Through the first two series of the 2016 season, the North Dakota State baseball team has had its most impressive start to a season in the last 11 years.

Since the 2005 season, the Bison have been over the .500 record twice through its first seven games.

The club started 5-2 in 2012 and wound up winning a total of 40 games, one of NDSU’s best seasons. This season’s team is on a similar path.

The Bison swept Arkansas-Pine Bluff in the first series of the season, and took three out of four games from Lamar over the weekend.

Before opening day, the Bison baseball student-athletes made an emphasis on wanting to leave their own legacy in the NDSU history books.

They don’t want to live off the 2012 40-win ball club or even the 2014 team that made it to the NCAA Division I Regional Tournament; they want to leave their own legacy on the diamond.

“This year is a brand new fresh start to really make our mark in program history,” said junior outfielder Ben Petersen. “And I think we have more then enough talent and capability to do that this year.”

Petersen seemed to lead the Bison in every statistical category last season. At the plate Petersen hit a team best .355 and started 47 of the 49 contests last season.

As the Bison are off to a hot start, Petersen is not, even though it is early.

His batting average sits at .188, with six strikeouts in five games. He’s just hit a single, double and triple.

But luckily for the Bison, this team has young guns that have stepped up to the plate and successfully reached base.

And sixth-year senior pitcher Parker Trewin predicted that just before the season started.

“We have a lot of young guys that have to step up and take pretty big roles right away for us, but I think they are ready,” Trewin said.

Outfielder Jayse McLean and infielder Mason Pierzchalski lead the Bison in batting average and are first and third on the team in the hits category, and have been a big part in helping NDSU jump out to an early 6-1 record.

Last season, McLean started in 16 games and had a .118 batting average, while Pierzchalski started 23 games and had a slightly higher batting average at .247. However, this season both sophomores are batting around the .400 mark and have 19 hits between the both of them.

The Bison have a lot of young talent and an experienced pitching staff and with seven players returning from last year’s team it’ll help from a chemistry perspective, considering NDSU doesn’t get to play on its home grass until April 6.

NDSU will compete on the diamond Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the Snowbird Baseball Classic in Port Charlotte, Florida.

The team starts Summit League play on March 18 on the road. NDSU’s first three conference series are back-to-back-to-back on the road.