THE OPENING PITCH: The University of Minnesota Duluth  takes to the road this weekend as it matches up against Augustana University and Wayne State College in a pair of Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference double headers. The Bulldogs (11-10, 2-0 NSIC) first compete against the Vikings (22-5; 2-0 NSIC) on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. in Sioux Falls, S.D. On Sunday, the Bulldogs go head-to-head with the Wildcats (9-10; 0-2 NSIC) in Wayne, Neb., at 12:00 p.m.

SCOUTING REPORT ON AUGUSTANA: The Vikings are 22-5 overall and 2-0 in the NSIC after dispatching Wayne State twice in the conference opening series on Wednesday. They are ranked 14th in the National Fastpitch Coaches' Association Poll.
Augustana is third in batting average (.318), third in on-base percentage (.386), and second in slugging percentage (.334) in the NSIC. It leads the conference in hits, RBI and home runs this season. On the mound, the Vikings are second in ERA (1.48), second in opposing batting average (.189), second in strikeouts per game (6.6) and four in walks allowed per game (2.1). They have the 10th-best ERA in the NCAA.
Maggie Kadrlik leads Augustana with a .380 batting average and 28 RBI, which is second in the NSIC. Mary Pardo is hitting .365 and is one of three Vikings with 11 stolen bases. Shannon Peterson and Maggie Dunnett each have five homers. Ashley Mickschl will open the double header. Mickschl is 10-3 with a 1.42 ERA in 12 starts. She has three shutouts and has 72 strikeouts and 24 walks in 78.2 innings. Amber Elliott is 7-2 in 11 starts. She has a 1.76 ERA in 47.2 innings.

SCOUTING REPORT ON WAYNE STATE: The Wildcats enter this weekend 9-10 overall and 0-2 in conference play after being shut out twice by Augustana on Wednesday on the road. They will play St. Cloud State in a double header on Saturday before hosting the Bulldogs. 
Wayne State is 13th in batting average (.272), ninth in on-base percentage (.359), and last in slugging percentage (.334) in the NSIC. Pitching-wise, the Wildcats are 11th in ERA (4.10), 10th in opposing batting average (.294), 12th in strikeouts per game (3.3) and 11th in walks allowed per game (3.3).
Abbie Hix is hitting .382 with two home runs, a double and 14 RBI. Raquell Penke is second in hitting with a .378 average. Ashley Hernandez has a team-high six doubles.  Makenna Adkison is 6-5 with a 2.88 ERA in eight starts with a pair of shutouts. She has posted a team-high 32 punch outs in 56.0 innings of work. Maddie Moser is the probable starter for game two. Moser is 3-4 with a 5.37 ERA in 10 starts.

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: Both double headers will be available for free and can be viewed at: portal.stretchinternet.com/umd

LAST AT BAT: The Bulldogs kicked off the NSIC slate with a double-header sweep past St. Cloud State University on Tuesday at home. UMD beat the Huskies 1-0 then delivered a 3-1 victory in the rematch. The Bulldogs received key pitching performances from freshman Sam Pederson and junior Breanna Swint, whom both combined to allow one run and strand a total of 14 runners on base. SCSU went 2-for-17 with runners in scoring position and 0-for-4 with the bases loaded. Sophomore infielder Jordyn Thomas cracked three doubles and drove in the only run in the first game. Sophomore infielder Taylor Koehnen and junior outfielder Jayme Langbehn each had RBI hits.  

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.

SCORE FIRST: Scoring first doesn't always lead to victories but it is close. The Bulldogs have a combined 105-21 (.833) 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 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.

SHUTOUT SAM: Freshman pitcher Sam Pederson pitched  her first-ever shutout gem this past Tuesday in the opener versus St. Cloud State. Pederson fired 96 pitches allowing three hits and three walks. She notched a career-high five strikeouts 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 (21), doubles (7), home runs (4) runs driven in (16), total bases (42), and slugging percentage (.677).
HOT BAT: Sophomore infielder Taylor Koehnen is leading the Bulldogs at the plate with her .347 batting average. Koehnen is hitting .379 (11/29) in her last 10 games and has a team-leading six multi-hit performances, two more 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 three successful stolen-base attempts in nine tries (42.9 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 two game this season. Bren has 15 hits and a team-high 10 walks this season. The Victoria, Minn., native has a .371 on-base percentage, which is second on the team. Bren has reached a team-high 11 times (.478) when leading off an inning.

STRIKE EARLY: The need to jump ahead and play with the lead has been important during the first 21 games. UMD is 10-0 this season when leading after the third inning. Meanwhile, when tied or trailing heading to the fourth, UMD is just 1-10. That lone win when not leading came against Concordia-St. Paul in game one of the non-conference double header. The Bulldogs were behind 2-0 before coming back to win 4-2.

SIXTH SENSE: The Bulldogs have outscored teams 16-3 in the sixth inning this season. Defensively, UMD has put up zeros in the sixth the past 15 games. The last team to cross the plate in the sixth inning was Tarleton State University back on Feb. 3. 

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 59.0 percent of the total games under Walter's tenure (105 of 178) that they have out-hit the opposition. 

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 will have one last road double header before returning to James S. Maloksky Stadium. They will head west on Highway 2 to take on the University of Minnesota Crookston on Tuesday, April 2. That double dip will start at 1:00 p.m.