As unseasonal temperatures push through the area this weekend, the University of Minnesota Duluth baseball team will start the season a week early and closer to home when it travels to Sioux Falls, S.D. to face Augustana University on Ronken Field for Saturday-Sunday doubleheaders. Both double header will get underway at noon, and the first three games will count as Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference action. The fourth and final game Sunday will go in as a non-conference game.

The Bulldogs, who have at best opened the season on an earlier date three or four times in program history, have not played a game outside this early in over 11 seasons. UMD last early February start date came on Feb. 18, 2017 at Pittsburg State in Pittsburg, Kansas (a 9-4 win for the Gorillas).

THE SERIES WITH AUGUSTANA: UMD finished with a 26-27 overall record last season and a 21-19 record in the NSIC, good enough for a sixth place finish in the league. In three meetings against Augustana last season, the Bulldogs went 1-3.  The programs faced each other twice on March 27, 2025, a 8-6 win  before a lopsided 21-3 loss, and UMD fell in both doubleheader games the following day by scores of 3-2 and 13-2 on March 28. 

Since the 2013 season, UMD is just 4-27 against the Vikings and 2-20 in Sioux Falls. 

Augustana is already 3-0 in the NSIC and 4-0 overall on the young season after sweeping Bemidji State University last weekend in Sioux Falls.

A LOOK AHEAD AT THE 2026 SEASON:

"We are excited to see this team build upon last year's improved play," said head coach Bob Rients, who begins his 21st season behind the Bulldog bench this year. "This squad has more experience than our teams the past handful of years which we expect to help with elevating our level of play throughout the season. If our seniors continue to lead, the juniors and sophomores take a step forward in production from last year, and our freshmen provide a boost of energy when called upon then this spring should be highly competitive for UMD Baseball."

UMD returns seven-of-nine starting positions and four-of-six pitchers will be back on the mound for the Bulldogs. In the preseason, senior Troy Lynch was named UMD's NSIC Player to Watch, while senior right-handed pitcher Henry Wilkinson was named to the NSIC Pitcher to Watch list.

Lynch, a first baseman/outfielder is indeed a player to watch after he posted a .378 batting average last season to pair with a .616 slugging percentage and .486 on base percentage. With nine home runs, Lynch also recorded 51 RBIs. Lynch led UMD in almost every offensive category last season, and earned All-NSIC Second team honors. Another key returning Bulldog is sophomore Joey Flom, a shortstop/outfielder last season's NSIC Rookie of Year winner. Flom started in 44 games for UMD as a rookie and batted 60-153 (.392) with 34 RBIs and a 1.049 OPS. On the field, he recorded 75 solo outs with a .956 FLD%.

Junior Sam Kliber is another UMD player to watch this season after the second base/right-handed pitcher posted a .383 batting average in 154 at-bats and scored 39 runs while recording 59 hits, including 12 doubles, one home run, contributed 35 RBIs. On the mound, Kliber registered an 8.22 ERA over the 7.2 innings pitched with six strikeouts.

In the bullpen, Wilkinson, a senior, went 5-2 last season and pitched 71.2 innings with a 4.14 ERA and 42 strikeouts. He also posted a 1.37 WHIP and a .281 bats against average. Senior Ryan Wattermann appeared in 10 games and started in six for the Bulldogs with 28 strikeouts over the 39.1 innings pitched. Wattermann finished the season with a 3-0 record and was named the team's 2025 Most Improved Player.

The Bulldogs, who were picked to finish sixth in the NSIC Coaches Preseason Poll, posted their first 20-win season in 2025 in nine years, and will look to repeat with 20 wins or more for the first time since the 2015 (26-10) and 2016 (29-7) seasons.