The University of Minnesota Duluth's 2005 softball road show will continue Saturday and Sunday (April 2-3) when the Bulldogs journey to Omaha, Neb., for the University of Nebraska Omaha Invitational.

THE SCHEDULE: UMD will open play Saturday by facing three Missouri-based schools -- Truman State University (9 a.m.), Missouri Western State College (11 a.m.) and Washburn University (3 p.m.) before taking on Northwest Missouri State University (11 a.m.) and former Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference rival Southwest Minnesota State University (1 p.m.) the following day. All games will be held at the Dill Field complex.

THE RECORDS: The Bulldogs are off to an 11-10 overall start in 2005.

THE COACH: The winningest coach in the history of Bulldog athletics, Bill Haller (UMD, 1970) is in his 24th season at the UMD softball helm. Haller has now directed the Bulldogs to a 647-284 overall record (for a .697 winning percentage), which includes a whopping 211-35 mark (.858) in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference play. In addition, his Bulldogs have captured 13 (of a possible 21) NSIC regular season crowns and have made two visits to the NCAA North Central Regionals (1996 and 2002). In 1988, he guided UMD to a runner-up finish in its first-ever visit to the NAIA Championships in Oklahoma City, Okla. and followed that up with seventh- and fifth-place finishes in 1990 and 1991. Haller was selected as the 1991 NAIA-National Softball Coaches Association Coach of the Year after the Bulldogs made their third NAIA national tournament appearance in four years. Heading into the 2005 season, Haller ranked 17th all-time among NCAA II coaches in victories and 14th in career winning percentage.

LAST WEEK: UMD went 5-7 during its weeklong stay in Orlando, Fla., which concluded last Friday (March 25). The Bulldogs, who won four of their final five outings in the Sunshine State, batted a respectable .322 in the 12 games, but stranded 104 runners in the meantime. Three of UMD's five wins last week came at the expense of Pace University.

TOUGH COMPETITION: Both Missouri Western State University (No. 13) and Washburn University (No. 23) hold down spots in the latest National Fastpitch Coaches Association NCAA II Top 25 Poll.

GROOM STAYS HOT: Senior catcher/designated player Dayna Groom, who has now hit safely in all 16 games she has played in this spring, continues to top the 2005 Bulldogs in batting with a .463 average. That 16-game hitting streak is just three games shy of the Bulldog record set by AmyLou Ashe back in 1996.

SPEAKING OF STREAKS: Like Groom, fellow senior Lindsey Lundeen has also managed at least one hit in each of her last 16 outings. The second-year starting secondbaseman was named the North Central Conference's Player of the Week after hitting .543 in 11 games last week

NCC OPENER LOOMING: The Bulldogs will return to Omaha next week for a doubleheader with the Nebraska-Omaha and their first-ever NCC engagement.

BULLDOG BITS: UMD has outscored its opposition in every inning this season except the fifth (15-16). The Bulldogs have racked up 24 second-inning runs this season while holding the competition to just six runs in that same frame ... A pair of freshmen -- Brittany Hansen and Jessica Horne -- have seen plenty of activity with the Bulldog mound staff thus far. Hansen has appeared in 12 of 21 games and in a team-leading 50 2/3 innings of work has produced a 3-3 record, a 2.66 earned run average, while fanning 57 batters. Horne sports a 2.05 EA and a 2-2 mark in her 11 appearances. Senior Jill Struck, the lone pitcher back from a year ago, has logged 46 innings is 3-5 on the season ... UMD is batting .328 as a team in 2005 while the opponents have managed to hit at a .240 clip (although lefties are batting .304).