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 3 NCAA Division I tournaments. It has won 6 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
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.
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.
1 Art Rueber 1909–1913 36–16–12 Bert Haskins 1914 11–23 Howard Wood 1915 8–74 Stan Borleske 1920–1921, 1923–1924 21–14–15 F.H. Watkins 1922 4–46 Stan Kostka 1947 5–37 Packy Schaffer 1951 2–88 B.C. Bentson 1952–1954, 1957–1961 35–539 Cliff Rothrock 1955–1956 19–1210 Ross Fortier 1962 5–1011 Roger Shelstad 1963 4–912 Vern McKee 1964–1965 21–2713 Ev Kjelbertson 1966–1968 24–4114 Ron Bodine 1969–1970 26–1515 Arlo Brunsberg 1971–1973 45–30 16 Bucky Burgau 1974–1977 41–7317 Rolf Kopperud 1978–1979 15–3918 George Ellis 1980–1984 62–13819 Jim Pettersen 1985–1992 131–203–320 Mitch McLeod 1993–2007 347–322–421 Tod Brown 2008–2021 341–35022 Tyler Oakes 2022–present 95–113–1Overall 1909–2025 (123 years) 1297–1487–10
Postseason history
NCAA Division I Tournament results The Bison have appeared in three NCAA Division I tournaments. Their combined record is 2–6. 2014 Corvallis #4 #1 Oregon State#2 UNLV L 1–2L 1–2 2021 Stanford #4 #1 Stanford#3 Nevada#2 UC Irvine L 1–9W 6–1L 3–18 2025 Fayetteville #4 #1 Arkansas#2 Kansas#3 Creighton L 2–6W 4–3L 10–11
NCAA Division II Tournament results The Bison appeared in one NCAA Division II tournament. Their record was 2–2. 1969 Mankato LutherSouthwest Missouri StateMinnesota State MankatoSouthwest Missouri State W 10-0L 1-6W 12-10L 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. 1956 District 5 (Stillwater, OK) OklahomaBradley 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 2013–14 Jay Flaa (2013–2015) Played for the Baltimore Orioles and Atlanta Braves in 2021 Bennett Hostetler (2017–2021) Currently Plays on Triple-A Jacksonville for the Miami Marlins
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 2025 Jake Schaffner Nolan Johnson Danny Lachenmeyer 2026 Parker Puetz
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) Sheamus Ryan (2026)
Summit League Pitcher of the Year Nolan Johnson (2025)
Summit League Defensive Player of the Year Jake Schaffner (2025)
See also List of NCAA Division I baseball programs
References
External links