THE OPENING PITCH: The University of Minnesota Duluth plays No. 1 and tournament-host University of Central Oklahoma to open the NCAA II Central Region Tournament on Thursday, May 10 at 2:30 p.m. The Bulldogs, who are making their ninth NCAA Tournament appearance and the third trip in four years, are the eighth-and-final seed and are paired up fourth-seed Arkansas Tech University, and fifth-seeded Southern Arkansas University in the first Central Regional bracket. The double-elimination tournament will run until Saturday at the Broncho Softball Field in Edmond, Okla., with the winner advancing to the super regionals, slated for May 16-18 at a site to be determined.

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

TEAM	RECORD	NCAA	NFCA
UMD	33-20	8th	NR
Central Oklahoma	45-5	1st	No. 1
Arkansas Tech	44-13	4th	No. 12
Southern Arkansas	45-17	5th	No. 18

SCOUTING REPORT ON CENTRAL OKLAHOMA: The Bronchos are 45-5 and the 2019 Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association postseason tournament champions after beating Missouri Western State University last Sunday. Central Oklahoma is the top seeded team in the central region and the No. 1 team in the nation according to the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA). The Bronchos easily handed the postseason competition winning all four games by at least six runs. UCO went 22-3 in league play and has won all but one of its home games this season. This is the 12th NCAA II appearance and the eighth in the last 10 years for the Bronchos. UCO has captured three regional crowns and won the national championship in 2013.

The MIAA Pitcher of the Year Brittany McKittrick will likely grab the start against the Bulldogs. McKittrick is 24-2 with a 1.81 ERA in 22 starts. The freshman from Moore, Okla., has fanned 102 batters and walked 44 in 158.2 innings. She has won nine of her last 10 starts. The Bronchos are hitting .353 as a unit. Three players have at least 40 RBI this season. MIAA Player of the Year JoBi Heath is batting .412 as the clean-up with 22 doubles, 14 home runs and 71 RBI. Hazel Pommel has knocked in 52 runs and has scored a team-high 50 runs. Speedster Bailey Thompson has a team-leading seven triples and 14 stolen bases.

SCOUTING REPORT ON ARKANSAS TECH: The Golden Suns are 44-13 and the 2019 Great American Conference Postseason Champions. Arkansas Tech went 3-0 as the second seed in the single-elimination tournament as it toppled Southeastern Oklahoma State for the title. The Golden Suns are ranked No. 12 in the country and they have rattled off 16 straight victories heading into the NCAA Tournament. ATU finished second in the GAC with a 35-7 record and repeated as postseason champions. The Suns have made the NCAA II Tournament four times all in the past five seasons.

Megan Goodnight or Kristen Dempsey are slated to start in the circle for Arkansas Tech. Both pitchers have been used a fair amount heading into the regional. Goodnight, the senior from Cabot, Ark., is 13-1 with a 3.51 ERA in 27 starts this season. Dempsey is 13-3 with a 3.37 ERA in 21 starts in the circle. The senior from Benton, Ark., has a team-leading 99 strikeouts to pace the Golden Suns. Arkansas Tech brings the power once again as they have 50 home runs. Tymber Riley, Sarah Coronado and Paty Loredo each have double digits home runs on the season. Riley, the freshman from Bentonville, Ark., is pacing the Golden Suns at the plate with a .425 batting average. Goodnight can also deal at the dish, hitting.402 at the plate. Loredo leads the team with 60 RBI.

SCOUTING REPORT ON SOUTHERN ARKANSAS: The Lady Muleriders are 45-11 overall and received an at-large bid to the national tournament. Southern Arkansas lost in the opening round of the GAC Tournament. It is ranked No. 18 in the NFCA poll and had run off eight straight wins before falling to Ouachita Baptist in the conference tournament. The Lady Muleriders captured the GAC regular-season title finishing 34-7 in league play. Southern Arkansas is making its fifth NCAA II regional appearance including four straight dating back to 2016. The Muleriders won the regional twice (2016, 2018) and finished third in the World Series last season.

The Lady Muleriders are built off their terrific pitching staff. They hold a combined 1.64 ERA led by pitchers Sydney Wader and Victoria Taylor. Wader is 22-4 on the season with a minuscule 1.47 ERA. The freshman from -----, has made 27 starts, going the distance in 19 games and have tossed nine shutouts. Taylor, the other ace from -------, has a 11-4 record in 19 starts. She holds a 1.72 ERA and has fanned 150 batters in just 106 innings of work. Hitters are only batting .162 off her this spring. Southern Arkansas has an all or nothing approach in the box. SAU has hit 79 home runs but has struck out 269 times. Chelsea Fagan leads the Lady Muleriders with 19 homers. She is just one of five players this season to go yard. Fagan and Elisa Favela are second with 45 RBI and Faith Otts leads the way with 14 homers and 50 RBI.

FARING IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT: This marks the ninth NCAA postseason appearance for the Bulldogs, who are 9-17 lifetime in the north/central region. UMD, which has made the NCAA postseason three of the last four seasons and six of the last 10, made it to the NCAA II Super Regionals last season before Southern Arkansas knocked the Bulldogs out. UMD defeated Emporia State University, Arkansas Tech and Winona State last season to advance to the Super Regionals for the first time in program history. The Bulldogs are 2-6 in the opening-round game, winning in 2011 (Colorado School of Mines, 3-1) and 2018 (Arkansas Tech, 5-1).

AGAINST NCAA FOES: The Bulldogs are just 2-12 against teams in the NCAA II Tournament this season. Out of the 10 teams (Arkansas Tech, Augustana, Cameron, Indianapolis, Southern New Hampshire, St. Cloud State, Tarleton State, Texas A&M-Kingsville, West Texas A&M, Winona State) they have faced this season, the only two wins have come against St. Cloud State.

CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT RECAP: The Bulldogs went 2-2 in the 2019 NSIC Tournament. UMD dropped its opener 2-1 to Concordia-St. Paul before rebounding to eliminate Upper Iowa 5-3 on a walk-off home run. Southwest Minnesota State was the next to fall and be eliminated at the hands of the Bulldogs as the Mustangs lost 8-3. UMD met its demise the next round as Winona State was able to best the Bulldogs 7-1 and end the UMD conference postseason run.

ALL-CONFERENCE ACCOLADES: UMD had a pair of players honored as NSIC All-Conference players. Lauren Oberle and Breanna Swint were each selected by the league coaches to the NSIC All-Conference Second Team. It is the first all-conference citations for both Oberle and Swint. Oberle hit .343 in conference action while leading the Bulldogs in runs (22), hits (34), and on-base percentage (.417). Swint went 12-4 in the circle against the NSIC in 15 starts. She tallied a 2.38 ERA and compiled two saves in 108.2 innings.

THE GOLD STANDARD: The excellence in the field continues for the Bulldogs. Taylor Koehnen was given the NSIC Gold Glove at second base this season. It is the first gold glove award for the sophomore from New Prague, Minn., in her first full season at second base. She collared a .993 fielding percentage in 30 conference games as she made only one error in 152 chances. Her fast reactions and flashy glove helped turn eight of the Bulldogs' 12 double plays in league play.

THE GOLD STANDARD II: UMD has a conference-leading nine Gold Glove awards since the league started the team in 2015. Koehnen is the seventh different Bulldog to win the prestigious gold glove honor. UMD has had the last three NSIC Gold Glove second baseman. Here is a list of all UMD Gold Glove honorees:
2015- Sam Hartmann (P)
2016- Jordan Rice (1B)
2017- Becky Smith (SS)
2017- Natalie Wright (2B)
2018- Lauren Oberle (3B)
2018- Hannah Schmoll (CF)
2018- Becky Smith (SS)
2018- Natalie Wright (2B)
2019- Taylor Koehnen (2B)

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. 

POSTSEASON VETS: The trio of Hannah Bloch, Kalynn Tilton, and Sammi Sadler are just the seventh, eighth and ninth players in Bulldog history to appear in the NCAA II Tournament three times during their collegiate tenure. Since arriving on campus, the trio has been a part of 147 victories and a .668 winning percentage.

FLOURISHING IN THE POSTSEASON: Junior outfielder Jayme Langbehn is hitting a team-high .364 at the dish in the four postseason games. She is 4-for-11 with a double and three runs, also a team-high.

SCORE FIRST: Scoring first doesn't always lead to victories but it is close. The Bulldogs have a combined 121-28 (.812) record dating back to 2015.

STARTING STRONG: Of the 259 runs scored by UMD this season it has scored 56 times in the first inning, the most runs in any inning this season. Opponents are being outscored 56-24 in the opening frame. The Bulldogs have scored in the first in 21 of the 53 games this season and are 17-4 in those contests.

PILING UP THE HITS UNDER WALTER: Since the arrival of the new manager, UMD is 114-9 when it out-hits the opposition. They are 20-2 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 19-0 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 177 walks this season and St. Cloud State is next with 174 with seven more games played. 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.

WALK OFF IN STYLE: The Bulldogs have won in a walk off five times this season including three walk-off home runs.
 

DATE	OPPONENT	SCORE
4/8	U-Mary	8-7
4/16	Bemidji State	7-4
4/27	Southwest Minn. State	3-2
4/28	Sioux Falls	8-6
5/2	Upper Iowa	5-3

BACK-TO-BACK: UMD has hit back-to-back homers five times this season. Jordyn Thomas has been a part of four of those five back-to-back instances.
 

DATE	AGAINST	PLAYERS
3/13	Purdue Northwest	Jordyn Thomas, Erin Thompson
4/15	Minnesota State	Lauren Oberle, Jessica Bren
4/16	Bemidji State	Jessica Bren, Jordyn Thomas
4/20	Upper Iowa	Jessica Bren, Jordyn Thomas
4/28	Sioux Falls	Jordyn Thomas, Kalynn Tilton

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 (.327), hits (53), doubles (14), walks (20), RBI (37), on-base percentage (.401) and slugging percentage (.611).

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 and is currently on another streak with hots in her last six games. Sadler has built up hitting streaks of at least five games three times this season.

LONG OVERDUE: Senior outfielder Sammi Sadler is the latest Bulldog to crush her first career home run and it came during the postseason in her senior season. Sadler homered to right center off Winona State pitcher Jordyn Kleman in the fourth inning of an elimination game to break a scoreless ball game. Sadler finally put one over the fence in her 532nd collegiate at-bat.

POWER SURGE: Sophomore catcher Jessica Bren is no stranger to the long ball. Bren, who has the most home runs (12) 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 .404 with two outs. She is 19-for-47 with 22 RBI with two outs.

GOT YOUR BACK IN A PINCH: No one has come up with better production in pinch-hit situations than junior Lexi Janigo. The junior from Brule, Wis., is 3-for-8 (.375) when brought in as a pinch hitter this season. Janigo has three of the eight Bulldog pinch hits. She has a pair of doubles, two walks and two RBI.

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 (16), innings pitched (156.1), and home runs allowed (7). She is also is tied for first in shutouts (3) and is ranked second in earned run average (3.13), strikeouts (75) and opposing batting average (.263) among first-year players.

GOING THE DISTANCE: Junior Breanna Swint has tossed 25 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 351.2 out of 355.1 innings this season and have thrown 41 complete games between the two. Swint (195.1) has tossed the third-most innings this season in the NSIC; Pederson (156.1) is seventh.

200 STRIKEOUT CLUB: Junior pitcher Breanna Swint became sixth pitcher this decade to reach 200 career strikeouts as a Bulldog. Swint has 111 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 32 would-be base stealers including eight 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.

MILE MARKER 900: Jen Walter coached in her 900th collegiate softball game in the 7-1 setback to Winona State in the NSIC Tournament. In her 20th season coaching at the collegiate level, Walter has won 66 percent of her games and is closing in on win number 600. She needs six more wins to become the 31st active Division II coach to reach 600 wins. 
 
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.

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 in the regular-season weekend finale in the series versus Sioux Falls. Tilton needs one more game herself to join the milestone club.

ON DECK: The winner of the first NCAA II Central Regional will go head-to-head with the winner of the second NCAA II Central Regional in the NCAA II Super Regionals in a best-of-three series on May 16-18 at the highest remaining seed for the right to go to the NCAA II World Series in Denver, Colo.