THE OPENING PITCH: The University of Minnesota Duluth will face Concordia University, St. Paul and Upper Iowa University at the West St. Paul Regional Athletic Center in West St. Paul, Minn. The Bulldogs, who will play in three games in the WSP Sports Dome, have a double header with the Golden Bears on Thursday beginning at 10:30 a.m. The first pitch the following morning against the Peacocks will start at 7:00 a.m.

SCOUTING REPORT ON CONCORDIA-ST. PAUL: The Golden Bears are 3-1 heading into the double header on Thursday. They competed in the Kelly Laas Memorial Invitational from February 1-3 in St. Cloud, Minn. Concordia-St. Paul defeated Nebraska Kearney twice and Wisconsin Parkside once. It lone lost came to Missouri Western State. The Golden Bears are hitting .297 after their opening weekend. They are averaging 3.5 runs per game and have nine stolen bases in 12 tries. Justine Schattner had a hot weekend, hitting .500 at the plate with three RBI. Aryka Knoche is hitting .462 and has a team-leading four RBI. Concordia-St. Paul has a team ERA of 1.00. Knoche is 2-0 with a 2.44 ERA. Samantha Sullivan threw 6.2 innings of shutout ball in her lone start and Kali Kaestner has two saves. 

SCOUTING REPORT ON UPPER IOWA: The Peacocks are 4-2 after playing in the Arkansas over the weekend. They captured wins over Northwest Missouri State, then-No. 20 Arkansas Tech, Central Missouri, and Washburn. Fort Hays State and Washburn dealt losses to Upper Iowa. The Peacocks are scoring five runs per game. They are hitting .264 overall with Katie Crogan leading the team with a .471 batting average six games in. She is one of three players with six RBI (Amanda Williams, Erin Drahozal). Upper Iowa has a team ERA of 6.10. Sydney Wilcox has the lowest ERA on the team with a 5.02 ERA. She is 1-1 on the season while Emily Kisch is 2-1 in four appearances. 

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 National Fastpitch Coaches' Association poll.

THIS DOME IS LIKE HOME: The West St. Paul Regional Athletic Center has been a secondary home to the Bulldogs. Since its first appearance in 2013, the Bulldogs have gone 30-7 inside the inflatable building. They went undefeated in the first year (13-0) and won 15-straight before being tripped up by the University of Mary 10-2. Last season, UMD went 3-1 after defeating Southwest Minnesota State University in the season opener then spliting a NSIC double header against Concordia-St. Paul later in the year.

GET OFF TO BETTER STARTS: UMD fought from behind often in its first six games. It allowed the opposition to grab the lead first five times and also allowed the opposition to strike first in the first inning three times. The Bulldogs haven't won (0-5) when not taking the lead first. 

THE FIRST OF MANY: Freshman pitcher Sam Pederson established one of many firsts over the opening weekend. Pederson grabbed her first collegiate start against No. 20 Arkansas Tech, where she struck out a season-high four batters. She recorded her first career win in complete-game fashion against Southeastern Oklahoma State. Also, she ripped her first hit of her young career in that game as well.

SPEAKING OF FIRSTS: Freshman infielder Emma Frost cracked her first collegiate home run in her fourth career game. Frost bombed a two-run shot in the seventh inning against Southeastern Oklahoma State. She had her first hit as a Bulldog earlier in the second inning.

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 91-7 when it out-hits the opposition. That is roughly 60.1 percent of the total games under Walter's tenure (98 of 163).

SCORE FIRST: Scoring first doesn't always lead to victories but it is close. The Bulldogs have a combined 97-19 (.836) record dating back to 2015.

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 in 2018. 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). 

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.

ON DECK: The Bulldogs have a few weeks off before hitting the Sunshine State for 10 games in six days starting on March 13.