THE OPENING PITCH: The University of Minnesota Duluth opens Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference action at home with a double header against St. Cloud State University on Tuesday, March 26. The Bulldogs (9-10) and Huskies (18-6) will square off from James S. Malosky Stadium starting at 12:00 p.m.

SCOUTING REPORT ON ST. CLOUD STATE: The Huskies are 18-9 overall heading into their NSIC opener. They went 1-3 last week in the Emporia State Classic in Emporia, Kan. St. Cloud State knocked off Washburn 7-3 in its Friday's finale for head coach Paula U'Ren's 700th victory.
The Huskies sport the third-best winning percentage in the NSIC heading into Tuesday's conference opener. SCSU has been on fire offensively during the non-conference slate of the 2019 season. It ranks first in the NSIC in hits (228), home runs (22), RBI (155), batting average (.359), on-base percentage (.445) and slugging (.543). The Huskies are in the top-10 nationally in batting average, on-base percentage, slugging, runs per game (7.7) and stolen bases per game (3.1).
Raven Vanden Langenberg leads the Huskies with a .481 batting average. She is one of three Huskies to have at least 20 RBI this season. Jasmin Estrada is hitting .471 and has a team-leading five homers and 32 RBI. Brooke Bowlin is another Husky who is ripping the ball with a .412 batting average. Bowlin has a team-high 17 stolen bases in 19 opportunities. Kate Kopeck has been the ace for SCSU. She boasts a 9-2 record with a 1.80 ERA. She has fanned 83 batters in 66.0 innings of work. Sydney Lapoint is 5-1 in seven starts and holds a 1.70 ERA this season. 

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

WATCH LIVE: The double headers will be available for free via a web stream by Bulldog Productions, in addition to live stats, with Matt Johnson providing the play-by-play. The stream can be viewed at:portal.stretchinternet.com/umd

LAST AT BAT: The Bulldogs went 6-4 during its week-long stay in the Sunshine State. UMD won three of the first four games in the first two days. It won all three games by allowing one run each during that stretch. The Bulldogs then dropped a pair including a hard-fought 3-1 decision to No. 22 Southern New Hampshire. They rebounded the following day, the final day in the College Spring Games, with two wins including a 15-0 beat down of St. Michael's. UMD ended its trip savaging a split against Florida Southern in a double header.

SUCCESS IN THE SUNSHINE STATE: Since they started playing in THE Spring Games back in 2013, the Bulldogs have gone 48-12. UMD went 5-3 in the College Spring Games this season.

SHUTOUT OF EPIC PROPORTIONS: UMD's 15-0 win over St. Michael's College was the biggest shutout by the Bulldogs since 2006 when they picked up a pair of identical 15-0 decisions against Finlandia University and Minnesota State University Moorhead in the same season.

HAVING THE HUSKIES' NUMBER: UMD is 19-4 against St. Cloud State dating back to 2008. The Bulldogs, during that span, have swept the series double-header six times including a pair of 3-0 sweep (NSIC Tournament games). UMD defeated SCSU all three times back in the 2017 season.

HAVING THE HUSKIES' NUMBER II: The Huskies have not swept a double header from the Bulldogs since April 28, 2004. St. Cloud State won 4-1 and 10-2 for the home sweep.

A LOOK BACK TO LAST SEASON'S BATTLE OF THE DOGS: UMD and St. Cloud State split last season's double header the Husky Dome in St. Cloud. The Huskies shut out the Bulldogs 2-0 with Kylie Thomsen throwing a one-hitter in the first game. Sophomore Breanna Swint answered with her own one-hit shutout of the Huskies in the rematch which UMD would win 1-0.

SCORE FIRST: Scoring first doesn't always lead to victories but it is close. The Bulldogs have a combined 103-21 (.831) 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 hits (18), doubles (4), home runs (4), total bases (36), and slugging percentage (.632).

HOT BAT: Sophomore infielder Taylor Koehnen is leading the Bulldogs at the plate with her .356 batting average. Koehnen is hitting .400 (10/25) in her last seven games and has a team-leading six multi-hit performances, twice as many than any other Bulldog this season.

GUNNED DOWN: Teams need to think twice before attempting to steal on freshman pitcher Sam Pederson and sophomore catcher Jessica Bren. Pederson has allowed two successful stolen-base attempts in six tries (33.3 percent) while Bren has thrown out three of her four runners tying to steal.

FINDING A WAY ON BASE: Sophomore catcher/infielder Jessica Bren has each reached base safely in all but one game this season. She is currently reached base each of the last five games. Bren has 14 hits and a team-high 10 walks this season. The Victoria, Minn., native has a .391 on-base percentage, which paces the maroon-and-gold. 

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. 

PLAYING THE HITS: Junior infielder Lauren Oberle reached 100 career hits as a Bulldog on March 16 against Northwood. Oberle had a season-high three hits in that outing versus the 

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 97-8 when it out-hits the opposition. That is roughly 59.7 percent of the total games under Walter's tenure (105 of 176).

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 hit the road this Saturday and Sunday (March 30-31) to square off against No. 17 Augustana University and Wayne State College. Saturday's double header against the Vikings starts at 1:00 p.m. and Sunday's double dip begins at 12:00 p.m.