THE GAMES: The University of Minnesota-Duluth baseball team will be the top seed and host of the 2003 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Baseball Tournament Thursday, May 8, through Saturday, May 10, at Bulldog Park. The winner of the tournament will also be considered the overall league champion. Here is a complete tournament schedule:
Thursday, May 8
Game 1 -- No. 3 Southwest State vs. No. 2 Concordia-St. Paul, 12 p.m.
Game 2 -- No. 4 Wayne State vs. No. 1 Minnesota-Duluth, 3 p.m.
Friday, May 9
Game 3 -- Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2, 10 a.m.
Game 4 -- Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2, 1 p.m.
Game 5 -- Loser Game 4 vs. Winner Game 3, 4 p.m.
Saturday, May 10
Game 6 -- Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5, 12 p.m.
Game 7 -- If Necessary, 3 p.m.
THE COACH: Scott Hanna, who played on UMD's first two intercollegiate baseball teams (1972-73) is in his 25th season as the Bulldogs' head coach. Hanna is now 494-314 (.611) with UMD. He has led the Bulldogs to
all three of their NSIC crowns (1992, 1993 and 1999).
ABOUT THE BULLDOGS: The top-seeded Bulldogs, 35-9 overall, earned the right to host the NSIC Baseball Tournament by finishing first in the regular season league standings at 15-3. UMD clinched the top seed in the tournament by defeating Wayne State (NE) three out of four games last weekend at Bulldog Park. UMD junior Tim Battaglia (Cloquet, MN) was named NSIC Player of the Week for the second time this season. He was 9-for-12 (.750) with two home runs and 10 RBI in the Wayne State series. Battaglia also did his damage on the mound, picking up his team-leading seventh win in a four-hit 8-1 victory against the Wildcats.
ABOUT THE GOLDEN BEARS: Concordia-St. Paul is making its first ever trip to the NSIC Baseball Tournament. The Golden Bears, 21-9 overall, are enjoying their best record as an NCAA Division II school.
ABOUT THE MUSTANGS: Southwest State, 27-18 overall, is the defending NSIC Tournament champion and has won four of the seven titles since the tournament began in 1996. Jeff Groebner tied for the league lead in base hits with 32. SSU led the NSIC in batting average (.369), hits (242) and runs scored (207) during league games.
ABOUT THE WILDCATS: After a 23-6 start, Wayne State has lost seven of its last eight games. The Wildcats, who won their first 11 NSIC games in 2003, were ranked fourth in the latest NCAA II Central Region Poll released April 28. Bryan Foy was second in the NSIC in batting average (.492) and led the league in doubles (10) and slugging percentage (1.085). Travis McCarter led the NSIC with a 0.58 ERA and 38 strikeouts.
A LOOK AT THE NSIC
Team NSIC Overall
Minnesota-Duluth 15-3 35-9
Concordia-St. Paul 14-4 21-9
Southwest State 16-6 27-18
Wayne State (NE) 12-6 24-13
Winona State 11-6 20-16
Bemidji State 11-11 15-27
Minnesota-Crookston 7-15 7-37
Northern State 3-18 14-35
Minnesota-Morris 2-22 6-39
BULLDOG BITS: The Bulldogs are 25-3 in their last 28 games ... Tim Battaglia has hit safely in 22 straight games, passing teammate Greg Aker (Superior, WI) over the weekend. Aker had initially set the mark at 20 earlier this season. Battaglia has also set single-season school records for hits (65), home runs (15) total bases (124) and RBI (63) ... In NCAA II statisics through games of April 27, Tim Battaglia was 11th in hitting (.448), 13th in ERA (1.21), 17th RBI (1.36 RBIpg) and 18th in home runs (0.33 hrpg) ... Greg Aker ranked 24th in NCAA II in hitting (.434) for the same period ... As a team in the national statistics, UMD ranked sixth in ERA (2.90) and 17th in scoring (8.4 rpg) ... UMD had four of the top 10 hitters during NSIC games this spring. Tim Battaglia led league at .517, Joe Korneta (La Crosse, WI) was fourth (.452), Greg Aker was fifth (.448) and Brandon Broxey (Brooklyn Park, MN) was 10th (.417). Greg Aker led the league in runs scored with 33. Tim Battaglia led in RBI with 41 ... Nate Cermak (Apple Valley, MN) was named NSIC Player of the Week on April 15 by hitting a scortching .667 (10-for-15) with two home runs, four doubles and 13 RBI in games against Minnesota-Morris and St. Cloud State ... UMD has set single-season team records for wins (35), runs (371), hits (442), home runs (53) and RBI (321)
