THE OPENING PITCH: The University of Minnesota Duluth ventures down to Florida for a week-long stay to compete in the PFX Athletics College Spring Games starting on Wednesday, March 13. The Bulldogs will play nine different teams over the course of six days starting with Hillsdale College and No. 17 the University of Indianapolis in Clermont, Fla. UMD wraps up its spring break show with a double header at Florida Southern College in Lakeland, Fla.

THE SPRING GAMES: Founded in 2008, THE Spring Games is the world's largest college softball event held in Clermont, Fla. This season, UMD is one of over 380 different teams spanning across all three collegiate divisions, the NAIA, and the junior college ranks.

THE SCHEDULE:'

DATE	TEAM	TIME
3/13	Hillsdale	8:00 am
3/13	Indianapolis	12:30 pm
3/14	Merrimack	10:45 am
3/14	Purdue-Northwest	1:00 pm
3/16	Southern New Hampshire	8:15 am
3/16	Northwood	12:30 pm
3/17	St. Michael's	8:00 am
3/17	American International	10:15 am
3/18	Florida Southern	2:00 pm

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.
 

TEAM	RECORD	NFCA
UMD	3-6	NR
HC	3-8	NR
UINDY	13-5	17th
MC	4-7	NR
PNW	5-3	NR
SNH	8-4	23rd
NW	4-6	NR
SMC	0-0	NR
AIC	0-0	NR
FSC	8-10	NR

LAST AT BAT: The Bulldogs last played on the final weekend of February, going 2-1 against Concordia-St. Paul and upper Iowa in non-conference action. UMD ripped off a sweep of the Golden Bears before falling in extra innings the following day to the Peacocks. Sophomore infielder Jordyn Thomas swung a hot bat as she collected four hits including a double and her second home run of the season. Senior infielder Kalynn Tilton racked up five RBI in the first game against Concordia-St. Paul. Junior pitcher Breanna Swint dialed up her first win of the young season in that outing. 

SUCCESS IN THE SUNSHINE STATE: Since they started playing in THE Spring Games back in 2013, the Bulldogs have gone 43-9 including 17-3 in the last two seasons of ball. UMD ran off nine straight victories to close out its trip in 2018.

STRIKE EARLIER: UMD has fought from behind often in its first nine games. It allowed the opposition to grab the lead first eight times and also allowed the opposition to strike first in the first inning five times. The Bulldogs are 2-6 when falling behind.

SCORE FIRST: Scoring first doesn't always lead to victories but it is close. The Bulldogs have a combined 98-19 (.836) record dating back to 2015.

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.

DIALED IN: Sophomore infielder Jordyn Thomas is leading the Bulldogs in batting average (.357), hits (10), doubles (3), home runs (2) total bases (19), and slugging percentage (.679). 

FINDING A WAY ON BASE: A pair of Bulldogs -- senior outfielder Sammi Sadler and sophomore catcher/infielder player Jessica Bren -- have each reached base safely once in all nine games UMD has played in. 

LEADOFF PRODUCTION: Senior outfielder Sammi Sadler was thrown into the leadoff position this year and has excelled in her new batting spot. Sadler is second on team with nine hits and a .321 batting average. Aside from reaching base in all nine games this season, Sadler had a five-game hitting streak to start the season. 

NIFTY 150: Senior infielder Kalynn Tilton will make her 150th start in Wednesday's opening action. Tilton has started 149 games with 106 of those starts coming at first base. 

NIFTY 150 II: Senior outfielder Sammi Sadler is also slated to get to the 150-start threshold in Florida. The native of Brooklyn Park, Minn., is sitting at 146 starts -- all but one in the outfield at either corner outfield position.

PLAYING THE HITS: Junior infielder Lauren Oberle is approaching 100 career hits. She needs eight more hits to reach the triple-digit mark. 

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 93-7 when it out-hits the opposition. That is roughly 60.2 percent of the total games under Walter's tenure (100 of 166).

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.). 

ON DECK: The Bulldogs start NSIC action on Tuesday March 26 with a home double header against St. Cloud State University. First pitch of the double header is slated to start at 12:00 p.m. at Malosky Stadium.