THE OPENING PITCH: The University of Minnesota Duluth will embark on the fourth year of the Jen Walter era this weekend (Feb. 1-3) with the Arkansas Tech Winter Invitational at Scrap Yards Sports in Houston, Texas. The Bulldogs will begin the season with six games over the course of three days, first starting with Cameron University (3:30 p.m.) and host Arkansas Tech University (6:00 p.m.) on Friday. UMD will then match up against West Texas A&M University (10:30 a.m.) and Texas A&M University-Kingsville (1:00 p.m.) on Saturday before wrapping up the weekend with Southeastern Oklahoma State University (11:30 a.m.) and Tarleton State University (2:00 p.m.) on Sunday.

SCOUTING REPORT ON CAMERON: The Aggies finished last season 32-20 and they ended the season at the NCAA South Central Regional final. They were picked to finish fifth in the Lone Star Conference. Cameron returns all but one starter, including four all-conference performers: Brenna Busby, Rylee Willmon, Callie Busby, and Bethany Hines. Brenna Busby led the team with a .351 batting average as she collected 14 home runs, 33 RBI and 22 stolen bases.

SCOUTING REPORT ON ARKANSAS TECH: The Golden Suns are ranked No. 20 in the preseason poll. They went 44-19 and won their first Great American Conference Championship last season. Arkansas Tech advanced to the NCAA Central Regionals before losing to UMD in the final. All-American Megan Goodnight returns after hitting .341 with 10 home runs and 42 RBI and, in the circle, went 17-6 with a 1.38 ERA and a nation's-best nine saves. All-conference performer Ashton Sangster hit .343 and went a perfect 33-for-33 on stolen-base opportunities.

SCOUTING REPORT ON WEST TEXAS A&M: The Lady Buffs capped off last season with a 40-13 record and an appearance in the NCAA South Central Regional. West Texas A&M was voted to finish second in the LSC Coaches' poll. Preseason All-American Kylee Moore returns after tying the Lone Star Conference single-season home run record in 2018 as she smashed 25 home runs while hitting .389 to drive in 66 runs. Shayne Starkey, who earned All-American honors last year, went 14-3 tallying a 2.58 ERA with a pair of shutouts.

SCOUTING REPORT ON TEXAS A&M-KINGSVILLE: The Javelinas went 29-26 in 2018 but they made it to the Lake Star Conference Tournament for the first time since 2009. TAMUK was selected to finish sixth in the LSC Preseason poll. Roxy Chapa hit a school record 13 homers last year for the Javelinas. Loren Kelly notched 30 steals as a rookie last season as she hit .337 at the plate. Anastasia Leibas led the squad with a .347 average.

SCOUTING REPORT ON SOUTHEASTERN OKLAHOMA STATE: The Savage Storm finished the 2018 season posting a 34-23 overall record. They lost to Southern Arkansas, the team that beat the Bulldogs in the NCAA Super Regional, in the Great American Conference Tournament.  This season the Storm were tabbed with a fifth place finish in the GAC. SOSU returns four of its top five hitters from a season ago, led by All-American and GAC Freshman of the Year Elexis Watson, who hit .394 a season ago with 16 home runs and 54 RBI. Symphoni Shomo led the conference in stolen bases with 42.

SCOUTING REPORT ON TARLETON STATE: The TexAnns are ranked No. 14 in the nation in the preseason poll. They ended the season 50-11 and made it to the NCAA South Central Regional Tournament. Tarleton State was picked to finish third in the Lone Star Conference preseason poll. The TexAnns return five starters from last year's squad, including Jordan Withrow, the LSC Preseason Pitcher of the Year after going 26-6 in the circle with 221.1 innings of work and 252 strikeouts.

HOW THEY RANK: Here is how UMD and its opponents stack up head-to-head with its respective records from last season and in the preseason National Fastpitch Coaches' Association poll.

PLAY BALL!: The 2019 season will be the earliest the program has started playing softball in its 38 seasons. Last season, the Bulldogs started on Feb. 5 -- the previous earliest start -- with a double header against NSIC foe Southwest Minnesota State University. 

ABOUT THE WINTER INVITATIONAL: This is the first year that Arkansas Tech will host a softball tournament at The Scrap Yards. Seventeen different teams from across the nation will travel down to take part in the four-day event.

2018 ACCOLADES: UMD was bestowed with three All-Americans last season. Hannah Schmoll (D2CCA second team), Becky Smith (NFCA third team) and Natalie Wright (D2CCA second team) all ended their careers with All-American honors. In addition, all three were selected to the NFCA all-region team and the NSIC all-conference honors. Schmoll was selected to the NSIC first team while Smith and Wright each collared second team selections. Jordyn Thomas received NFCA All-Region second team honors as well. 

THE GOLD STANDARD: Junior Lauren Oberle, Hannah Schmoll, Becky Smith, and Natalie Wright were all named to the 2018 NSIC Gold Glove Team at their respective positions. Oberle, who nabbed her first gold glove, is the only returning gold glover for the Bulldogs.

NATIONAL PLAYER OF THE WEEK: On March 14, 2018, the Bulldogs received the program's 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. 

BREN BOMBER: Sophomore Jessica Bren made an impact right away at the plate as she set the single-season program record with 16 home runs. She had the eighth most homers in Division II last season.

THAT WILL LEAVE A MARK: Senior first baseman Kalynn Tilton was plunked into the UMD record books after she was hit by a pitch 15 times last season. She tied the single-season record held by Sammie Gardner (2010). 

MILE MARKER 100: Jen Walter became the fastest coach in program history to reach 100 wins. Walter reached the historical mark in the first game against Northern State on Thursday. She attained 100 victories in 145 games while former head coach Jen Banford reached 100 wins in 182 games. 

PILING UP THE HITS UNDER WALTER: Since the arrival of the new manager, UMD is 90-7 when it out-hits the opposition. That is roughly 63.0 percent of the total games under Walter's tenure (97 of 157).

SCORE FIRST: Scoring first doesn't always lead to victories but it is close. The Bulldogs have a combined 96-19 (.835) record dating back to 2015.

INJECTING YOUTH: A new batch of Bulldogs join the roster for the 2019 roster. Six true freshmen and a sophomore make up 39 percent of the roster, along with 11 returnees from last season. The seven newcomers is the most since 2014 when the Bulldogs also brought in seven freshmen.

GETTING THE CALL UP: UMD continues its tradition of   local prep standouts joining the Bulldogs with the addition of Erin Thompson from Superior, Wis. The Bulldogs welcome Sam Pederson (North Branch, Minn.) and Malorie Stone (Blaine, Minn.) to bolster their pitching staff. They also started a new pipeline as they grabbed Bre Bresnahan and Ali Schak from Faribault, Minn. UMD also likes the hopes of a couple of infield sluggers in Zoey Brooks (Eden Prairie, Minn.) and Emma Frost (Farmington, Minn.). 

SKIPPER'S REPORT CARD: The NSIC coaches placed UMD fourth in the coaches' preseason poll for the second time in a row. The poll was released on Jan. 23 and the league selected Winona State University to finish first in the 2019 NSIC Preseason Softball Coaches' Poll. This marks the third consecutive season that the Warriors have been selected to win the NSIC. The Warriors amassed 222 points and 12 first place votes. Augustana was second with 214 points and four first place votes.

Winona State's Lani Van Zyl was named the NSIC Preseason Player of the Year and Jordyn Kleman was chosen as the NSIC Preseason Pitcher of the Year. UMD's Lauren Oberle and Breanna Swint were the two Bulldogs that were given the preseason spotlight as players to watch for this season.

THE HEAD COACH: Jen Walter is in her fourth season as head coach of the University of Minnesota Duluth softball team. The Bulldogs knew they were getting a proven winner and a highly-respected softball mind when they hired Walter three summers ago.

Walter successfully took UMD back to the NCAA postseason tournament and took the club to new heights as the 2018 team concluded the season with a 44-16 record and the program's first-ever appearance into the NCAA Super Regionals. The 44 wins was most since joining the NCAA Division II ranks and along the way the Bulldogs literally rewrote most of the program's record book with 35 school records either tied or obliterated. 

In her three seasons at the controls of the Bulldog program, Walter has accumulated a 114-53 overall record while going 59-23 in league play. Two springs ago, UMD compiled a .974 fielding percentage -- the best figure in program history - - to rank 11th among all NCAA Division II clubs and put two juniors -- centerfielder Hannah Schmoll and second baseman Natalie Wright on the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Gold Glove Team. Wright also secured All-NSIC first team honors for the second year in a row in addition to joining five of her teammates (Schmoll, senior pitcher Sam Hartmann, sophomore pitcher Valerie Hohol, junior shortstop Becky Smith) as NSIC All-Academic Team qualifiers. Hartmann also landed herself a prestigious NSIC Myles Brand All-Academic with Distinction Award while Hohol, who maintains a perfect 4.00 earned the 2017 NSIC Elite 18 Award winner for softball. 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: The Bulldogs will be back in action on Feb. 22-24 as they partake in the Emporia State Classic  for the second consecutive year, which is held in Emporia, Kan.