UPDATE 4/21/16 3:00 pm: Due to inclement weather forecasted for Bemidji on Saturday evening into Sunday, the University of Minnesota Duluth's Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference series against Bemidji State University has been shifted to Friday and Saturday afternoon at the BSU Baseball Field. First pitch is now set for 3:00 p.m. on Friday afternoon and 12:00 p.m. on Saturday.
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The University of Minnesota Duluth won its sixth-straight game with a pair of one-run victories to complete a series sweep of Concordia University, St. Paul on Sunday afternoon at Bulldog Park. This week, UMD (21-9, 14-4 NSIC) hosts the University of Minnesota, Crookston and travels to Bemidji State University in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference action.
SCOUTING THE GOLDEN EAGLES | 18-11, 11-4 NSIC
Minnesota Crookston is in the midst of a resurgent season under second-year head coach Steve Gust, already surpassing its win total from a season ago including a series victory over Upper Iowa University in Crookston earlier this week on Sunday and Monday ... freshman first baseman/outfielder Reed Hjelle leads the Eagles with a .416 batting average, driving in 23 runs and scoring 25 times ... senior first baseman Kenny Perez is second, hitting .404 with a team-best seven home runs on the season ... senior right-hander Nolan Wahlberg has a 6-1 record in seven starts, tossing 50.0 innings to the tune of a 5.22 ERA on the year ... freshman right-handed Zach Seipel has made 12 appearances out of the bullpen, posting a 2-1 record with seven saves in 11.0 inning ... the Bulldogs are 39-2 all-time against the Golden Eagles including a doubleheader sweep by scores of 6-0 and 10-2 last season on April 15, 2015.
SCOUTING THE BEAVERS | 11-27, 8-14 NSIC
Bemidji State swept the battle of the Beavers in the NSIC, taking both ends ofa doubleheader against Minot State University including an 18-13 win last time out ... BSU took 3-of-4 from Sioux Falls last weekend, the team's second series victory of the conference campaign ... senior outfielder Tyler Nelson leads the Beavers with a .435 batting average, eight home runs, and 33 runs scored on the season. He has struck out just nine times ... sophomore outfielder Scott Litchy has a team-leading 38 RBIs with six homers and 11 doubles already this season ... senior left-handed Nate Heisick leads the Beaver pitching staff with a 4.36 ERA in 12 appearances including a pair of starts, tossing 31.0 innings ... junior righty Logan Reidel has 11 appearances out of the Bemidji State bullpen, posting a 4.15 ERA and 21 strikeouts in 21.2 innings ... head coach Tim Bellew is in his 11th season leading BSU ... UMD owns a 97-39 all-time record against the Beavers including a four-game series sweep last season at Bulldog Park on April 17-18, 2015.
CIRCLING THE BASES
Senior first baseman
Alex Wojciechowski hit four home runs, moving himself into sole possession of first place all-time at UMD with 40 in his career. His 20 long bombs this season leads the nation and have shattered the Bulldog program record for a single year. Wojo hit .500 with a 1.278 slugging percentage, drawing eight walks last week to extend a 25-game streak of reaching base ... despite the record-setting weekend for Wojciechowski, it was senior second baseman
Jimmy Heck who led UMD in most offensive categories, hitting .591 with a 1.364 slugging percentage and .557 on-base average. He had 13 hits in 22 at-bats, drove in 12 runs, and crossed the plate 10 times. He knocked out five home runs and a triple, walked five times, and only strike out once on the week ... Heck also picked up a victory on the mound, tossing 1.0 inning against Concordia on Sunday afternoon ahead of his game-winning three-run home run in the bottom of the seventh inning ... senior left-hander
Bo Hellquist continued his streak of going 5.0-plus innings in every start this season, tossing 6.0 innings and picking up his team-leading fifth victory of the season while striking out nine Golden Bears on Saturday. Senior right-handed
Austin Vaske took a start into the eighth inning against Concordia, striking out 8 in 7.1 innings while allowing just a pair of earned runs in the late game Saturday.
MILESTONE WATCH
Heck currently has 193 career hits. With seven more, he will join A. Wojciechowski (232) and Comer (204) in joining the 200-hit club at UMD. The trio represents the sixth, seventh, and eighth players respectively to reach that mark for the Bulldogs ... Comer and Wojciechowski also will each land in the top-five for career runs batted in at UMD when they careers complete. Wojciechowski's 182 RBIs are already a program-best while Comer's 138 are fourth, and Heck's 118 sit just outside the top-five ... Wojicechowski will break his own Bulldog single season record of 135 total bases (set in 2015) with just four more this season ... with his fifth victory of the season on Saturday, Hellquist now has 14 in his career. The UMD record is 20. His 160 career punchouts are fourth all-time among Bulldogs.
RANKINGS
| Poll |
UMD |
UMC |
BSU |
| NCBWA National Top 25 (Apr. 19) |
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-- |
-- |
| CBN National Top 30 (Apr. 18) |
-- |
-- |
-- |
| NCBWA Regional Top 10 (Apr. 19) |
8 |
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WEATHER EYE
Wednesday: Cloudy ... High 55 (RealFeel: 56) Low 42 ... Winds: E 5 mph ... Precipitation: 25%
Friday: Sunshine... High 55 (RealFeel: 67) Low: 37 ... Winds: ESE 8 mph ... Precipitation: 2%
Saturday: Cloudy/PM Showers ... High 62 (RealFeel: 59) Low 42 ... Winds: E 10 mph ... Precipitation: 67%
HOW TO FOLLOW
vs. Minnesota Crookston:
Live Stats & Video
vs. Bemidji State:
Live Stats |
Live Video
WHAT'S NEXT?
All NSIC doubleheaders feature one seven-inning game followed by a nine-inning game. If the first game goes to extra innings, then the second reverts to a seven-inning game as well. UMD and UMC will get the action started on Wednesday afternoon at Bulldog Park in Duluth. Opening pitch is set for 1:30 p.m.
