The University of Minnesota Duluth had its offense rolling in the season-opening series at Pittsburg State University, but the Bulldogs pitching staff and defense will need to catch up in a hurry as the team heads on its annual Florida trip for eight non-conference games against six teams in five days at the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational.

UMD (1-3) will play a pair of regional match-ups against Wayne State (Mich.) University and Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference rival Wayne State (Neb.) College, face three past opponents in St. Joseph's (Ind.) College, Ohio Dominican University, and Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania, and a first-time foe in Walsh (Ohio) University. The Bulldogs opened up the season falling in a four-game series on the road against the Gorillas, but put together some eye-popping numbers at the plate that hopefully, the team will have packed on the trip to Florida as well.

SCOUTING THE PUMAS | 2-4, 0-0 Great Lakes Valley Conference
St. Joseph's opened its season at a pair of regional tournaments, falling in its first two games while splitting its last four ... the Pumas knocked off Ashland (Ohio) University 4-2 last Sunday in Evansville, Indiana but gave up 24 runs in three games last weekend, falling 11-9 and 11-8, respectively, against Truman State University and the University of Missouri-St. Louis ... junior infielder Riley Benner leads the SJC offense, hitting .400 (10-of-25) in six starts this season, driving in and scoring five runs on the season ... junior outfielder Brendan Rivera is slugging .625 with three doubles and one home run, crossing the plate eight times ... senior first baseman Garrett O'Neill has driven in eight runs while slugging .542 and getting on-base at a .407 clip ... three starters have combined for a 7.52 ERA in 26.1 innings for St. Joe's ... junior right-hander Zachary Aring (0-1) has a tough-luck loss while allowing just two earned runs in 8.2 innings of work (2.08 ERA) .... head coach Rick O'Dette is in his 16th season leading the Pumas ... UMD is 3-1 all-time against St. Joseph's having taken a four-game series against the Pumas in Florence, Kentucky on Feb. 26 - Mar. 3, 2011.

SCOUTING THE PANTHERS | 3-0, 0-0 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
Ohio Dominican began its season sweeping a three-game series against Wheeling Jesuit (W.V.) University in Chillicothe, Ohio, scoring 26 runs in the process ... the Panthers will take on a pair of NSIC foes, Wayne State (Neb.) and Minensota State before facing the Bulldogs in Florida ... senior infielder Ian Huss lifted six hits, including a double, in 10 at-bats during the series against the Cardinals ... sophomore infielder Justin Childers and junior infielder Tony Evans each hit two triples against WJU. Evans had six runs batted in on the weekend ... sophomore right-handed pitcher Matt Kittelberger tossed seven shutout innings for ODU ... only two hurlers allowed even a single earned run for the Panthers ... head coach Paul Page is in his 29th season managing for Ohio Dominican ... the Bulldogs are 1-2 all-time against the Panthers, falling in both ends of a doubleheader last time out on Mar. 13, 2014.

SCOUTING THE ROCK | 2-6, 0-0 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference
Slippery Rock snapped a five-game winless skid last time out, knocking off California (Pa.) University 18-5 in Dinwidde, Virginia last Monday afternoon ... the Rock will play five games in Florida before taking on the Bulldogs Tuesday afternoon ... junior outfielder Ty Zimmerman has started every game for Slippery Rock, hitting .382 with four doubles in 34 at-bats ... sophomore catcher/outfielder Tyler Walters is hitting a team-best .542 (13-of-24) while slugging 1.083 with four home runs and 15 runs batted in ... senior pitcher Jon Anderson leads the starting staff with a 3.37 ERA in 10.2 innings across two starts, striking out nine ... sophomore pitcher Alex Pantuso has a 5.40 ERA in two starts but 15 strikesouts in 10.0 innings pitched ... head coach Jeff Messer is in his 16th season managing at Slippery Rock ... UMD is 1-2 all-time against the Rock, falling 14-4 in the Bulldogs' last meeting with Slippery Rock on Mar. 19, 2013.

SCOUTING THE WILDCATS | 3-5, 0-0 NSIC
Wayne State (Neb.) opened its season with five straight losses but has since won three straight, scoring 46 runs over that stretch ... the Wildcats won a four-game set against Oklahoma Panhandle State University, including a 22-3 victory ... junior third baseman Cody Jenkins earned the second NSIC Player of the Week title going 10-for-15 against the Aggies. He leads WSC with a .433 batting average and 13 hits on the year ... senior outfielder Nate Ackermann has a team-leading 13 runs batted in and three home runs among his nine hits in 2016 ... junior right-hander Keenan Breen has produced a staff-best 3.72 ERA in a pair of starts spanning 9.2 innings, striking out eight in that span ... junior southpaw Tanner Ledezma has a pair of appearances, striking out seven in 8.1 innings ... head coach Alex Koch is in his second season leading the Wildcats ... UMD will once again miss out on facing WSC in the NSIC regular season, with the Wildcats holding a 27-11 all-time record against the Bulldogs ... UMD knocked off Wayne State 2-0 in the NSIC Tournament on May 6, 2015.

SCOUTING THE CAVALIERS | 2-5, 0-0 GLIAC
Walsh has stumbled out of the gates in 2015, losing a four-game series at California (Pa.) while picking up its second win of the season, a 10-0 victory over Wayne State (Mich.) last Friday at a tournament in Nashville, Tennessee ... the Cavaliers will play five games in Florida, facing off against NSIC opponents in Winona State University and No. 8 Minnesota State University Mankato, before taking on the Bulldogs ... junior first baseman Andrew Stalnaker leads Walsh with seven runs scored and a .500 on-base percentage hitting .391 with five walks on the season ...  junior catcher Luke Caple is slugging .640 on the season with five extra base hits including two triples, driving in nine runs on the year ... senior right-hander Seth Robinson leads the starting staff with a 3.38 ERA while striking out 14 in 8.0 innings of work ... head coach Tim Mead is managing the Cavaliers for the 32nd season in 2016 ... this will be the first meeting between UMD and Walsh in program history.

SCOUTING THE WARRIORS | 0-3, 0-0 GLIAC
Wayne State (Mich.) has started its season 0-3, surrendering 28 runs in three nine-inning games in Nashville, Tennessee last weekend ... the Warriors will head to Evansville, Indiana to take on the University of Southern Indiana and Trevecca Nazarene this weekend before starting its Florida trip with UMD next week ... sophomore infielder Brad Baldwin leads WSU with a .357 batting average and .714 slugging percentage in three starts with each of his five hits going for five doubles. He has six RBIs on the year ... junior infielder Jeremy Carrell has just two hits on the season but adding four walks and a hit-by-pitch, leads the Warriors with five runs ... Wayne State's starting staff combined for an 11.08 ERA in 13.0 innings pitched over its first weekend ... junior righthander Chris Horvath struck out five batters without a walk allowed in 4.0 innings of work ... head coach Ryan Kelley is in his eighth season managing the Warriors ... WSU owns an 11-3 all-time record against UMD, including sweeping a doubleheader against the Bulldogs last seaso in Florida.

CIRCLING THE BASES