The North Dakota State Bison Baseball team was back in action Tuesday night, traveling to Minneapolis for a quick one game set versus the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers.
The Bison would strike first in this one, getting a leadoff bunt single from Jake Schaffner. Davis Hamilton would come up two batters later, doubling down the left field line, advancing Schaffner to third base. Sam Canton would drive in Schaffner with a groundout in the infield, giving NDSU a 1-0 lead. Luke Agnew would get the start on the mound for North Dakota State. Agnew would start his evening off with a walk to Drew Berkland. Berkland would use this walk to steal second and third base, before being brought in on a Parker Knoll single up the middle, to even up the score at 1-1, through the first inning.
NDSU would go to their bullpen in the second inning, bringing in Sam Roberts. Roberts would have better results than Agnew, sending down the Gophers in order. The Bison would do some damage in the third inning, getting four runs on four hits in a row. Sam Canton would bring in the first run of the inning, smacking a breaking ball off the right- center field wall. Colten Becker would bring in the other three of those four runs with his fourth home run of the year, hooking a ball down the right field line that would just stay fair.
Colten Becker homer! 🚀
He crushes the three-run shot to extend the lead! pic.twitter.com/4HPjnL7Usc
— NDSU Baseball (@NDSUbaseball) April 29, 2025
Cade Weigert would be the next man out of the bullpen for the Bison. Weigert would let the first two hitters reach first base via a walk and an HBP. The Gophers would bring in one of those runners in the inning after Parker Knoll hit a sacrifice fly to center field, bringing in Josh Fitzgerald. The Gophers didn’t register a hit in the inning but found themselves down 5-2 after three innings of play.
The Bison would keep the theme of a new reliever in the fourth inning, this time calling upon Matt Sargeant. Sargeant would give up a leadoff single before picking off the runner. After getting the first out via pickoff, Sargeant would pick up back-to back strikeouts to end the fourth inning.
Aiden Schenk, who was making his Bison debut, let his presence be felt in this matchup. After nabbing his first career Bison hit in the second inning which was a triple, Schenk would continue his stellar night, leading off the top of the sixth inning with a solo home run to right field, giving NDSU a 6-2 lead.
AIDEN SCHENK HOMER! 🚀 pic.twitter.com/N5CWOFDX1D
— NDSU Baseball (@NDSUbaseball) April 30, 2025
North Dakota State’s 6-2 lead would remain until the bottom of the eighth inning, when Minnesota would get a two out double from Josh Fitzgerald. The next batter, Weber Neels would bring in Fitzgerald when he singled to left field, keeping the inning alive for the Gophers. Danny Lachenmayer would come in to stop the threat, which he would, getting Charlie Sutherland to pop-out in foul territory.
The Bison weren’t able to add on to their three-run lead before the bottom of the ninth. Danny Lachenmayer would come back out to start on the mound in the ninth inning, looking for his seventh save on the year. Lachenmayer would shut the door on the Gophers, securing two strikeouts in the ninth inning, to give the Bison a 6-3 victory. NDSU’s offense collected 10 hits in the Tuesday victory. Colten Becker and Aiden Schenk contributed the two home runs in the effort. Becker nabbed three RBI’s while Schenk collected one. Colten Becker picked up the other two RBI’s.
The Bison pitching staff was amazing, getting 10 strikeouts while limiting the Gophers to five hits overall. Sam Roberts was credited with the win, striking out one hitter. Landon Koenig had five strikeouts over 2.2 innings, grabbing a new season high. The win is the Bison’s 15 th on the year, improving them to an overall record of 15-26. NDSU will be back in Fargo on Friday to host Oral Roberts for a three game weekend series. First pitch on Friday is set for 6:30.
*This article was written by Flag Family Media intern Cayden Lloyd*
