The University of Minnesota Duluth softball team will head out to Thompson Field for the Drury Classic in Springfield, MO. The Bulldogs are coming off a 4-2 performance in the Lewis Dome Invite last weekend, and will play three teams they have never faced in program history in Missouri S&T, Drury University and Southwest Baptist University, as well as the No. 12 University of Central Oklahoma, the University of Minnesota Crookston and the University of Nebraska Kearney. The Bulldogs will begin their 6 game slate Friday at 3:30pm against Missouri S&T.
HEAD-TO-HEAD WITH MISSOURI S&T: UMD will start their weekend off by squaring up against Missouri S&T. The Miners posted a record of 20-28 last season participating out of the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC). Senior pitcher Bryn Wooldridge leads Missouri S&T with 22 hits and also has 44 strikeouts on the year so far. The Miners have put together a record of 7-11 to start this season.
HEAD-TO-HEAD WITH DRURY UNIVERSITY: Drury is another one of these teams the Bulldogs will be seeing for the first time. The Panthers are coming off of a 26-27 record last season, finishing eighth in the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) standings. Brooke Gajewski is starting her first season as head coach for the Panthers. Senior pitcher Kristina Bettis led Drury University in strikeouts last year with 198 and has tallied 17 in the 6-7 start to the 2024 season for the Panthers.
HEAD-TO-HEAD WITH NO. 12 UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL OKLAHOMA: The Bulldogs are 1-3 all time against the Bronchos. The last time they competed was in the Regional Opener in 2019. The Bulldogs were defeated 0-4. Last year, the Bronchos finished with a record of 54-9 and 24-3 in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association conference (MIAA). In 2023, they made it to the final four teams at the NCAA Dll tournament but came up short.
HEAD-TO-HEAD WITH SOUTHWEST BAPTIST UNIVERSITY: The last of the unfamiliar faces the Bulldogs will be running into this weekend is Southwest Baptist University.. The Bearcats struggled last season with a record of 11-39, finishing 12 out 13 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC). The Bearcats have posted a 5-9 record to start the 2024 season.
HEAD-TO-HEAD WITH UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA CROOKSTON: UMD has been dominant in their matchups against Minnesota Crookston. The Bulldogs are 18-0 all time and have outscored the Golden Eagles 145-24 in those 18 matchups. The latest meeting between the two teams came last year at Molasky Field. UMD won the game 6-0 and was led by senior outfielder, Kat Burkhardt. She went 2-3 from the plate with two home runs.
HEAD-TO-HEAD WITH UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA AT KEARNEY: The Bulldogs have only faced the Lopers of Nebraska at Kearney four times ever. These four matchups have all resulted in wins for the Bulldogs, with the latest on being a 6-2 victory in 2017. The Lopers finished their 2023 season 16-34, while going 7-19 in conference. Nebraska at Kearney was picked to finish 12 out of 14 in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association Conference (MIAA) 2024 preseason poll.
SOLID START FOR SCHMITT: Senior infielder Nicole Schmitt has helped motor the Bulldogs offensive efforts. Shmitt has recorded at least one hit in seven of the eight games played so far this year. She leads the team with eight RBI's and five doubles.
