The University of Minnesota Duluth rides its program-record 18-game winning streak into the final week of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference regular season. The first-place Bulldogs will meet third-place St. Cloud State University on Wednesday in a battle between the two top-hitting teams in the nation by batting average and slugging percentage.
No. 16 UMD (33-9, 26-4 NSIC) will close out the regular season at Bulldog Park, where the Bulldogs are 10-0 on the season, hosting the University of Mary. The team currently has the lead in the NSIC standings thanks to three more wins and one fewer defeat than second-place Augustana (S.D.) University, and seven more wins and two fewer losses than the third-place Huskies heading into the final six games of the conference campaign. Unlike many other teams across the Northern Sun, UMD has yet to have a conference contest cancelled due to weather.
SCOUTING THE HUSKIES | 34-6, 19-6 NSIC
No. 3 St. Cloud State split a weekend four-game series at home against Northern State University this past weekend, earning wins of 4-2 and 7-0 while falling 12-5 and 6-2 ... the Huskies are 5-1 in weekday conference games ... sophomore left-handed Sheldon Miks leads the SCSU pitching staff, posting a 7-1 record in 11 appearances including eight starts. He's struck out as many batters (55) as he's allowed hits (55) in 62.2 innings ... another sophomore southpaw, Keivn Bolder, often takes the mound in the second half of those weekday doubleheaders, postin a 5-1 record and 4.32 ERA with 52 strikeouts and just 35 hits in 41.2 innings ... freshman shortstop Judd Davis has broke out with a .440 batting average in his first collegiate go-around ... senior designated hitter Reese Gregory is hitting .438 with 15 home runs and 15 doubles while driving in 50 runs on the year ... head coach Pat Dolan is in his ninth season leading the Huskies ... SCSU owns a 34-16 record all-time against UMD, sweeping a doubleheader last season on April 29, 2015 at Bulldog Park.
SCOUTING THE MARAUDERS | 7-35, 5-24 NSIC
U-Mary split a doubleheader against Bemidji State University last Sunday, and will take on Valley City State University and Northern State this week before traveling to Duluth this weekend ... the Marauders are just 3-17 away from Bismarck on the season ... senior second baseman Jason Shaul leads U-Mary with a .356 batting average, slugging four home runs and 11 doubles on the year and driving in 25 runs ... sophomore catcher Tom Imholte has 10 doubles on the year while hitting .354 in 2016 ... sophomore right-hander Jake Johnson leads the Marauders starting staff with a 4.14 ERA, striking out 48 in 50.0 innings ... sophomore righty Ryo Takenaka has a 1-2 record and two saves in 18 appearances out of the bullpen while posting a 3.15 ERA in 20.0 innings ... head coach Joel Barta is in his fifth season at the helm of the U-Mary ... UMD is 16-3 all-time against the Marauders, taking 3-of-4 from U-Mary last season on the road on April 25-26, 2015.
CIRCLING THE BASES
UMD extended its program-record winning streak to 18 games, going 6-0 on the week with series sweeps of Upper Iowa and Minot State ... senior third baseman
Kyle Comer hit .480 on the week, slugging 1.240 with five home runs and four doubles, driving in 18 runs and score 11 times. The Bulldogs hit 16 home runs on the week with five different players contributing multiple big flies across the six NSIC contests ... senior first baseman
Alex Wojciechowski followed up an NSIC Player of the Week performance with a 10-for-23 week, driving in 12 and scoring 11 times with a pair of home runs ... senior second baseman
Jimmy Heck had two homers and 12 RBIs while hitting .542 on the week ... senior left-hander
Spencer Diedrich's one-hit, zero-earned run complete game effort against Upper Iowa highlighted the pitching performances on the week ... junior lefty
Kevin Stocke tossed 6.0 innings without allowing an earned run against Minot State, striking out six ... sophomore lefty
Tommy Hanson struck out 12 batters while going 2-0 on the week over 7.1 innings ... senior righty
Austin Vaske struck out 11 Beavers in 6.1 innings of work against Minto State.
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RANKINGS
| Poll |
UMD |
SCSU |
MARY |
| NCBWA National Top 25 (May 3) |
16 |
3 |
-- |
| CBN National Top 30 (May 2) |
23 |
12 |
-- |
| NCAA II Central Region Rankings (Apr. 27) |
3 |
1 |
-- |
| NCBWA Regional Top 10 (May 3) |
2 |
1 |
-- |
WEATHER EYE
Wednesday: Sunny ... High 63 (RealFeel: 65) Low 33 ... Wins NNW 8 mph ... Precipitation 0%
Friday: Sunny ... High 69 (RealFeel: 73) Low 48 ... Winds WSW 8 mph ... Precipitation 10%
Saturday: Mostly cloudy/storm chance ... High 59 (RealFeel: 59) Low 39 ... Winds NW 12 mph ... Precipitation 41%
GAME COVERAGE
... vs. St. Cloud State:
Live Stats |
Live Video
... vs. U-Mary:
Live Stats & Video
ON DECK
UMD and St. Cloud State will duel on Wednesday evening in St. Cloud as both teams enter the final week of the NSIC regular season with a doubleheader. 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. First pitch Wednesday is set for 4:00 p.m. at Joe Faber Field.
