THE OPENING PITCH: The University of Minnesota Duluth continues its Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference schedule with three double headers this week. The Bulldogs (20-10 overall) host Bemidji State University (14-14) Wednesday at James S. Malosky Stadium, starting at 2:00 p.m. to wrap up their home stretch. UMD ventures to Wayne State College (17-11) on Friday before finishing the weekend at No. 10 Augustana University (22-6) Saturday.

SCOUTING REPORT ON BEMIDJI STATE: The Beavers are 14-14 overall and 1-3 in the NSIC this season. They dropped their NSIC opener to Concordia-St. Paul and split with Southwest Minnesota State last time out. The 8-4 win over the Mustangs snapped a five-game losing skid. Bemidji State was 13-38 last season and failed to qualify for postseason play. Jordan Peterson is in her fourth season with the Beavers and has a 62-118 record.

Four Beavers are hitting over the .300-mark with the team batting .280 as a whole. Molly Houts leads the team hitting .354. Alexa Christenson and Mariah Stevenson each have a team-high 32 hits and are each hitting .340 at the plate. Stevenson is second on the team with 15 RBI. Calleigh Richards leads the club with 16 RBI and she has one of the Beavers' three home runs this spring. Jackie Larson has recorded a team-high 23 runs and is a perfect 13-for-13 in stolen base opportunities. The two main pitchers are Kennedy Joachim and Payton Prissel. Joachim is the lone pitcher on the staff with a winning record at 8-4. She holds a team best 2.00 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, nine complete games and a shutout with 94 strikeouts to her season resume. Prissel is 3-5 with a 4.49 ERA in nine starts.

SCOUTING REPORT ON WAYNE STATE: The Wildcats are 17-11 and 2-2 in the NSIC this spring. They split their first two NSIC double header series against U-Mary and Minot State last weekend. Wayne State went 8-40 last year and did not make it to the postseason. Christy Warnocks is the head coach in her third season and has a 38-90 record.

The Wildcats are hitting .273 with three players hitting above .300 on the year. Leah Chance is hitting a team-leading .369 and a team-best 22 runs. Emilee Marth and Maddie Scobee each share the team lead with 20 RBI. Marth has 10 doubles and is hitting .349 and Scobee has four homers to lead the Wildcats. Kennadi Borngrebe is the ace on the staff with a 9-5 record and a 2.27 ERA in 12 starts. She has 95 strikeouts and in 75.1 innings of work. Taylor Coleman is 3-2 in eight starts and has a 3.16 ERA. Samantha Felt has five saves this season, which is fourth in the nation. 

SCOUTING REPORT ON AUGUSTANA: The Vikings are 22-6 and 4-0 in the NSIC this season. Ranked No. 10 in the nation, Augustana swept the NSIC double headers against MSU-Moorhead and Northern State with four straight shutouts with three of those ending via the run-rule to extend its winning streak to now five straight. Last season, the Vikings went 50-15 and advanced to the NCAA Division II Championship  after punching their ticket to the final eight. Gretta Melsted is the head coach in her 19th season and has a 754-278 record.

Augustana has been dominant in the circle. It has the third best team ERA at 1.35 and sixth in shutouts with nine. The pitching duo of Grace Glanzer and Lexi Lander each have 10 wins on the season. Glanzer is 10-4 with a 1.08 ERA and 14 complete games  under her belt. She has amassed 105 strikeouts in 97.2 innings. Lander is 10-2 with a 1.32 ERA in 13 starts. Augustana has the 12th-best fielding percentage in the nation as well at .975. Offensively, the Vikings are hitting .298 as a unit with four players above .300 average. Desi Cuevas leads the team hitting .416 with eight doubles, eight home runs and 24 RBI, all team highs. Ashton Dorman and Andrea Cain are hitting .333 at the dish are both have over 20 RBI this season. 

HOW THEY RANK: Here is how UMD and its opponents stack up with its respective records this season, its records in the NSIC, and how each team has done in its last 10 contests.

  TEAM    '25 RECORD    '24 RECORD    LAST 10
UMD    20-10    0-2    5-5
Bemidji State    14-14    1-3    4-6
Wayne State    17-11    2-2    6-4
Augustana    22-6    4-0    9-1

THOSE PESKY BEAVERS: The Bulldogs and Beavers met once previously this season in non-conference action. Bemidji State came away with an 8-3 win over UMD in the opening weekend of the season at St. Cloud, Minn. The Bulldogs had their three-game winning streak to begin the 2025 season come to an end as the Beavers handed the Bulldogs their first loss. Senior infielder Nicole Schmitt had two of UMD's five hits, a team high. Schmitt, who had three stolen bases -- the most by a Bulldog in a single game this season, along with junior outfielder Morgan McMillan and sophomore infielder Khendal Johnson each had an RBI. McMillan had one her two home runs this season in the contest. 

HOW THEY FARED: The Bulldogs have dominated the Wildcats, winning the last 13 contests between the two clubs. Their last loss to Wayne State was back on April 16, 2016 at home dropping a 6-2 decision. UMD has won four straight on the road.

The Bulldogs have not had the same success against the Vikings. UMD has dropped three straight and 15 of the last 17 matchups. Augustana lost back-to-back games to the Bulldogs in the NSIC Tournament in 2023 as UMD blanked the Vikings twice to capture the NSIC Postseason crown. The Bulldogs' last road win in Sioux Falls, S.D., was back on April 28, 2017. 

LAST PLATE APPEARANCE: UMD dropped its first two NSIC matches of the season last Friday to Winona State. The Bulldogs suffered an 8-6 setback in their home opener then dropped a 13-2 decision in the series finale. 

TOUCH 'EM ALL: Junior catcher Kendal Jenkins provided the boom stick in her latest outing. Jenkins mashed three home runs against Winona State. She is just the second Bulldog this season to homer twice in a game. All three hits by Jenkins cleared the fence as she registered a team-high four RBI in the series. 

THE FIRST OF MANY TO COME: Head Coach Nat Wagner grabbed his first win -- in his first game -- as the head coach of the UMD softball team against Southwest Minnesota State University. The Bulldogs defeated the Mustangs in convincing fashion, blanking the Mustangs 7-0 in the season opener on Feb. 1.

CLOSING IN A MILESTONE: Additionally, Head Coach Nat Wagner needs 20 more wins to hit his 100th career coaching victory as a head coach.

THE WAGNER FILES: A new era of Bulldog softball commences this season with the addition of head coach Nat Wagner. The newest manager of the maroon and gold becomes just the fifth head coach in the program's 44-year history after serving as an assistant coach for the University of Saint Thomas the past two seasons. Prior, Wagner was at the helm of the Minot State University program for three years, leading the Beavers to a 60-48 record and one NSIC Postseason appearance.

ON DECK: The Bulldogs continue their longest road stand of the season with a NSIC double header against the University of Minnesota Crookston on Wednesday, April 1. Opening pitch of the doubleheader will begin at 2:00 p.m.