Baseball 3/5/2026 5:13:00 PM Nick Huntimer, Dakota State University Sports Information Director

Trojan baseball looks to swing back in winning column this weekend in Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Dakota State (S.D.) plays first four-game series of the season, visiting Mount Mercy (Iowa)

March 5, 2026

This Week's Preview
The Dakota State University Trojan baseball (4-9 overall record) looks to swing back in the winning column as they play their first four-game series of the season. The Trojans travel to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Saturday and Sunday at Plaster Athletic Complex (651 19th Street NE) to take on Mount Mercy (Iowa) (6-7 overall record) of the Heart of America Athletic Conference.

The first doubleheader starts on Saturday at 11 a.m. and concludes the four-game series on Sunday with a doubleheader starting at 12 p.m.

Quick Hits
*Dakota State kicks off the month of March as they play their first four-game series of the season. The Trojans play their second opponent from the Heart of America Athletic Conference this season, Mount Mercy (Iowa).

*DSU defeated fellow Heart of America Athletic Conference's foe, Park (Mo.) 2-1 in the Cajun Collision in the season opening preseason tournament in Sterlington, La.

*The Trojans are seeking to return in the winning column after dropping in the 3-game series at Sterling (Kan.) last weekend. DSU is seeking their first win since Feb. 18 when they split their doubleheader with Midland (Neb.).

*Dakota State has made up their home season opener with Midland (Neb.) on March 17 at Flynn Field, where they will be playing their second doubleheader of their four-game series. They were originally scheduled to play the four-game series at home on Feb. 20-21. Both teams played their first doubleheader in Lincoln, Neb., on Feb. 18.

*DSU remains on the road next weekend as they travel to Bethel (Kan.) for another four-game series before they open their 25-game Frontier Conference season. The Frontier Conference season opener takes place at Sanford Sports Complex in Sioux Falls, S.D., where they will play four seven-inning games round robin, with DSU playing four North Dakota schools in the Frontier Conference Jamboree.

SCOUTING THE MUSTANGS
Jack Dahm enters his 12th season leading the Mount Mercy baseball program. Dahm came to Mount Mercy in June 2014 after serving as head coach of the Iowa Hawkeyes from 2003-13. At Iowa, he led the Hawkeyes to the Big Ten Tournament three times. They finished second in 2010, their highest finish in the tournament since 1982. Prior to his tenure at Iowa, Dahm was the head coach of the Creighton Bluejays from 1993-2003. The Bluejays made back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances in 1999 and 2000 and Dahm was a two-time Missouri Valley Conference Coach of the Year in 1999 and 2002.

The Mustangs are batting .252 as a team with 16 home runs and 32 extra base hits. Their pitching staff is pitching to a 6.37 team earned runs average and a .277 batting average against.

Mount Mercy is led at the plate by Christian Graves and Lane Spieker, who are batting .417 and .300 respectively and have contributed 35 percent of the team's RBI this season.

This is the first all-time meeting between Dakota State and Mount Mercy.

Mount Mercy advanced to the Heart of America Athletic Conference postseason tournament's championship game last season before falling to Central Methodist (Mo.). The Mustangs earned a spot to play in the NAIA Baseball National Tournament Opening Round before falling to Indiana Wesleyan and Science & Arts (Okla.) in Lincoln, Neb.

LAST TIME OUT
Dakota State continued their action away from their home field (Flynn Field) as they played in a 3-game series at Sterling (Kan.) last weekend. The Trojans were unable to come up with a victory as they dropped three games in the series with the Warriors.

DSU kicked off the series with a 10-8 setback, despite falling behind 9-4 after four innings. The Trojans mounted a comeback in the top sixth inning, pouring in four runs, capped by back-to-back RBI singles by Cameron DeMaria and George Hogan as DSU trimmed SC's lead to 9-8. The Warriors added a run in the bottom half of the sixth inning and shut down the Trojans in the final inning.

Aidan Perry tallied three hits in the game for the Trojans. Camaron Haller and George each added two hits and two RBIs. Connor Raney recorded two hits and swiped one base. DeMaria tallied a single, RBI, and walk. Ryland Carroll and Cameron Kittridge each recorded a single.

Hayden Leighty started the game on the pitching mound for DSU. Braylon Bear took the setback after working for two innings in relief. Max Woll tossed the final two innings.

Sterling kicked off the second game of the doubleheader on Feb. 27 by shutting down Dakota State 6-0, thanks to their fast start in the bottom first inning with three runs scored.

Hogan recorded a double and a single for Dakota State. Kittridge added two walks. Chris Vinson recorded a single. Treyten Kolar took the loss on the mound after tossing 2 2/3 innings. Kellan Johns worked for 2 1/3 innings in relief. Kolar and Johns each recorded four strikeouts. Collin Grimmel pitched a shutout sixth inning in relief.

The finale of the three-game series (9-inning game) saw a high scoring affair that went to extra innings. After DSU taking the first lead in the top first inning, SC plated four runs in the bottom first to take a 4-1 lead. Vinson capped Trojans' four-run top fourth inning with a bases clearing 3-RBI double to overtake a 6-4 lead.

Sterling answered with five runs in the bottom half of the fourth inning, regaining their lead to 9-6. The Trojans added two runs in the top sixth and added a run in the top sixth inning to knot the game at 9-9. Both teams were unable to score through the ninth inning as the game was extended into extra innings.

Dakota State took the first lead in the top 10th inning caused by a defensive error from Sterling, earning a 10-9 lead. Sterling answered with two runs in the bottom 10th inning with one out to secure an 11-10 victory.

Raney, Perry, DeMaria, Aiden Barfuss, and Vinson each recorded two hits for the Trojans. Vinson collected four RBIs. DeMaria and Barfus each recorded two RBIs. Carroll started the game on the pitching mound for DSU. Alex Ferrin and Johns also worked in relief. Austin Armstrong took the defeat after tossing 5 1/3 innings in relief, despite recording eight strikeouts.

TROJANS IN THE FRONTIER CONFERENCE RANKS
According to the NAIA-PrestoStats website as of Thursday, Dakota State's Cameron DeMaria ranks second in the Frontier Conference with 18 runs batted in (RBIs). He also ranks seventh in the league with .405 batting average (17-of-42 at the plate) this season. He ties for seventh most hits in the conference (17 hits) with three other players (Kaden Rozdeba of Valley City State, N.D.; Pacey Philliips of Bismarck State, N.D,; and Anthony Lind of Bellevue, Neb.). Aidan Perry ranks 11th with .381 batting average, while Chris Vinson ranks 13th with .364 batting average.

Connor Raney ties the Frontier Conference in stolen bases with seven stolen bases this season for the Trojans.

Austin Armstrong ranks second in the league with three saves for DSU's pitching.

FRONTIER CONFERENCE SEASON OPENS IN TWO WEEKS
The Frontier Conference baseball season officially kicks off on March 21-22 in the round-robin action, held at the Sanford Jackrabbit Athletic Complex in Sioux Falls, S.D. The six Frontier Conference baseball members will be playing four games of seven innings, where the traveling teams will not be facing each other in the jamboree (the traveling teams will meet for a nine-inning contest during a mid-week in April).

Dakota State will play four games against North Dakota schools, kicking off the tournament versus Bismarck State (N.D.) on March 21. The Trojans then will face Valley City State (N.D.) on the same day.

On the second day of the Frontier Conference jamboree on March 22, Dakota State plays Dickinson State (N.D.) and Mayville State (N.D.).

The full season gets underway the following weekend on March 27-28 with a four-game series. The Trojans open their Frontier four-game series at Bismarck State, followed by Valley City State on April 3-4 before returning home for a mid-week game with Bellevue (Neb.) on April 7 and a four-game series with Valley City State (N.D.) on April 10-11.

2026 DSU BASEBALL TEAM LEADERS

· Hits: Cameron DeMaria—17 hits

· Batting Average: Cameron DeMaria—.405 batting average (17-of-42 at-bats)

· Slugging Percentage: Chris Vinson—.576 slugging percentage (9 singles, 1 double, 2 home runs)

· Runs Batted In (RBI): Cameron DeMaria—18 RBIs

· Doubles: Aidan Perry—4 doubles

· Triples: Connor Raney—1 triple

· Home Runs: Camaron Haller, Chris Vinson—2 home runs

· Total Bases: Camaron Haller, Cameron DeMaria—23 total bases

· Runs Scored: Aidan Perry—14 runs

· Walks: Connor Raney—10 walks

· Hit-by-Pitch: Cameron DeMaria, George Hogan—2 hit-by-pitches