April 7, 2025

MADISON, S.D. – Nicholai Arbach of Dakota State (S.D.) was selected by the North Star Athletic Association Monday afternoon as the baseball's Pitcher-of-the-Week honor.  The sixth edition of the weekly honors were announced by the conference office.

Arbach, 6-foot-9 senior right-handed pitcher from Hayti, S.D., tossed his third straight complete game victory for the Trojans.  He shut down Valley City State (N.D.) 5-0 in the North Star Athletic Association four-game series opener, paving the way for the Trojans to their four-game series sweep of the Vikings.

It was Arbach's fourth straight pitching victory, raising his pitching record to 5-2 this season for DSU.  He scattered just three singles (lowest hits allowed this season) and registered nine strikeouts.  He accumulated 28 total strikeouts in the last three games, including a season-high 10 strikeouts versus Jamestown (N.D.) on March 27 at Flynn Field.

Arbach leads the North Star Athletic Association in earned run average (ERA) overall of 2.36 this season for Dakota State.  He allowed 13 earned runs in 49 2/3 innings this season.  He is also second in the league with 1.93 ERA during conference contests. 

Arbach racked up a total of 215 career strikeouts at Dakota State, which is third all-time in the school record book behind Sam Tyrpa (currently all-time record holder with 235 strikeouts) and JD Kirchner with 222 strikeouts from 2021-24.

Nicholai is a business management at Dakota State University.

Dakota State (18-15 overall record, 5-3 NSAA conference record) plays their first road conference contests this weekend.  The Trojans travel to Dickinson State (N.D.) for the NSAA four-game series at Dakota Community & Trust Ballpark.  The doubleheader starts Friday afternoon at 2 p.m. (Central Time)/1 p.m. (Mountain Time), followed by another doubleheader Saturday at 1 p.m. (CT)/12 p.m. (MT).