University of Minnesota Duluth senior Tim Battaglia has been selected by Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference coaches as the 2004 NSIC Baseball Player of the Year while the same group of coaches picked the Bulldogs second in the 2004 NSIC Preseason Coaches Poll, the league office announced today.

Battaglia (Sr., OF/P, Cloquet, Minn.) the 2003 NSIC Most Valuable Player led the conference in batting average (.517), on-base percentage (.583) and RBIs (34), while tying for the lead in homeruns (7) in 18 league games. He also finished second in slugging percentage (1.052) and total bases (61), tied for second in hits (30), tied for fifth in doubles (8) and tied for eighth with 22 runs scored.

The 2003 Central Region Player of the Year and 2003 an American Baseball Coaches Association All-American finished the 2003 campaign batting .463, setting UMD records with 15 home runs and 64 RBIs. He was also a vital cog in the Bulldogs pitching rotation posting a 7-3 record with a 2.80 ERA and collecting 51 strike outs in 54.2 innings of work.

Coming off a season in which the Bulldogs went 36-11 overall and 15-3 in the conference on their way to staking claim to their fourth regular season NSIC Crown and their first appearance in the NCAA Division II Tournament, NSIC coaches ranked the Bulldogs second in the 2004 NSIC Preseason Coaches' Poll . The Bulldogs received 63 points and three first place votes trailing only 2003 NSIC Tournament Co-Champion Wayne State College. The Wildcats garnered 65 points and four first place votes to edge out the Bulldogs for the top spot. Southwest Minnesota State also received a first place vote as it sits in possession of the third spot in the poll with 57 points. The rest of NSIC teams were ranked as follows: Concordia University-St. Paul (53), Winona State University (52), Bemidji State University (38), Northern State University (35) and the University of Minnesota-Crookston grabbed eight place with 29 points.

Wayne State's Travis McCarter wrapped up the 2004 Pitcher of the Year honors while UMD's Joe Korneta was included on the 2004 NSIC Players to Watch List.

The Bulldogs kickoff their 2004 season March 7 when they travel to Minneapolis, Minn. to face the University of St. Thomas in a twinbill. The games will be played in the always-65-and-sunny H.H.H. Metrodome with the first pitch set for 7:00 p.m. The NSIC season gets underway March 27 when all eight teams will be in action. UMD travels to Wayne, Neb. to face the Wildcats of Wayne State in a four-game set.