The University of Minnesota Duluth baseball team returns to Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) action this week, gearing up for a four game series with the Minnesota State University Mankato Mavericks starting on Friday, Mar. 21, at 1:30 PM.

Last Time Out

The Bulldogs closed out their annual road trip at the RussMatt Central Florida Invite on Sunday, posting a record of 4-6 throughout the tournament against non-conference opponents.

UMD started things off with a 6-5 victory over the Malone University Pioneers, cashing in on a walk off RBI single from Sam Kliber to score Joey Flom in the bottom of the ninth inning. Four straight losses against Rockhurst University, Embry-Riddle University, and Wayne State University plagued the Bulldogs throughout the middle of their schedule before UMD would pull away for a 7-2 victory in game three against WSU for a doubleheader split. The Bulldogs closed out their schedule with a doubleheader sweep over the Saint Michael's College Purple Knights, benefitting on a monster offensive outing from Troy Lynch who went 4-4 with two home runs in game two.

Last Week's Highlight Players

Player

#29 Troy Lynch - 8 GP, 14-22 (.636), 8 R, 11 RBI, 2 HR

Pitcher

#31 Brayden Buttweiler - 6.0 IP, 1.17 ERA, 7 SO, 6 H, 4 BB, 1-0 W-L

Scouting Report - Minnesota State University Mankato

The Minnesota State University Mavericks are 12-1 overall and 8-0 against NSIC opponents throughout the 2025 season, most recently coming off a 19-7 win over the University of Wisconsin Parkside.

The Bulldogs are 6-29 against the Mavericks since 2013, most recently falling to the Mavericks 6-18 in the finale of a four game series last season in Fayetteville, Iowa. UMD holds a 3-7 home record, 3-11 away record, and a 0-11 neutral site record against MSU, with their largest margin of victory standing at four runs (10-6, Apr. 2019).

The Mavericks offense is currently led by graduate student #20 Ike Mezzenga, who is batting 24-56 (.429) on the season with six home runs and 26 RBIs.

Bulldogs Against The Rest

Throughout the 2025 season, the Bulldogs sit within the top five throughout the NSIC in eight statistical categories and top three in two categories, including: 

Complete Games - 2 (2nd in NSIC, 32nd in NCAA)

Earned Run Average - 5.81 (5th in NSIC, 118th in NCAA)

Fielding Percentage - 0.983 (4th in NSIC, 7th in NCAA)

Shutouts - 1 (3rd in NSIC, 64th in NCAA)

Stolen Base Per Game - 1.29 (5th in NSIC, 127th in NCAA)

Triples - 4 (4th in NSIC, 123rd in NCAA)

Triples per Game - 0.24 (4th in NSIC, 105th in NCAA)

Win Percentage - 0.588 (4th in NSIC, 88th in NCAA)

Looking Ahead

Bulldog baseball is set to make their home debut next week against the Augustana University Vikings at Wade Stadium. First pitch against the Vikings is currently set for Friday, Mar. 28, at 4:00 PM.