The University of Minnesota Duluth baseball team heads to the Twin Cities this weekend to play out their previously postponed four game series against the University of Sioux Falls Cougars on Saturday, Mar. 8, at 9:30 AM and Sunday, Mar. 9, at 4:30 PM.

Last Time Out

The Bulldogs opened their 2025 season last week with a 2-2 split against the Southwest Minnesota State University Mustangs in Norwalk, IA.

UMD fell in game one of opening day after a solo home run in the sixth inning from SMSU would be the only run put on the board throughout the game. However, the Bulldogs bounced back in game two after a four run rally in the fourth inning would help them launch a 7-5 victory to close out the night.

The Bulldogs started off day two on the right foot, earning the 2-1 victory on a pair of RBI hits in the third and sixth innings. SMSU took their chance to respond in game two after a grand slam in the first inning contributed to a 13-9 performance, splitting the games evenly between each team throughout the four game series.

Last Week's Highlight Players

Player

#8 Nathan Rosenberg - 4 GP, 8-16 (.500), 3 RBI, 1 HR, .750 SLG%

Pitcher

#31 Brayden Buttweiler - 5.2 IP, 0.00 ERA, 9 SO, 3 BB, 1 H, 1-0 W-L

Scouting Report - University of Sioux Falls

The University of Sioux Falls Cougars are 4-9 overall to start the 2025 season, most recently falling 5-13 in the finale of a four game series with the MSU Denver Roadrunners. 

The Bulldogs are 22-9 against the Cougars since 2013, most recently defeating USF 9-8 last season in the finale of a four game road trip. UMD holds a 2-0 home record, 13-7 away record, and a 7-2 neutral site record over the Cougars, with their largest margin of victory standing at 17 runs (21-4, Mar. 2015).

The Cougars' offense is currently led by redshirt sophomore #5 Nolan Drossel, who is hitting 11-27 (.407) on the season with four RBIs over 12 appearances.

Bulldogs Against the Rest

After four games of the 2025 season, the Bulldogs now sit within the top five throughout the NSIC in nine statistical categories and top three in three categories, including: 

Earned Run Average - 5.70 (5th in NSIC, 120th in NCAA)

Fielding Percentage - 0.984 (3rd in NSIC, 8th in NCAA)

Hits Allowed per Nine Innings - 8.70 (3rd in NSIC, 62nd in NCAA)

Strikeout-to-Walk Ratio - 1.88 (5th in NSIC, 90th in NSIC)

Strikeouts per Nine Innings - 9.6 (5th in NSIC, 38th in NSIC)

Triples - 1 (4th in NSIC, 166th in NCAA)

Triples per Game - 0.25 (3rd in NSIC, 83rd in NCAA)

WHIP - 1.53 (5th in NSIC, 90th in NCAA)

Win Percentage - 0.500 (5th in NSIC, 114th in NCAA)

Looking Ahead

Bulldog baseball heads south next week to make their annual appearance in the RussMatt Central Florida Invite. Game one of their tournament run against Malone University is currently set for Tuesday, Mar. 11, at 4:45 PM EST.