THE OPENING PITCH: The University of Minnesota Duluth plays Concordia University, St. Paul to open the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Tournament on Thursday, May 2 at 12:00 p.m. The top 10 teams in the NSIC received an invitation to play for the NSIC crown with the winner earning an auto bid to the NCAA II Central Region field. The third-seeded Bulldogs, who will make their 11th straight tournament appearance after going 31-18 overall this season, look to capture their fifth NSIC tournament title and first since 2002 when action starts Thursday and runs through Saturday at the Rochester Youth Fastpitch Softball Complex (RYFSC) in Rochester, Minn.

SCOUTING REPORT ON CONCORDIA-ST. PAUL: The Golden Bears are 32-18 overall and 19-11 in the NSIC. They finished sixth in the NSIC and won the last 10 games heading into the postseason. 

CSP is sixth in batting average (.308), fourth in on-base percentage (.375), and sixth in slugging percentage (.437) in the NSIC. It is also fifth in runs per game (5.4) and have the third-most stolen bases (102). In the circle, the Golden Bears are sixth in ERA (3.02), sixth in opposing batting average (.284), fourth in strikeouts per game (5.1) and sixth in walks allowed per game (1.7). CSP has the fifth best fielding percentage (.964) in the conference.

The Bulldogs will have to contain Carlie Hart, the premier outfielder for the Golden Bears. Hart is hitting .438 on the season with 78 hits and 56 of the team's 271 runs. Hart is a speed demon with four triples and 50 stolen bases. This season, Hart has gone 7-for-14 with a double and five stolen bases against the Bulldogs. Justine Schattner is hitting .409 with a team-leading 43 RBI. Hannah Carlson and Hanna Mortenson each lead the Bears with six home runs. Carlson had five RBI, a team high, in the four games versus UMD.

Kali Kaestner and Samantha Sullivan are the two main pitchers heading into the tournament. Kaestner is 11-4 with a 2.66 ERA in 110.1 innings. She has five saves. Sullivan is 13-8 with two of the three shutouts. She has posted a 3.27 ERA and a team-high 105 strikeouts in 137.0 innings. Kaestner went 1-1 in four games (one start) versus UMD.

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

LAST AT BAT: The Bulldogs finished out the regular season with four home games at Junction Avenue Field. UMD went 3-1, spliting with Southwest Minnesota State and sweeping Sioux Falls. It was the first games at Junction in 732 days. The Bulldogs had back-to-back walk offs. SMSU won the opener 3-1 but UMD rallied back on a game-winning single by sophomore first baseman Jordyn Thomas to win 3-2 in eight innings. The following day, sophomore catcher Jessica Bren launched a three-run walk-off homer in game one to best Sioux Falls 8-6. UMD completed the sweep with a 10-5 victory.

HISTORY REWRITTEN: The Bulldogs set a program record in conference wins last Sunday as they won their 22nd NSIC game of the season in the sweep over Sioux Falls. The previous record came in 2016 when they collected 21 wins. They have at least 20 wins in conference play in three of the last five seasons. 

IN THE NSIC TOURNAMENT: The Bulldogs will make their 11th consecutive NSIC postseason appearance. UMD has claimed the postseason crown on four different occasions with it hoisting its last tournament championship in 2002 (2000, 1997, 1996). The Bulldogs are 45-33 in the NSIC Tournament. The 45 wins is tied for second most with Southwest Minnesota State. Only Winona State has more victories (61). 

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.

AGAINST THE GOLDEN BEARS: The Bulldogs are 3-1 this season against Concordia-St. Paul 

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.

SCORE FIRST: Scoring first doesn't always lead to victories but it is close. The Bulldogs have a combined 121-27 (.818) record dating back to 2015.

STARTING STRONG: Of the 244 runs scored by UMD this season it has scored 54 times in the first inning, the most runs in any inning this season. Opponents are being outscored 54-23 in the opening frame. The Bulldogs have scored in the first in 20 of the 49 games this season and are 16-4 in those contests.

PILING UP THE HITS UNDER WALTER: Since the arrival of the new manager, UMD is 112-9 when it out-hits the opposition. They are 18-2 this season when having more hits in a ballgame.

THE DEEP SIX: The opponents are at a deep disadvantage against the Bulldogs when UMD puts up at least six runs. The Bulldogs are 18-0 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 169 walks this season and Winona State is next with 160. 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 17 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.

BACK-TO-BACK: UMD has hit back-to-back homers five times this season. The Bulldogs have hit consecutive home runs in four of the last 13 games.

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 (.333), hits (50), doubles (14), walks (20), RBI (35), on-base percentage (.412) and slugging percentage (.620).

LOCKED IN AT THE PLATE: Senior outfielder Sammi Sadler is the only Bulldog this season to have a hitting streak extend into double-digits games. Sadler pieced together a 10-game hitting streak near the end of the regular season and has a base hit in 13 of the last 16 games heading into the postseason.

LOCKED IN AT THE PLATE II: Junior shortstop Lauren Oberle is currently riding a six-game hitting streak and a 13-game on-base streak, both team-highs. Oberle has a team-high 13 multi-hit games and a team-leading 10 multi-RBI games this season.

POWER SURGE: Sophomore catcher Jessica Bren is no stranger to the long ball. Bren, who has the most home runs (11) on the team, hit four home runs in the series versus Upper Iowa. Bren hit three of those in game one for seven RBI, which is the most home runs and runs driven in by any NSIC player in a single game this season.

POWER SURGE II: Sophomore catcher Jessica Bren is the latest Bulldog to blast at least 10 home runs in back-to-back seasons since Jordan Rice did it three times in a row from 2013-15.

100 RUNS AND 100 RBI: Junior shortstop Lauren Oberle and senior outfielder Sammi Sadler became the sixth and seventh players in the last 15 seasons to have compiled at least 100 runs and 100 RBI during her Bulldog career. 

TAKE YOUR BASE: Junior shortstop Lauren Oberle has 75 career walks and needs five more free passes to first base to break the individual career Bulldog walks record. Jordan Rice (2012-15) walked 79 times.

COOL UNDER PRESSURE: Sophomore catcher Jessica Bren is hitting a team-best .409 with two outs. She is 18-for-44 with 20 RBI with two outs.

FRESHMAN PHENOM: Pitcher Sam Pederson is one of the top NSIC freshmen pitchers to take the circle this season. Pederson, among freshmen, is first in wins (15), complete games (23), innings pitched (147.2), and home runs allowed (6). She is also is tied for first in shutouts (3) and is ranked second in earned run average (2.93), strikeouts (71) and opposing batting average (.264) among first-year players.

GOING THE DISTANCE: Junior Breanna Swint has tossed 23 complete games this season, the most by a Bulldog in seven seasons. Hermantown native Megan Mullen pitched 33 complete games in 2012.

INNINGS EATERS: The Bulldogs have used primarily two pitchers all season. Junior Breanna Swint and freshman Sam Pederson have combined to throw 324.2 out of 328.1 innings this season and have thrown 39 complete games between the two. Swint (176.2) has tossed the third-most innings this season in the NSIC; Pederson (148.0) is sixth.

200 STRIKEOUT CLUB: Junior pitcher Breanna Swint became sixth pitcher this decade to reach 200 career strikeouts as a Bulldog. Swint has 117 strikeouts this season, which is a season-high for the native of Marysville, Calif.

THROW 'EM OUT: Junior catcher Hannah Bloch is one of the Bulldogs' better catchers to come through the program. Bloch has thrown out 31 would-be base stealers including seven this season. She has also picked off a pair base runners off first base.

CANNON ARM: Senior outfielder Sammi Sadler has 23 career outfield assists to her name. No other active Bulldog has more outfield assists than Sadler, who has a team-high six assists this season and half of the outfield assists this season.

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.

IRONWOMEN: Senior outfielder Sammi Sadler and senior outfielder Kalynn Tilton are both one of the select few to play 200 games for their career. Sadler joined seven other Bulldogs to play in over 200 collegiate games last weekend in the series versus Sioux Falls. Tilton needs two more games herself to join the milestone club.

ON DECK: The NCAA II Central Region Tournament begins on Thursday, May 9 with the top two teams in the region hosting sub-regional tournaments. The eight-team field will be selected on Monday, May 6 at 9:00 a.m. on NCAA.com.