April 24, 2025

This Week's Preview
MADISON, S.D. (April 24, 2025)—The Dakota State University Trojan baseball team (21-21 overall record, 7-9 NSAA record) wraps up their 2025 regular season schedule Friday and Saturday as they play their final ever North Star Athletic Association four-game series.  The Trojans travel to Scott Berry Field (Campus Drive) in Mayville, N.D., to take on Mayville State (N.D.) (13-25 overall record, 5-11 NSAA conference record).

The NSAA four-game series kick off Friday afternoon at 1 p.m. with a doubleheader, followed by another doubleheader on Saturday at 12 p.m.

Dakota State prepares for the North Star Athletic Association postseason tournament on May 1 through May 4 (rain date on May 5) at Dakota Community Bank & Trust Ballpark (240 2nd Street SE) in Dickinson, N.D.  The pairings and game times will be announced after the conclusion of the contests this weekend.  Stay tuned to the DSU Athletics' website for future updates on schedule and pairings.

The Trojans closed their home schedule with a 1-3 record against NAIA's nationally ranked No. 24 and league-leading Bellevue (Neb.) at Flynn Field.  DSU and BU traded shutout victory on April 18, while the Bruis swept the Trojans on April 19. 

Mayville State went 2-2 record in the NSAA's four-game series with Valley City State (N.D.) at Charlie Brown Stadium in Valley City, N.D.  The Comets swept the Vikings on April 18, while VCSU took the final two games of the four-game series on April 19.

Next Up:  The two teams from the NSAA Baseball Conference postseason tournament will play in the NAIA Baseball Opening Round at campus sites, scheduled for May 12-15.

This Week's Quick Hits
+ Dakota State (S.D.) swept the last North Star Athletic Association's four-game series with Mayville State (N.D.) last season at Flynn Field on March 15-16, 2024.  The Trojans outscored the Comets 50-11 during the four-game series.
+ MSU held off DSU in the last meeting in the NSAA Baseball Postseason Tournament's opening round in Dickinson, N.D., on May 3, 2024, by the score of 4-3. 
+ Mayville State will be playing their first and only home four-game series this spring this weekend on Scott Berry Field in Mayville, N.D.  The Comets played four home games on their fall schedule.
+ The last time Dakota State and Mayville State played in Mayville, N.D., was on April 10-11, 2021. 
+ Dakota State had won 11 times in the last 13 meetings with Mayville State since March 25, 2022, including a seven-game winning streak in the series meeting from March 25, 2022 through March 25, 2023.
+ All six North Star Athletic Association teams will compete in the NSAA Postseason Tournament next weekend in Dickinson, N.D.  There will be two teams from the Cal-Pac conference to make it an eight-team double elimination tournament.  Simpson had clinched the regular season conference title and will be in the tournament.  The final team from the Cal-Pac Conference, La Sierra (Calif.) or Westcliff (Calif.) will decided after Friday's contest between Simpson and La Sierra.
+ Dakota State is 12-7 record on the road this season, with the most recent road victory at Dickinson State (N.D.) 19-3 in seven innings on April 11.

Noteworthy...
NORTH STAR UPDATES:  The North Star Athletic Association is heading to their final weekend of conference play with their final ever four-game series.  Bellevue (Neb.) currently leads the conference with 15-1 record with a victory remaining to secure an automatic bid to the national tournament.  Jamestown (N.D.) is second with 11-5 league record.  Dickinson State (N.D.) and Dakota State (S.D.) are tied for third at 7-9 record, followed by Mayville State (N.D.) fifth at 5-13 record and Valley Cit State (N.D.) sixth at 3-11 record.  Friday-Saturday schedule includes UJ at BU, DaSU at MSU, and VCSU at DiSU.
 
NSAA POSTSEASON TOURNAMENT INFORMATION:  The North Star Athletic Association Baseball Postseason Tournament pairings will not be announced until Monday.  Stay tuned to the DSU Athletics website or download the Trojan Nation fan app to stay up to date with pairings and schedule.  All six NSAA teams, along with two teams from the Cal-Pac Conference will compete (Simpson had secured a spot).
 
TROJANS IN THE NSAA RANKS:   According to NAIA-PrestoStats as of Thursday, Nicholai Arbach leads the North Star Athletic Association with 71 strikeouts this season for Dakota State.  He is also second in the league with 2.27 earned runs average (ERA) and tied for fourth most pitching wins with six.  Cameron DeMaria is third in the NSAA with 14 home runs, while Darcy Barry is third with 18 stolen bases.

DSU BASEBALL DEVELOPMENTAL TEAM UPDATES:  The Dakota State developmental baseball team is 8-8-1 overall record this season after earning a doubleheader split at Midland (Neb.) on April 21, winning the first game 6-2 and falling short 3-2 in the second game.  DSU's home game with Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) on April 23 was canceled due to weather and will host Northwestern (Iowa) in the finale Monday evening.

DSU and (24) BU trade shut-out victory at Flynn Field
Madison, S.D. (April 18, 2025)—Dakota State (S.D.) and No. 24 ranked Bellevue (Neb.) kicked off their North Star Athletic Association's four-game series, trading a shut-out victory at Flynn Field.
 
The Trojans kicked off the four-game series finale with a 1-0 shutout victory over the Bruins, thanks to Nicholai Arbach's complete game victory with nine strikeouts and scattered only two hits.

Dawson Portner smashed a solo home run in the bottom third as DSU grabbed a 1-0 lead and their only run in the game.  Connor Raney, Cassidy Watt, and Seth Altwine also added a single.

Bellevue answered with a 5-0 shutout in a nine-inning contest over Dakota State, scoring a run in each of the first three innings which included a pair of solo home runs.

The Bruins added two runs in the top seventh inning to balloon their lead to 5-0, securing the victory.

Hunter Vikemyr hit a double for Dakota State.  Cameron DeMaria and Portner each added a single.  George Hogan recorded a walk.

Sam Tyrpa pitched 6 1/3 innings on the pitching mound, despite the setback.  He recorded six strikeouts.  Treyten Kola and Caleb Hoppe combined pitched 2 2/3 shutout innings in relief.

Trojans fall to (24) Bruins on Senior Day
Madison, S.D. (April 19, 2025)—Dakota State (S.D.) fell to No. 24 ranked and North Star's conference leader Bellevue (Neb.) at Flynn Field, closing their 2025 home schedule.  The Trojans also honored their 14 seniors after the conclusion of the four-game series.

The Bruins scored in the first three-and-half innings, opening a 11-1 lead over the Trojans.  BU never trailed as they secured a 12-2 victory.

Hunter Vikemyr and George Hogan each hit a double for the Trojans.  Connor Raney and Camaron Haller each added a hit.  Seth Altwine collected two RBIs in the game.

Bellevue outscored Dakota State 7-3 in the final four innings of the four-game series finale, breaking a 2-2 tie for a 9-5 victory.  The Bruins clinched the series victory 3-1 record over the Trojans.

Cassidy Watt, Haller, Darcy Barry, and Dawson Portner each hit a home run for DSU.  Barry had two RBIs.  Alex Swack recorded the setback on the pitching mound after tossing six innings.  Braylon Bear and Aiden Urbom also pitched in relief. 

DSU's Arbach collects NSAA and NAIA weekly honors
Madison, S.D. (April 21-22, 2025)—The North Star Athletic Association (NSAA) and the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) has selected Dakota State's (S.D.) senior right-handed pitcher Nicholai Arbach as the baseball's Pitcher-of-the-Week.  It marked the second time during head coach Derrion Hardie's career that a pitcher was named to NAIA national Pitcher-of-the-Week award (JD Kirchner in 2022). 

Arbach recorded a 7-inning, complete game shutout against NAIA's nationally ranked No. 24 Bellevue (Neb.) on April 18 at Flynn Field.  Last week's 7-inning outing was his fifth consecutive complete game and handed the Bruins their first NSAA defeat of the season, as well as snapping their 17-game winning streak.

Arbach surrendered only two hits on the pitching mound for DSU.  He recorded nine strikeouts (11.57 strikeouts per nine innings) and walked non.  He closed the game in the top seventh inning by strikeout the first two batters and picking up a ground ball and ran for an unassisted put-out at first base for 1-0 win. 

2025 DSU Baseball Team Leaders

· Hits:  Cassidy Watt—48 hits

· Batting Average:  Cameron DeMaria—.352 batting average (45-of-128 at-bats)

· Slugging Percentage:  Cameron DeMaria—.750 slugging percentage (22 singles, 9 doubles, 12 home runs)

· Runs Batted In (RBIs):  Cassidy Watt—41 RBIs

· Doubles:  Cassidy Watt—10 doubles

· Triples:  Hunter Vikemyr, Seth Altwine—1 triple

· Home Runs:  Cameron DeMaria—14 home runs

· Total Bases:  Cameron DeMaria—96 total bases

· Runs Scored:  Darcy Barry—41 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—.479 on-base percentage

· Innings Pitched:  Nicholai Arbach—63 1/3 innings

· Earned Runs Average (ERA):  Nicholai Arbach—2.27 earned run average

· Strikeouts (Pitching):   Nicholai Arbach—71 strikeouts

· Complete Games (Pitching):   Nicholai Arbach—8 complete games

· Wins:  Nicholai Arbach—6 wins

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

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