North Dakota State Bison baseball
{{Infobox college baseball team
| name = North Dakota State Bison baseball
| current =
| logo = North Dakota State Bison wordmark.svg
| logo_size = 200
| founded = {{Start date|1909}}
| university = North Dakota State University
| athletic_director = Matt Larsen
| coach = Tyler Oakes
| tenure = 4th
| conference = Summit League
| division =
| location = Fargo, North Dakota
| stadium = Newman Outdoor Field
| capacity = 4,513
| nickname = Bison
| conference_history =
North Central Conference (1958–2004, Division II)
Independent (2005–2007)
Summit League (2008–Present)
| national_champion =
| runner_up =
| cws =
| regional_champ =
| ncaa_tourneys = Division I
2014, 2021
Division II
1969
Pre–Divisions
1956
| conference_tournament = Summit League
2014, 2021
North Central Conference
1969, 1973, 2004
| conference_champion = Summit League
2022
North Central Conference
2000
}}
The North Dakota State Bison baseball team is the varsity intercollegiate baseball program of North Dakota State Bison in Fargo, North Dakota, United States. The program's first season was in 1909, and it has been a member of the NCAA Division I Summit League since the start of the 2008 season. Its home venue is Newman Outdoor Field, located on North Dakota State's campus. Tyler Oakes is the team's head coach in his second season. The program has appeared in 2 NCAA Division I tournaments. It has won 5 conference tournament championships and 2 regular season conference titles. As of the start of the 2024 Major League Baseball season, 2 former Bison have appeared in Major League Baseball and 3 are currently in Minor League Baseball.
History
=Early history=
The program's first season of play was 1909.
=Conference affiliations=
- North Central Conference (1958–2004)
- Independent (2005–2007)
- Summit League (2008–present)
Newman Outdoor Field
{{main|Newman Outdoor Field}}
The stadium contains the Maury Wills Museum in honor of the former Major League Baseball player who worked for the RedHawks as a coach and a radio analyst.
The first number retired at the stadium was the #8 worn by hometown hero Roger Maris when he played for the Fargo-Moorhead Twins in the 1950s. The outfield distances replicate those of Yankee stadium where Maris made history.
In 2012, college baseball writer Eric Sorenson ranked the field the sixth most underrated venue in Division I baseball.{{cite web|last=Sorenson|first=Eric|title=Distiller's Dozen – The "Hey, Nice Stadium" Edition|url=http://blogs.eastonbaseball.com/collegebaseballtoday/2012/10/05/distillers-dozen-the-hey-nice-stadium-edition/|work=CollegeBaseballToday.com|access-date=14 December 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121027125530/http://blogs.eastonbaseball.com/collegebaseballtoday/2012/10/05/distillers-dozen-the-hey-nice-stadium-edition/|archive-date=27 October 2012|date=5 October 2012|url-status=dead}}
In 2021, the stadium played host to the second NDSU Baseball team to make it to the 2021 NCAA Division I baseball tournament as the Bison went 14–4 at home that season.
In 2023, the stadium hosted the 2023 Summit League baseball tournament after the NDSU Baseball team won their first Summit League regular season title in program history.
Head coaches
North Dakota State's longest tenured head coach was Mitch McLeod, who coached the team from 1993 to 2007.
North Dakota State's most successful coach in the Division 1 era is Tod Brown who had a record of 341–350 in his 14 seasons at NDSU. He also led the Bison to two NCAA tournament berths in 2014 and 2021, including the Bison's first NCAA tournament win when they defeated Nevada 6–1 at the Stanford Regional in the 2021 NCAA Division I baseball tournament.{{cite web|url=https://gobison.com/news/2021/6/5/bison-beat-nevada-6-1-to-advance-at-ncaa-baseball-regional.aspx|title=Bison Beat Nevada 6–1 to Advance at NCAA Baseball Regional|date=5 June 2021 |publisher=North Dakota State Athletics|accessdate=December 2, 2021}}
| class=wikitable
{{CollegePrimaryHeader|team=North Dakota State Bison|#|Name|Year|Record}} | |||
| 1 | Art Rueber | 1909–1913 | 36–16–1 |
| 2 | Bert Haskins | 1914 | 11–2 |
| 3 | Howard Wood | 1915 | 8–7 |
| 4 | Stan Borleske | 1920–1921, 1923–1924 | 21–14–1 |
| 5 | F.H. Watkins | 1922 | 4–4 |
| 6 | Stan Kostka | 1947 | 5–3 |
| 7 | Packy Schaffer | 1951 | 2–8 |
| 8 | B.C. Bentson | 1952–1954, 1957–1961 | 35–53 |
| 9 | Cliff Rothrock | 1955–1956 | 19–12 |
| 10 | Ross Fortier | 1962 | 5–10 |
| 11 | Roger Shelstad | 1963 | 4–9 |
| 12 | Vern McKee | 1964–1965 | 21–27 |
| 13 | Ev Kjelbertson | 1966–1968 | 24–41 |
| 14 | Ron Bodine | 1969–1970 | 26–15 |
| 15 | Arlo Brunsberg | 1971–1973 | 45–30 |
| 16 | Bucky Burgau | 1974–1977 | 41–73 |
| 17 | Rolf Kopperud | 1978–1979 | 15–39 |
| 18 | George Ellis | 1980–1984 | 62–138 |
| 19 | Jim Pettersen | 1985–1992 | 131–203–3 |
| 20 | Mitch McLeod | 1993–2007 | 347–322–4 |
| 21 | Tod Brown | 2008–2021 | 341–350 |
| 22 | Tyler Oakes | 2022–present | 74–79–1 |
| Overall | 1909–2024 (122 years) | 1276–1453–10 |
Postseason history
=NCAA Division I Tournament results=
The Bison have appeared in two NCAA Division I tournaments. Their combined record is 1–4.
| class="wikitable"
{{CollegePrimaryHeader|team=North Dakota State Bison|Year|Regional|Regional Seed|Opponent|Result}} | ||||
| align="center"
| 2014 | Corvallis | #4 | #1 Oregon State #2 UNLV | L 1–2 L 1–2 |
| align="center"
| 2021 | Stanford | #4 | #1 Stanford #3 Nevada #2 UC Irvine | L 1–9 W 6–1 L 3–18 |
=NCAA Division II Tournament results=
The Bison appeared in one NCAA Division II tournament. Their record was 2–2.
| class="wikitable"
{{CollegePrimaryHeader|team=North Dakota State Bison|Year|Regional|Opponent|Result}} | |||
| align="center"
| 1969 | Mankato | Luther Southwest Missouri State Minnesota State Mankato Southwest Missouri State | W 10-0 L 1-6 W 12-10 L 2-4 |
=NCAA Pre–Division Tournament results=
Before the 1957 season, the NCAA did not divide member schools into any divisions, thus having a master tournament. The Bison appeared in one of these such tournaments, their record was 1–1.
| class="wikitable"
{{CollegePrimaryHeader|team=North Dakota State Bison|Year|Regional|Opponent|Result}} | |||
| align="center"
| 1956 | District 5 (Stillwater, OK) | Oklahoma Bradley | W 8-3 L 2-11 |
Notable former players
Below is a list of notable former Bison and the seasons in which they played for North Dakota State.
- Neil Wagner (2003–2005) Played for Oakland Athletics in 2011 and the Toronto Blue Jays in 2013–14https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/w/wagnene01.shtml
- Jay Flaa (2013–2015) Played for the Baltimore Orioles and Atlanta Braves in 2021https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/f/flaaja01.shtml
- Bennett Hostetler (2017–2021) Currently Plays on Triple-A Jacksonville for the Miami Marlins{{cite web|url=https://www.milb.com/player/bennett-hostetler-702315|title=Bennett Hostetler Stats, Fantasy & News|website=milb.com|publisher=Minor League Baseball|access-date=May 24, 2023}}{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=hostet000ben|title=Bennett Hostetler College, Amateur, and Minor League Statistics|website=baseball-reference.com|access-date=January 16, 2025}}
Division I Awards and Honors
=All-Summit League=
- First Team
- 2012
- Tim Colwell
- John Straka
- 2013
- Wes Satzinger
- Tim Colwell
- Kyle Kleinendorst
- Jon Hechtner
- 2014
- Michael Leach
- 2016
- Drew Fearing
- 2017
- Logan Busch
- 2019
- Max Loven
- 2021
- Bennett Hostetler
- Jake Malec
- Cade Feeney
- Parker Harm
- 2022
- Calen Schwabe
- Logan Williams
- 2023
- Peter Brookshaw
- Druw Sackett
- Cade Feeney
- Tristen Roehrich
- 2024
- Jake Schaffner
- Joey Danielson
=Summit League Player of the Year=
- Tim Colwell (2014)
=Summit League Coach of the Year=
- Tyler Oakes (2022)
=Summit League Newcomer of the Year=
- Max Loven (2019)
See also
References
{{reflist}}