DSU baseball upcoming schedule at Bellevue (Neb.) this weekend & Northwestern (Iowa) Tuesday

Baseball 4/16/2026 7:22:00 PM Nick Huntimer, Dakota State University Sports Information Director

Trojans continue series with (3) Bruins this weekend; close non-conference schedule Tuesday at NWIA

Dakota State visits No. 3 ranked Bellevue (Neb.) for Frontier Conference four-game series; travels to Orange City, Iowa, Tuesday for nine-inning game

April 16, 2026

THIS WEEK'S PREVIEW
The Dakota State University Trojan baseball team (16-22-1 overall record, 8-8-1 Frontier Conference record) continues their Frontier Conference's five-game series this weekend with No. 3 ranked Bellevue (Neb.) (36-3 overall record, 16-0 Frontier Conference record). After the Bruins took the first game earlier this week, both teams play a four-game series at the newly baseball field at Renner Dennis Athletic Complex (2102 Harvell Circle) in Bellevue, Neb.

Dakota State closes their non-conference schedule Tuesday late afternoon, traveling to Northwestern (Iowa) (21-17 overall record) of the Great Plains Athletic Conference. The nine-inning game will be held at Baseball Diamond (208 8th Street SW) at the campus of Northwestern in Orange City, Iowa. First pitch is set for 4 p.m.

QUICK HITS
*Dakota State and Bellevue (Neb.) continues their Frontier Conference's five-game series this weekend. They opened their first game at Flynn Field earlier this week and will play four-game series this weekend in Bellevue, Neb. This is the first time that both teams play each other for five consecutive games in their series meeting.

*The Trojans are seeking for their first win over Bellevue on their home site since April 28, 2023. DSU held on to defeat BU in a 9-6 15-inning thriller in Bellevue. DSU's last win with the Bruins was last season with a 1-0 shutout victory at Flynn Field on April 18, 2025.

*Dakota State concludes their non-conference schedule on Tuesday, visiting Northwestern (Iowa) of the Great Plains Athletic Conference. The Trojans had won the previous three meetings with the Red Raiders.

*DSU closes out their regular-season schedule at home, hosting Mayville State (N.D.) next weekend at Flynn Field.

2025-26 STATS COMPARISON


Batting Average	.344	.306	.289
Runs	366	289	256
On-Base %	..441	.406	.398
Slugging %	.592	.486	.431
Home Runs	73	49	35
Hits	426	372	319
Doubles	72	67	66
Triples	8	3	1
Stolen Bases	72	66	43
Walks	160	166	193
Fielding %	.972	.953	.963
ERA	4.19	8.75	6.27

SCOUTING THE BRUINS
Duane Monlux enters his 16th season leading the Bellevue (Neb.) baseball program. The Bruins have averaged a 44-16 record during his tenure. Monlux ranks 10th among active NAIA baseball coaches in career wins.

Bellevue has won twenty-four consecutive games as of prior to coming this weekend's four-game series with Dakota State (S.D.). Their last setback came against (RV) Webber International (Fla.) on March 6. The Bruins have won 35 of their last 361 contests.

The Bruin offense is led by Carter Claerhout, who is batting .470 while slugging .919. He leads the team in home runs with 17 and extra-base hits with 32. Bellevue's pitching staff has a 4.14 team ERA and a .273 batting average against.

Last season, DSU recorded a 1-3 record against Bellevue, the lone win being a 1-0 victory behind a complete game effort by Nicholai Arbach, who allowed just two hits and recorded nine strikeouts. The Bruins kicked off the five-game series with a 25-10 high scoring affiar at Flynn Field on April 14.

SCOUTING THE RED RAIDERS
Brian Wede was the head coach at Northwestern (Iowa) baseball program since the summer of 2006 after a two-year stint as the team's pitching coach in 2004-06. His tenure has been the most successful in the 50-plus years history of the program, leading the Red Raiders to 490 wins.

Wede had guided NWIA to four Great Plains Athletic Conference regular season champions, three times GPAC tournament champions, and six times NAIA postseason appearances.

Northwestern is 21-17 overall record before entering their Thursday's and Friday's home contests with Midland (Neb.). The Red Raiders are led by Ranier Castillo with a batting average of .388. NWIA holds a team batting average of .280 and posts an earned run average of 6.27.

The last time both teams met was in 2022, where the Trojans earned all three wins. DSU earned a doubleheader sweep over NWIA on Feb. 18, 2022, by the scores of 13-0 and 2-1 in nine innings. Dakota State added a 9-4 win over Northwestern in their last meeting on April 26, 2022, at Flynn Field.

LAST TIME OUT
Dakota State continued their home stand at Flynn Field and hosted Dickinson State (N.D.) in the Frontier Conference's four-game series on April 11-12. Both teams split their four games, giving the Trojans their season series victory over DiSU (Trojans earned an 11-2 victory in the Frontier Jamboree in Sioux Falls, S.D., on March 22).

The Blue Hawks kicked off the four-game series by shutting down the Trojans 11-0. Dickinson State outhit Dakota State 16-3 in the first game. Aidan Perry had a double for the Trojans, while Connor Raney and Camaron Haller each added a single. Raney had a stolen base. Hayden Leighty took the setback on the pitching mound after tossing four innings. Braylon Bear and Cole Drumheller also pitched in the game.

DiSU opened the second game of the series with a 2-0 lead before DaSU poured in six runs in the bottom half of the first inning. DSU's first six batters produced hits, sparked by Raney's lead-off home run. The Trojans led 8-3 after four innings before Dickinson State rallied back to overtake the lead. With Dakota State leading 8-4 in the top eighth inning, the Blue Hawks exploded for five runs to overtake a 9-8 lead. However, the Trojans answered with five runs in the bottom eight, highlighted by Perry's 2-run home run. George Hogan, Cameron Kittridge, and Aidan Marsh each added an RBI single to secure the victory.

Eight different DSU players recorded at least two hits in the game, led by Cameron DeMaria and Hogan with four hits each. Raney added three hits. Perry, Haller, Kittridge, Hunter Den Boer, and Marsh each had two hits. Austin Armstrong started the game on the pitching mound, working for six innings. Alex Ferrin pitched in relief before Treyten Kolar earned the win after closing the game in the final 1 2/3 innings by shutting down DiSU.

The second day of the doubleheader, both Dakota State and Dickinson State earned a doubleheader split. The Blue Hawks had to rally back in the final inning and held on to defeat the Trojans 7-6. The Trojans led 6-3 after six innings before DiSU came back with a grand slam in the top seventh inning to secure the victory.

Hogan finished the game by going 3-for-3 at the plate with two RBIs, a home run, double, and single. Raney and Kittridge each added two hits. Haller and Marsh each recorded a hit and an RBI. Ryland Carroll started the game on the pitching mound for DSU, tossing 6 1/3 innings. Brody Thompson took the setback in relief after working the final two outs i the top seventh inning.

Dakota State closed the four-game series by scoring a total of eight runs in the first two innings and never trailed, fueled by Raney's lead-off solo home run followed by DeMaria's 3-run home run. Hogan finished the game with two hits and four RBIs. DeMaria had two hits and three RBIs. Haller tallied three hits and two RBIs. Kittridge had two hits and an RBI. Kellan Johns picked up the victory after tossing seven innings and allowed three unearned runs on nine hits. Bear closed the game in the final two innings in relief.

DSU closed their season-high nine-game home stand at Flynn Field with a 25-10 high scoring affair setback to No. 3 ranked Bellevue (Neb.). The Bruins scored 12 runs in the first three innings and never trailed. Perry was 3-for-5 at the plate with two RBIs for the Trojans. DeMaria added two hits and three RBIs. Raney and Kittridge each had a hit and an RBI. Den Boer, Marsh, and Aiden Barfuss each had a hit.

TROJANS IN THE FRONTIER CONFERENCE RANKINGS
According to the NAIA-PrestoStats as of Thursday, Cameron DeMaria ties the Frontier Conference in runs batted in with 53 RBIs with Carter Claerhout of Bellevue. DeMaria also ranks fifth with .400 batting average in the league. Connor Raney leads the Frontier Conference with 24 stolen bases (tied for third most stolen bases in a single-season with Darcy Barry in 2025 and Rays Roman in 2013) and also ranks second in the league with 29 walks during the conference season. Austin Armstrong is tied for fourth most saves in the league for DSU.

Cameron Kittridge is seventh in the league with .410 batting average in 17 Frontier Conference games. George Hogan ranks 11th in the conference with .382 batting average. Raney is 16th with .367 batting average, followed by DeMaria 17th with .364 batting average. Kittridge is fourth in the conference with .787 slugging percentage in the league contests.

Dakota State ranks third in the Frontier Conference with .322 batting average in 17 league games this season. The Trojans are second in the league with .465 slugging percentage and 179 total hits. DSU is third in the conference with .538 slugging percentage and second in hit-by-pitches with 32.

2026 DSU BASEBALL TEAM LEADERS

· Hits: Cameron DeMaria—50 hits

· Batting Average: Cameron DeMaria—.400 batting average (50-of-125 at-bats)

· Slugging Percentage: Cameron DeMaria—.688 slugging percentage (32 singles, 9 doubles, 9 home runs)

· Runs Batted In (RBI): Cameron DeMaria—53 RBIs

· Doubles: Cameron DeMaria—9 doubles

· Triples: Connor Raney—2 triples

· Home Runs: Cameron DeMaria—9 home runs

· Total Bases: Cameron DeMaria—86 total bases

· Runs Scored: Connor Raney—50 runs

· Walks: Connor Raney—29 walks

· Hit-by-Pitch: Cameron DeMaria—15 hit-by-pitches