treyten Kolar picked up his first career pitching victory for DSU, working for seven innings and recording a career high 10 strikeouts.  Alexander Ferrin tossed two innings in relief.

DSU baseball to honor 14 seniors Saturday
Madison, S.D. (April 17, 2025)—The Dakota State University Trojan baseball will be honoring their fourteen seniors after their conclusion of the North Star Athletic Association four-game series with Bellevue (Neb.) at Flynn Field on Saturday afternoon. 

The 14 seniors include Seth Altwine, Michael Buchmann, Ben Loos, Cassidy Watt, Dylan Gillespie, Hunter Vikemyr, Cory Brownson, Curtis Flint, Darcy Barry, Aiden Urbom, Dawson Portner, Sam Tyrpa, Nicholai Arbach, and Alex Swack.

Sam Tyrpa and Nicholai Arbach highlight the Trojan baseball team with all-time school strikeouts record.  Tyrpa surpassed JD Kircher's all-time record with 222 strikeouts earlier this spring, racking up a total of 241 career strikeouts prior to this weekend's games.

Arbach had surpassed Kirchner for the second most strikeouts in school history on April 11, collecting a total of 231 strikeouts since the 2021-22 season.

2025 DSU Baseball Team Leaders

· Hits:  Cassidy Watt—45 hits

· Batting Average:  Aidan Perry—.368 batting average (43-of-117 at-bats)

· Slugging Percentage:  Cameron DeMaria—.789 slugging percentage (20 singles, 9 doubles, 12 home runs)

· Runs Batted In (RBIs):  Cameron DeMaria, Cassidy Watt—40 RBIs

· Doubles:  Darcy Barry—10 doubles

· Triples:  Hunter Vikemyr, Seth Altwine—1 triple

· Home Runs:  Cameron DeMaria—14 home runs

· Total Bases:  Cameron DeMaria—95 total bases

· Runs Scored:  Darcy Barry—40 runs

· Walks:  Aidan Perry—31 walks

· Hit-by-Pitch:  Darcy Barry—10 hit-by-pitches

· Stolen Bases: Darcy Barry—18 stolen bases

· On-base percentage:  Aidan Perry—.516 on-base percentage

· Innings Pitched:  Nicholai Arbach—56 1/3 innings

· Earned Runs Average (ERA):  Nicholai Arbach—2.56 earned run average

· Strikeouts (Pitching):   Nicholai Arbach—62 strikeouts

· Complete Games (Pitching):   Nicholai Arbach—7 complete games

· Wins:  Hunter Vikemyr, Nicholai Arbach—5 wins

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

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