February 12, 2026

THIS WEEK'S PREVIEW
The Dakota State University Trojan baseball team (2-2 overall record) continues their action in the preseason tournament this weekend.  The Trojans travel to Estes Field (411 Central Methodist University Square) in Fayette, Mo., to play a four-game slate in the Eagle Invitational, hosted by Central Methodist (Mo.).

DSU opens the Eagle Invitational action Friday afternoon against a pair of NAIA's Preseason Top 25 nationally ranked teams, starting at 12 p.m. versus No. 23 Columbia (Mo.) (1-3 overall record).  The Trojans face the host team No. 25 ranked Central Methodist (2-2 overall record)  at 3 p.m.

Dakota State closes out their second preseason tournament on Saturday versus Madonna (Mich.) (2-2 overall record).  They will play a doubleheader, starting at 12 p.m. 

QUICK HITS
*Dakota State plays their second preseason tournament of the season, facing three different opponents in the Central Methodist (Mo.) Eagle Invitational at Estes Field in Fayette, Mo.  The Trojans face three opponents from three different conferences - the American Midwest Conference, the Heart of America Athletic Conference, and the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference.

*The Trojans will be facing an opponent that is ranked in the NAIA Baseball Coaches' Preseason Top 25 national poll for the second and third straight game on Friday.  The Trojans had faced No. 1 ranked LSU-Shreveport last Saturday and will face No. 23 Columbia (Mo.) on Friday and No. 25 Central Methodist (Mo.) on the same day.

*The last time DSU faced Columbia was in the Joplin (Mo.) Invitational on Feb. 19, 2023, won by the Cougars 7-0.  Friday's contest will be their second all-time meeting for DSU and Columbia.

*Dakota State and Central Methodist met in Tucson, Ariz., for a doubleheader on March 7, 2015.  The Eagles swept the doubleheader with the Trojans by the scores of 6-2 and 8-3.

*DSU will meet Madonna (Mich.) of the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference for the first time in the all-time series meeting on Saturday in Fayette, Mo.

SCOUTING THE COUGARS
Mike Byrnes enters his 10th season as the head baseball coach at Columbia College. He has a record of 311-128 at CC.

Columbia started the season at the Springfield Tournament, hosted by the College of the Ozarks (Mo.). They split their opening day games, losing a 3-2 decision against the host team and winning against Calvary University (Mo.) 14-0. The next day, the Cougars dropped two close contests, falling short against Morningside (Iowa) 3-1 and against Saint Xavier (Ill.) 4-3.

The Cougars are hitting .238 coming into this weekend. Their pitching staff is pitching to a 1.80 team earned run average and a .237 batting average against.

SCOUTING THE EAGLES
Nate Breland is in his 12th season at the helm of the Central Methodist baseball program. In his time as the head coach of the Eagles, his teams have recorded an overall record of 396-176.

The Eagles started off the season at the Cajun Collision, where they recorded a 2-2 record. The highlight of the weekend was their 4-3 win over No. 1 ranked LSU-Shreveport, ending the Pilots' historic 65-game winning streak. The Eagles also defeated (RV) Science & Arts(Okla.). Central Methodist dropped contests to Texas A&M-Texarkana and Louisiana Christian.

CMU is hitting .202 as a team coming into this weekend, and their staff is pitching to a 6.67 team earned run average.

SCOUTING THE CRUSADERS
Drew Huard enters into his second season leading the Madonna (Mich.) baseball program. In his first year at the helm, he led the Crusaders to a winning record of 28-24. 

Madonna opened their season with a series against Indiana Wesleyan at a neutral site in Alabama. The Crusaders split the series against the Wildcats.

Madonna is hitting .268 as a team coming into this weekend. Their staff is pitching to a 7.98 team earned run average and a .328 batting average against.

LAST TIME OUT
Dakota State kicked off their 2026 season, competing in the Cajun Collision in Sterlington, La.  It was the second straight year that the Trojans played in the challenging preseason tournament that featured teams that qualified for the NAIA national tournament last season or ranked in the NAIA Baseball Coaches' Preseason Top 25 national poll.

Dakota State earned a 5-4 season-opening victory over 2025 national tournament's qualifier Louisiana Christian on Feb. 6.  The Trojans opened with a 1-0 lead after the first inning and fell behind 3-1 after the top third frame.  DSU answered with three runs in the bottom third to overtake a 4-3 lead, followed by a run in the bottom fourth.  The Wildcats scored a run in the final inning but the Trojans held on to a one-run victory.

Cameron DeMaria finished the game by going 3-for-4 at the plate with three RBIs for Dakota State.  Connor Raney added two hits.  Aidan Perry, Camaron Haller, and Ryland Carroll each recorded a hit.  Hayden Leighty started the game on the pitching mound, working for three innings.  Alex Ferrin (W, 1-0) earned the win after tossing three scoreless innings.  Austin Armstrong earned his first save after working for two scoreless outs in the top seventh inning.

Despite falling 2-0 to LSU-Alexandria in the second game on Feb. 6, the Trojans answered with five runs in the bottom first inning thanks to 3-run home run by Haller followed by a 2-run home run by George Hogan.  The Generals exploded for 15 runs in the top second inning and defeated DSU in a high scoring affair by the score of 21-10.

DeMaria had three hits and two RBIs in the game for Dakota State.  Perry added two hits and a walk.  Raney, Haller, Hogan, Hunter Den Boer, Carroll, and Chris Vinson each had a hit.

The Trojans won the pitching duel with Park (Mo.) for the second win of the season on Feb. 7.  Ryland Carroll tossed a complete game victory, holding off the Pirates by the score of 2-1.  DeMaria collected two RBI singles in the game, including the game-winning RBI single in the top seventh for a 2-1 lead.  Raney, Haller, and Hogan each recorded a hit in the game.  Carroll finished the game with 10 strikeouts and limited Park to three singles.

Dakota State closed the preseason tournament with an 11-1 setback to NAIA's No. 1 ranked team LSU-Shreveport.  The Pilots jumped to a 9-0 lead after four innings and never trailed in the game.  Haller and Vinson each talled two hits in the game.  Den Boer added a double.  Raney had a single and an RBI.  

TROJANS SWEEP INAUGURAL FRONTIER CONFERENCE BASEBALL WEEKLY HONORS
The Frontier Conference announced their inaugural baseball weekly honors earlier this week.  Dakota State swept the first Frontier Conference baseball weekly honors, with Ryland Carroll being selected as Pitcher-of-the-Week and Cameron DeMaria being named as Player-of-the-Week.

As a true freshman, Carroll tossed a 7-inning complete game victory for the Trojans over Park 2-1 on Feb. 9 in the third game of the Cajun Collision preseason tournament in Louisiana.  He limited the Pirates to one unearned run on three hits and recorded 10 strikeouts (12.86 K/per nine inning) in his first career collegiate start for DSU.

Carroll, a native of Brandon, S.D., did not record a hit-by-pitch in the game on the pitching mound.

DeMaria kicked off the 2026 season with three consecutive multi-hits games, starting the season by going 3-for-4 with two doubles and drove in three runs in 5-4 win over Louisiana Christan on Feb. 8.  He followed up with a perfect 3-for-3 with two RBIs, despite falling to LSU-Alexandria in a high scoring affair on the same day.

DeMaria went 2-for-3 with two RBIs, including the game-winning RBI single in the top seventh inning to hold off Park on the second day of the tournament on Feb. 9.   The Trojans closed the tournament with a setback to NAIA's No. 1 and national defending champion LSU-Shreveport.

DeMaria, a native of Fresno, Calif., finished the week by going 8-of-13 at the plate for .615 batting average.  He produced a slugging percentage of .769 with two doubles and six singles.  He drove in seven runs in the tournament and scored twice.

DSU IN THE FRONTIER CONFERENCE RANKS
According to the NAIA-PrestoStats website as of Thursday, Cameron DeMaria of Dakota State leads the Frontier Conference in batting average of .615.  He is 8-of-13 at the plate prior to the Trojans' baseball games this weekend in Missouri.  DeMaria is also tied for third in the league with seven runs batted in (RBIs).

Ryland Carroll leads the Frontier Conference with 0.00 earned run average after tossing a complete game shutout victory over Park (Mo.) on Feb. 7.  He is also tied for third in the conference with pitching wins with one win.  Austin Armstrong also tied for third in the conference with one save, earning his first career collegiate save after DSU's season opening victory over Louisiana Christian on Feb. 6.

2026 DSU BASEBALL TEAM LEADERS

· Hits:  Cameron DeMaria—8 hits

· Batting Average:  Cameron DeMaria—.617 batting average (8-of-13 at-bats)

· Slugging Percentage:  Cameron DeMaria—.769 slugging percentage (6 singles, 2 doubles)

· Runs Batted In (RBI):  Cameron DeMaria—7 RBIs

· Doubles:  Cameron DeMaria. Aidan Perry—2 doubles

· Triples:  Connor Raney—1 triple

· Home Runs:  Camaron Haller—1 home run

· Total Bases:  Cameron DeMaria—10 total bases

· Runs Scored:  Aidan Perry, Connor Raney—4 runs

· Walks:  Aidan Perry—4 walks

· Hit-by-Pitch:  Aidan Perry, Cameron DeMaria, Hunter Den Boer—1 hit-by-pitch

· Stolen Bases: Connor Raney, Hunter Den Boer—1 stolen base

· On-base percentage:  Cameron DeMaria—.667 on-base percentage

· Innings Pitched:  Ryland Carroll—7 innings

· Earned Runs Average (ERA):  Ryland Carroll—0.00 earned run average (0 earned runs in 7 innings)

· Strikeouts (Pitching):   Ryland Carroll—10 strikeouts

· Complete Games (Pitching):   Ryland Carroll—1 complete game

· Wins:  Ryland Carroll, Alex Ferrin—1 win

· Saves:  Austin Armstrong—1 save