THE OPENING PITCH: The University of Minnesota Duluth will host Southwest Minnesota State University and the University of Sioux Falls this weekend to conclude the 2019 regular season. The Bulldogs' first Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference engagement will take place Saturday against the Mustangs at 1:00 p.m., with the following afternoon, the Bulldogs taking on the Cougars at 12:00 p.m. Both double headers will be held at Junction Avenue Field. 

SCOUTING REPORT ON SOUTHWEST MINNESOTA STATE: The Mustangs are 17-21 overall and 12-14 in the NSIC. They are tied for 10th in the conference and are fighting for the one of the final spots to the NSIC postseason. SMSU has lost its last three games and four of its last six. It was swept by Concordia-St. Paul (3-1; 7-2) in its final hones games on Wednesday.

SMSU is 14th in batting average (.276), 15th in on-base percentage (.339), and 14th in slugging percentage (.384) in the NSIC. In the circle, the Mustangs are eighth in ERA (3.87), ninth in opposing batting average (.302), seventh in strikeouts per game (4.8) and third in walks allowed per game (1.7).

Bailey Johnson is hitting .430 this season to lead the Mustangs. Johnson has a team-high 11 doubles, four triples and four home runs. She also has 26 RBI to pace SMSU. Emma Grote is hitting .365 and has 12 steals, a team high. Kali Tomlinson has a .342 batting average with four homers and 21 RBI. Athena Golling is 10-10 with a 2.55 ERA in 19 starts. She has 120.2 innings and 18 complete games. Megan Cull is 5-7 with a 4.77 ERA in 80.2 innings. Cull has the second-most starts with 12.

SCOUTING REPORT ON SIOUX FALLS: The Cougars are 23-24 overall and 13-13 in the NSIC. They are in a three-way tie for seventh in the conference as they are fighting for a spot into the league postseason tournament. Sioux Falls has also dropped its last three games after winning seven of its previous nine. The Cougars were swept by Minnesota State (7-3; 6-1) at home on Wednesday. 

Sioux Falls is 11th in batting average (.285), ninth in on-base percentage (.355), and fourth in slugging percentage (.452) in the NSIC. On the mound, the Cougars are seventh in ERA (3.86), eighth in opposing batting average (.300), eighth in strikeouts per game (4.7) and seven in walks allowed per game (2.0).

Lexie Swift is one of four starters who is hitting over .300 this season for the Cougars. Swift is hitting a team-leading .357 with a team-high 19 walks as well. Emily Hove leads the Cougars with 55 hits. She has 10 doubles and paces USF with nine homers. She is the lone Cougar with at least 30 RBI (36). Courtney Mathews and Kerrigan Hoshaw are the two probable starters for Sioux Falls. Mathews is 7-7 on the season with a 3.24 ERA in 17 starts while Hoshaw is 9-9 with a 3.27 ERA. Hoshaw has a team-high 85 punchouts.

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

LAST AT BAT: The Bulldogs ran their winning streak up to four straight after sweeping Minnesota State University Moorhead on Wednesday. It was the final regular season road engagements for UMD this season and it ended up with 6-3 and 11-3 runs over the Dragons. 

BRING THE GALS BACK HOME: After not having a single home game on campus in 2013, the Bulldogs have played 63 games in Duluth since. They are 46-17 (.730) during that time frame. UMD is 9-1 this season at home (8-0 at Malosky and 1-1 at St. Scholastica).

TEMPORARY HOME: Malosky Stadium had been the temporary home site the last five years while Junction Avenue Field thaws. The Bulldogs have gone 34-11 (.756) on the home artificial turf. They are 8-0 on the turf surface this season.

WELCOME BACK: The Bulldogs last played at Junction Avenue Field on April 25, 2017. They played a double header with Bemidji State and lost both games. The last Bulldog win on Junction came against the Mustangs on April 22 of that same year.

CHASING HISTORY: The Bulldogs set a program record in conference wins three seasons ago. They collected 21 wins in 2016 and they have 19 wins this season with four games left to set a new mark.

GET THEM ALL IN: Only doing so once back in 2015, UMD is on slate to get all 30 scheduled NSIC games in this season. The Bulldogs went 17-13 in their one full season of league games.

SCORE FIRST: Scoring first doesn't always lead to victories but it is close. The Bulldogs have a combined 119-26 (.821) record dating back to 2015.

THE DEEP SIX: The opponents have a hard time winning against the Bulldogs when UMD puts up at least six runs. The Bulldogs are 16-0 this season when they scratch across their sixth run of the ball game.

FREE PASSES: The Bulldogs lead the NSIC in free bases for the second straight season. UMD has 160 walks, 16 more than the next opponent. The Bulldogs walked a team-high 12 times against U-Mary. The 12 walks was the most in a single game the most since Finlandia offered 16 free passes back on March 4, 2004.

TURN TWO: The Bulldogs have turned 16 double plays this season. Only 47 other clubs have turned more double plays on the season and UMD is 44th in double plays turned per game (second in the conference) this season.

DIALED IN: Sophomore infielder Jordyn Thomas has been the Bulldogs most consistent batter this season. Thomas has at least a share of the lead in: batting average (.326), doubles (13), walks (20), on-base percentage (.413) and slugging percentage (.615).

GETTING ON BASE: Senior outfielder Sammi Sadler has reached base in the last 15 games. Sadler has the longest UMD hitting streak (10) all season, which ended during this on-base streak. The native of Brooklyn Park, Minn., has a hit in 12 of those last 15 games and a .404 on-base percentage.

POWER SURGE: Sophomore catcher Jessica Bren is no stranger to the long ball. Bren, who is tied with junior shortstop Lauren Oberle for most home runs (9), hit four home runs in the series versus Upper Iowa. Bren hit three of those in game one including going back-to-back in consecutive at-bats to start the game.

FRESHMAN PHENOM: Freshman pitcher Sam Pederson is among the NSIC leaders in pitching categories. Pederson is tied for fourth in wins with 15 and is the top freshman in wins. She is 10th in the conference with a 2.82 ERA and has the 10th best opposing batting average (.227). 

INNINGS EATERS: The Bulldogs have used primarily two pitchers all season. Junior Breanna Swint and freshman Sam Pederson have combined to throw 295.2 out of 299.1 innings this season and have thrown 36 complete games between the two. Swint (159.1) has tossed the third-most innings this season in the NSIC; Pederson (136.1) is sixth.

100 RUNS AND 100 RBI: Junior shortstop Lauren Oberle is the sixth batter in the last 15 seasons to have compiled at least 100 runs and 100 RBI during her Bulldog career. 

HOME RUN LEADER: Junior shortstop Lauren Oberle has 25 career home runs, which is the most among active Bulldogs. Oberle has nine home runs this season -- tied for most on the team.

GREEDY WITH RUNNERS: Slap hitter Lauren Greeder has excelled with runners in scoring position. The junior outfielder carries a .233 batting average his season but is hitting a team-high .467 (7-for-15) with runners in scoring position.

COOL UNDER PRESSURE: Sophomore catcher Jessica Bren is hitting a team-best .421 with two outs. She is 16-for-38 with 16 RBI with two outs.

200 STRIKEOUT CLUB: Junior pitcher Breanna Swint became sixth pitcher this decade to reach 200 career strikeouts as a Bulldogs. Swint has fired 97 strikeouts, which is a season-high.

THROW 'EM OUT: Junior catcher Hannah Bloch is one of the Bulldogs' better catchers to come through the program. Bloch has thrown out 30 would-be base stealers including six this season. She has also picked off a pair base runners off first base.

THE CLOSER: Junior pitcher Breanna Swint has five career saves, which is three away from tying the program record.  Jessica Horne has eight saves for UMD. Swint has two saves this season.

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 110-9 when it out-hits the opposition. They are 16-2 this season when having more hits in a ballgame.

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.

PLAYOFFS!: The Bulldogs will make their 11th consecutive NSIC postseason appearance. Sitting third in the NSIC, the top 10 teams from the conference compete in the league tournament for an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

WE'RE TALKING PLAYOFFS!: UMD is looking to get back into the NCAA Tournament for the third time in the last four seasons. Last season, the Bulldogs made to the NCAA Super Regionals for the first time in program history after winning the sub-regional championship at Winona State.

CENTRAL REGIONAL RANKINGS: The second installment of NCAA Central Region Rankings was released on Wednesday with UMD slotted seventh again. The champions of the NSIC, MIAA and the GAC postseason tournaments get automatic bids to the NCAA tournament, leaving five at-large bids. The NCAA softball selection show will be streamed online on Monday, May 6 at 9:00 a.m. on NCAA.com.

ON DECK: The Bulldogs play in the NSIC Tournament at the Rochester Youth Fastpitch Softball Complex (RYFSC) in Rochester, Minn. on May 2-4. The NSIC is hosting the conference tournament in Rochester for the first time since 2013.