FARGO, N.D. Parker Puetz enters his sophomore season as already one of the best pitchers in the Summit League.
The Volga native was named as one of the Summit League Players to Watch list on Wednesday after he appeared in 16 games last season for North Dakota State. He led the conference with an earned run average of 2.51 in his freshman season. Puetz started 10 games last year and had a record of 3-0, striking out 47 batters in 61.0 innings.
However, success did not come immediately for Puetz. In his first start of his career he pitched four innings and gave up three earned runs on two hits and walked five batters against Sacramento State. Puetz said the biggest adjustment going from South Dakota high school legion baseball to Division I baseball was the jump in talent.
Adjusting to the competition was big. Fall ball freshman year was kind of an introduction to the collegiate level of competition and then going into the season, all of that gets amped up another notch with it being in season and everyone being more competitive every single day. Getting ready for that competition day one [was a big adjustment[, Puetz said.
His next two appearances he pitched five and one-third innings and gave up five runs, four earned, on eight hits. Puetz didnt lose confidence though as he didnt give up a run in three of his next five appearances and struck out 13 batters in that stretch.
I thought my first start last year didnt go so well, Puetz said. I think there were a lot of things that I could change and improve on, but I still pitched pretty well and went out there and competed and held my own. It was still the first one and I was getting used to it.
Then each time I just tried to build on that and once we got into the end of our non-conference schedule and into conference [play], I started getting really comfortable and confident and thats when the switch flipped and I understood I could compete and have success [at this level].
The end of that stretch was the beginning of conference play and it came against South Dakota State. He pitched three innings and gave up one earned run on one hit and struck out five batters in that game against the school that he grew up 10 minutes from.
Conference play then began for NDSU and Puetz didnt look back. Against Summit League opponents in 2023 Puetz posted a 2.06 ERA and held opposing batters to a .187 batting average, both of which were the top of the conference.
One of his top performances came against league champion Oral Robers on April 23. He pitched seven innings and gave up three earned runs on four hits but struck out a season-high seven batters in that game. He then pitched his first complete game on May 7 against Northern Colorado and struck out five batters in a shutout victory.
Puetz was named to the 2023 All-Summit League Second Team and the 2023 D1Baseball Freshman All-America Second Team. As he enters his second season with NDSU he said he wants to be consistent throughout the season and it will be easier this year having gone through a full season now.
I feel a lot more comfortable [going into my second season], Puetz said. I know how everything works and how everything is going to go. As a freshman youre still kind of feeling it out and seeing how everything works and how the process goes. I think this year, knowing all of that and everything, it makes it easier to just worry about baseball and worry about pitching every single time youre out there.
Last year, obviously it was still a really good year, but there were just times where [consistency] wasnt always there. I think being a year older and it being my second year, I think having a bit more consistency day in and day out will be much better and will obviously help me in the long run.
NDSU started last season 1-16 but then went 16-7 in conference play and finished the year 23-30. The Bison fell to SDSU in the semifinals of the Summit League Tournament last season and Puetz said he and his teammates want to make sure that theyre playing their best baseball when Summit League play begins in mid-March.
Our non-conference schedule this year is another challenging one, but I think were ready to accept the challenge. Our goal is to compete at a high level and reach our ceiling as a team. Whether we find that in the non-conference or if it takes a couple games, I think were trying to be a fine tuned product as we get into our conference season or a month into the season, Puetz said.
NDSU begins its season on Friday at University of California Irvine. The Bison will host SDSU April 5-7 and will take a trip to Brookings for a series May 10-12. Puetz said hes been more than happy with his decision to play at NDSU.
I love the decision I made. Theres a lot of great people here and it really is a great community. Being able to come in every day and wear the green and gold is something special and I think it holds a lot of value here. Theres a great tradition of sports and athletics up here and Im really glad I made the decision to come up here, Puetz said.
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