THE OPENING PITCH: The University of Minnesota Duluth concludes its 2018 non-conference schedule with the Emporia State University St. Patrick's Classic in Emporia, Kan., starting Friday, March 16. The Bulldogs will compete in five games over the weekend against five different Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association teams before heading back to prep for conference play.
On Friday, they match up with Northeastern State University and tournament host Emporia State University. Missouri Southern State University and the University of Central Missouri is on the docket for Saturday and Sunday morning will feature UMD going up against Pittsburg State University.
SCOUTING REPORT ON THE ESU ST. PATRICK'S CLASSIC: The three-day classic will feature 10 teams playing 25 games over the course of the weekend. Five teams from the MIAA and five NSIC teams will make-up the regional field. Games will be played at the Trusler Sports Complex on the campus of Emporia State.
THE SCHEDULE:
DATE TEAM TIME LOCATION
3/16 Northeastern State 2 p.m. Cannon
3/16 Emporia State 4 p.m. Turnbull
3/17 Missouri Southern St. 10 a.m. Cannon
3/17 Central Oklahoma 12 p.m. Cannon
3/18 Pittsburg State 10 a.m. Cannon
HOW THEY RANK: Here is how UMD and its opponents stack up with its respective records and in the National Fastpitch Coaches' Association poll.
TEAM RECORD NFCA
UMD 15-3 RV
Northeastern State 12-8 NR
Emporia State 9-14 NR
Missouri Southern State 9-14 NR
Central Oklahoma 17-7 RV
Pittsburg State 9-17 NR
LIVE STATS: Live stats can also be viewed here:portal.stretchinternet.com/umd
Live stats can also be viewed in HTML form here: sidearmstats.com/umd/softball/xlive.htm
IN A RHYTHM: UMD is amongst a nine-game winning streak as it heads into it final non-conference weekend. That streak in tied for 10th-longest in Division II this year. That's the longest Bulldog streak since the 2013 club rallied off 14 straight.
NATIONAL PLAYER OF THE WEEK: On Wednesday, the Bulldogs received their program-first National Fastpitch Coaches Association National Player of the Week. Jessica Bren captured the prestigious distinction after going 12-for-18 (.667) with seven home runs and a triple. She knocked in 15 RBI and scored 11 times to go along with five stolen bases. Bren posted a .684 on-base percentage and a 1.944 slugging percentage. She is the first freshman this season to take home the honor.
NSIC WEEKLY DISTINCTIONS: The Northern Sun, on Tuesday, gave the NSIC Player of the Week honor to Jessica Bren and the NSIC Pitcher of the Week award to Valerie Hohol. Hohol went 3-0 in the circle for the Bulldogs this week with victories over Missouri-St. Louis, Saint Anselm and LIU Post. She tossed 19 innings giving up three runs for a 1.11 ERA. During the week, she fanned 17 batters while walking only four. Hohol was a part of a staff that allowed five total runs last week. Opting to finish her collegiate career early, the junior is 7-1 on the season and ranks third in the NSIC in victories and fourth in strikeouts (37).
SEND THEM PACKING: The nine strikeouts recorded by Valerie Hohol in the season opener against SMSU and by Breanna Swint in the latest game against Georgian Court were both collegiate highs. Hohol eclipsed her previous mark of eight strikeouts last year against the University of Minnesota Crookston. Swint bested her high of seven strikeouts done last season against MSU Moorhead.
RECENT PITCHING CLINIC: Before the trip to the PFX Athletics Spring Games, the Bulldogs had an ERA of 4.25. The latest stretch has lowered their team ERA down to 2.65. They have allowed six runs over the last eight games including back-to-back-to-back shutouts. The 2013 Bulldogs were the last club to whip up three consecutive shutouts as they kept Minot State and MSU Moorhead scoreless back on April 23-24, 2013.
THE CONFERENCE'S BEST AND WITH THE NATION'S BEST: The offense has been no joke in the first month-plus of the season as it has been clicking on all cylinders. UMD checks in as the best team in the NSIC in batting average (.363), runs per game (8.67), on-base percentage (.441), slugging percentage (.604), home runs per game (1.6), and stolen bases per game (2.8). Nationally, it is 10th in hitting, eighth in scoring, sixth in slugging , seventh in stealing and 11th in on-base.
TURNING TWO: Only eight teams have turned more double plays than the Bulldog defense this year. UMD has turned 12 double plays so far including three against Concordia-St. Paul on March 3. It is tied with Sioux Falls for the league lead. It is eighth in double plays turned per game in the county (0.67).
GETTING RUN PRODUCTION: The Bulldogs have scored six or more runs this season 12 times and have yet to fall when doing so and have 10 or more runs seven times. That production has them blowing teams out. They are 10-0 in five-plus run games.
OFFENSIVE BOMBARDMENT: It was rarified air on Feb. 15 against Missouri Western State. For only the third time in the last decade, the Bulldogs eclipsed the 20-run mark in their 22-12 shelling of the Griffons. Surprisingly, the 22 runs are tied for fifth most runs scored by a Division II team this season. In that game, Becky Smith scored five times, which is tied for second in the country for an individual game-high. They also had 21 RBI that contest, which is tied with three other squads for the nation lead.
The last time UMD had that many runners cross the plate was on March 4, 2006 when it put up a 25-spot on Marian College. The combined 34 runs were the most in program history since UMD and Upper Iowa University tabbed 39 runs back in April 15, 2007.
BOMB SQUAD: The Bulldogs have launched the ball out of the park. They rank first in the NSIC in home runs with 28. That is more than twice as much as second place St. Cloud State University (12). UMD circled the bases six times is a 17-2 thrashing of LIU Post. In that game Jordyn Thomas smashed three consecutive home runs including two in an inning. She is the first Bulldog to homer in three consecutive at-bats in a game and the last to hit multiple dingers in an inning since Ashley Lewis accomplished that feat back on March 26, 2016.
TAKE YOUR BASE: No one draws more walks for UMD then Lauren Oberle. She has 16 walks on the year, leading the NSIC. She has shown a keen eye at the plate with at least a walk in 12 games and multiple free passes in four of them. The Eden Prairie, Minn., native is 10th in the country in walks per game at 0.89.
THE NEW RBI KING: Back on Feb. 15, Becky Smith set the career RBI record at UMD, jumping pass Ashley Johnson (2008-11) and Kierra Jeffers (2010-13) for most all-time. She now sits with 163 RBI surpassing the old mark of 149. Smith, who is second on the team with 23 RBI this season, sits in ninth among her active Division II peers for RBI in a career. The Long Lake, Minn., native is tied for the club lead with six multi-RBI games.
SPEED DEMON: The season and career record holder in stolen bases, Hannah Schmoll has one last year to etch her name higher into the UMD record books. Back in 2016, Schmoll smashed the single-season stolen base record with the new aggressive guidance by coach Walter. Schmoll stole 40 bases on 46 attempts during her sophomore campaign. Last year, the Grand Rapids, Minn., native notched 37 steals, three shy of her own record. She was at it again as Schmoll has converted on all 20 attempts this season. In her three-plus seasons thus far, Schmoll has 122 stolen bags in 138 tries. Both those marks are career highs at UMD. Among active leaders in Division II, Schmoll ranks with the third most, 11 behind the top billing.
KEEPIN' THE STREAK: One of the biggest surprises is the pair of streaks put together by Jessica Bren. She started the year on a eight-game hitting streak. After going hitless on March 3, Bren has pieced a seven-game hitting streak heading into the weekend. In addition, she has reached base via a hit or a walk in all 17 games she has appeared in this season.
RIPPING IT EVERYWHERE: Three batters have an average above the .400-mark. Only two other players in the NSIC have a better batting average than Jessica Bren, who is hitting .464. Sammi Sadler in second for the team, batting .440. Leadoff hitter Hannah Schmoll is hitting .429.
YOU CAN PUT IT ON THE BOARD: The duo of Jessica Bren and Becky Smith are one and two in the conference in home runs. Bren has 11 and Smith has six. Bren is fourth in the nation in homers and second in home runs per game (0.65). Smith is 34th in home runs in the country.
GETTING ON BASE: Hitting majority out of the nine-spot Sammi Sadler has posed a dilemma with opposing defenses on the back-half of the lineup. She is one of seven starting Bulldogs to have an on-base percentage above .400 as she sports a team-best .500 on-base mark. She is also 8-for-12 leading off an inning, the best mark by any UMD member.
CAN ANYONE CATCH HER?: On a per game basis, Hannah Schmoll is swiping 1.11 bases, which is the best in the NSIC and fourth in the entire Division II landscape. She has not been caught stealing this season.
PILING UP THE HITS UNDER WALTER: Since the arrival of the new manager, UMD is 69-5 when it out-hits the opposition. That is roughly 59 percent of the total games under Walter (74 of 125).
SEVENTH INNING SEND OFF: The Bulldogs have outscored the opposition 15-3 in the final inning.
EXTRA! EXTRA!: UMD is 13-4 in extra innings dating back to the 2013 season. Last season, the Bulldogs won the only game that didn't finish in seven (8-7 over Northeastern State in 8 innings).
WINNING THE CLOSE ONES: The last two seasons UMD has gone 11-5 in one-run games. It has won the last three one-run decisions. Surprisingly, not one game thus far has been decided by a run in 2018.
SCORE FIRST: Scoring first doesn't always lead to victories but it is close. The Bulldogs have a combined 71-14 (.835) record dating back to 2015 when scoring first including 24-3 in 2017. The Bulldogs are 3-1 in such events in 2018 and 2-0 when scoring in the first inning.
GOLD GLOVE MATERIAL: 2017 was a record-breaking year defensively for the Bulldogs. UMD closed out the year with a .974 fielding percentage -- the best mark in program history (the previous record was .971 set in 2002) - - to rank 11th among all NCAA Division II clubs. Leading the way for the Bulldogs and setting career highs in that department were Becky Smith (.982), Kalynn Tilton (.982), Hannah Schmoll (.978), Lauren Oberle (.971) and Natalie Wright (.965).
SKIPPER'S REPORT CARD: The NSIC coaches placed UMD fourth in the coaches' preseason poll. The poll was released on Jan. 24 and the league selected Winona State University to finish first in the 2018 NSIC Preseason Softball Coaches' Poll. This marks the third time in the past four seasons that the Warriors have been selected by the coaches to win the league. The Warriors amassed 221 points and 11 first place votes. Augustana was second with 206 points and two first place votes. The defending NSIC regular season, tournament and NCAA National Champions of Minnesota State were third in the poll, receiving three first place votes.
No. Team (First-Place Votes) Points
1. Winona State (11) 221
2. Augustana (2) 206
3. Minnesota State (3) 202
4. Minnesota Duluth 183
5. Sioux Falls 157
6. St. Cloud State 146
7. Northern State 119
8. Southwest Minnesota State 108
9. Concordia-St. Paul 102
U-Mary 102
11. Minot State 99
12. Upper Iowa 91
13. Bemidji State 84
14. Wayne State 51
15. MSU Moorhead 29
16. Minnesota Crookston 20
Minnesota State's Jessica Meidl was named the NSIC Preseason Player of the Year. Winona State's McKenna Larsen was chosen as the NSIC Preseason Pitcher of the Year.
Two players from each team were selected as players to watch for. UMD's Natalie Wright and Valerie Hohol were the two Bulldogs that were given the preseason spotlight.
2017 ACCOLADES: Three Bulldogs earned All-NSIC honors last season. Natalie Wright was the lone Bulldog to be name to the first team. She was joined by Hannah Schmoll and Becky Smith, whom both were selected on the second team. In addition, Wright and Schmoll each were given the conference's gold glove award at their respective positions -- Wright at second base and Schmoll at center field. Kalynn Tilton was the only UMD player bestowed with a Player of the Week accolade.
THE HEAD COACH: In two short seasons at the controls of the University of Minnesota Duluth program, Walter has posted back-to-back 35-win seasons, accumulating a 70-37 overall record while going 39-17 in league play (including 18-10 in 2017 when it placed fourth in the 16-team standings).
Walter made quite the splash during her debut season at UMD as not only did the Bulldogs set a team record for NSIC victories by finishing 21-7 (good for a second-place finish and just one game back of league champion Minnesota State University-Mankato), but they returned to the NCAA Division II Tournament for the first time since 2012. Along the way, they amassed a 35-17 overall mark and shattered or equaled nearly one dozen team and individual records.
On July 22, 2015, Walter signed on as just UMD's third head softball coach since the 1981-82 season. Walter certainly had proven herself the previous 16 seasons right down the road at the College of St. Scholastica, having directed the Saints to a 447-233 overall record (a .657 winning percentage), five NCAA Division III Tournament appearances (2006, 2011, 2012, 2014, and 2015), 15 Upper Midwest Athletic Conference regular season championships, 13 UMAC Tournament titles, and one trip to the NAIA National Tournament (2004). During Walter's tenure, CSS also eclipsed the 30-victory plateau on seven occasions. In addition, Walter helped produce three CSS All-Americans -- Laura Heise (2004 and 2006), Erica Kozacek (2006) and Rilee Dawson (2007) – 11 UMAC Player of the Year award recipients, 43 All-Region selections, 71 All-UMAC picks, and 81 National Fastpitch Coaches Association Scholar-Athletes.
A native of Wadena, Minn., Walter played two years of softball at Golden Valley Lutheran College in Minneapolis, where she was a National Junior College Athletic Association All-American catcher, and continued her collegiate career at Augustana College (S.D.), attaining All-North Central Conference honors as a senior in 1985. She went on to serve as the head softball coach at Perham High School (1989-91) and the assistant softball coach at both the Breck School (1991-97) and Robbinsdale Armstrong High School (1997-99).Inducted as player into the 2010 Minnesota High School Fastpitch Coaches Association Hall of Fame, Walter received a B.A. degree in health, physical education and recreation from Augustana in 1986.
ON DECK: NSIC play is up next for the Bulldogs as they start league play on March 27 at St. Cloud State University.
