# North Dakota State Bison baseball

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 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

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.
| # | 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.
| Year | Regional | Regional Seed | Opponent | Result |
| 2014 | Corvallis | #4 | #1 Oregon State #2 UNLV | L 1–2 L 1–2 |
| 2021 | Stanford | #4 | #1 Stanford #3 Nevada #2 UC Irvine | L 1–9 W 6–1 L 3–18 |

## 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

### 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)