MEDIA INFORMATION: Live stats and an audio broadcast of both games of Saturday's doubleheader will be available at www.fightingsioux.com.

THE ALL-TIME SERIES WITH U-MARY: The brief series history between the Fighting Sioux and Marauders dates back to only last season when the clubs met for the first time on the diamond. U-Mary defeated the Sioux, 6-2, in Bismarck a year ago. The Marauders jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first and never relinquished that advantage, posting the four-run victory over the Sioux.

TRANSITION YEAR: The Fighting Sioux are in the midst of their first full season of Division I baseball under the guidance of first-year head coach Jeff Dodson. All of UND's sports are in a reclassifying season, transitioning from the Division II to Division I level, except for both hockey programs, which have been at the Division I level for several years. The Sioux have 45 games on their 2009 slate and 35 of those will be played against teams in Division I.

ABOUT U-MARY: The Marauders will be closing out their 2009 campaign on Tuesday in Grand Forks. The doubleheader with the Sioux will be games 43 and 44 on the season for the team from Bismarck.

U-Mary is led in batting by second baseman Casey Gray, who was one of three Marauders to start all 42 games so far this seaosn. Gray is hitting .343 and is tied for the team lead in doubles (nine) and triples (two). Third baseman Tyler Liffrig has supplied more than a third of the team's home runs this season, belting 10 of the Marauders' 29 long balls. He also leads the team with 33 RBI and is batting .306 on the campaign.

Blaze Culliton leads the Marauders' pitching staff in appearances this season with 19 and is second in innings pitched with 42.2. Culliton has also made four starts and has a save. His 5.48 E.R.A. is only topped by Matt Leer, who is a perfect 3-0, and has a 2.75 E.R.A.

U-MARY COACHING STAFF: The Marauders are led by fourth-year head coach Brad Walsh, who has also coached the softball team at U-Mary prior to making the switch. A graduate of Mayville State, Walsh and the Mauraders are 11-31 this season and finished 8-14 in the Northern Sun this year. His team has won three out of its last five after suffering through a 3-12 stretch towards the end of April.

LAST TIME OUT: The Sioux secured their second straight doubleheader sweep at Kraft Field on Saturday by taking both games from Concordia. UND won the opener in dramatic fashion, rallying from seven runs down in the sixth, then scoring the game-winner on a suicide squeeze by Jabby Bakhit (Omaha, Neb.) in the seventh. The Sioux then took game two from the Cobbers, 11-7 behind a pair of three run-homers by Josh Nelson (Apple Valley, Minn.) and Andrew Gudmunson (Minot, N.D.).

GOOD TO THE LAST SWING: Junior rightfielder Andrew Gudmunson (Minot, N.D.) has been swinging a hot stick of late and his last swing in game one of the Dakota Wesleyan doubleheader on April 24 was his biggest of the season. He connected on a two-run, walk-off homer to lift the Sioux to a 6-5 victory. The two-run shot was his second of the game and third of the season. His initial blast broke a 3-3 tie in the fifth inning.

Despite going hitless in two games at Kansas State, Gudmunson, has raised his average 116 points over the last 15 games to .321.

During the hot streak, Gudmunson is a combined 27-for-58 (.466) with four home runs and 13 RBI. He has seen his average climb to the third best among the Sioux regulars. The UND rightfielder has enjoyed playing at Kraft Field where he is hitting .429 with all four of his home runs and nine RBI in six games.

MAGNERIFFIC: An arm injury limited sophomore Jake Magner (Grand Rapids, Minn.) from playing a lot as a freshman, but he showed his hitting prowess during his brief time in the line-up. In nine games, which included seven starts, Magner batted .524 (11-for-21) with a home run, two doubles and 11 RBI.

This season, Magner has picked up where he left off. The Sioux first baseman has started all 37 games (one at DH) and is near the top in most offensive categories for UND this season. Besides his team-best batting average of .393, Magner also leads the team in hits (57), home runs (10) and RBI (44). Magner also leads in slugging percentage (.697) and total bases (101).

Magner is closing in on a number of UND single-season top 10 lists with his offensive numbers so far this season. He is one shy of being tied for seventh on the home run list. One more RBI will tie him for ninth in that category. One more base hit will tie him for 10th in that category as well. He is already tied for 10th in total bases with 101.

SMOLDERING MAGNER: Magner has been the most consistent Sioux hitter throughout the season and has hit safely in 23 of his last 25 games. He sandwiched his only hitless game in that stretch with the first pair of four-hit games of his career. In those 25 contests, Magner is 42-for-100 (.420) with six home runs and 31 RBI. He leads the team with 18 multiple-hit games and 13 multiple-RBI games as well.

For his efforts, Magner has twice been named Great West Player of the Week, including the latest honor on April 20. Magner earned the honor after going 7-for-9 with two home runs, two doubles, a triple and eight RBI in the doubleheader at Concordia on April 18.

SPIES LIKE US: Lefthander David Spies (Grand Forks, N.D.) had a solid week out of the pen for the Sioux. The sophomore tossed 6.2 innings of relief, picking up the win in game one of Saturday's doubleheader with Concordia and saving game two. Spies posted his longest outing of the season in the first game against Kansas State on April 28, logging four innings, while only allowing one earned run on two hits. For the season, Spies is 2-0 with a pair of saves and has the top E.R.A. out of the bullpen for the Sioux at 4.11.

SWEET SWINGIN' SIOUX: Through 25 games this season, the Sioux offense was batting just .251 and averaging 4.6 runs per game. However, in the last 12 games the Sioux offensive numbers have been much-improved. As a team, UND is batting .384 (151-for-393) and has scored 100 runs, which equates to an average of 8.5 runs per game.

The recent surge has the team average up to .294 and 5.8 runs per game. Five different Sioux are batting .400 or better during those last 12 games led by Jake Magner (Grand Rapids, Minn.), who is hitting at a .447 clip (21-for-47).

Juniors Andrew Gudmunson (Minot, N.D.) and Aaron Cook (Erskine, Minn.) are close behind at .444. Cook has also drawn nine walks and leads the team with a .574 on-base percentage during that stretch where the Sioux have gone 6-6. Middle infielders Josh Nelson (Apple Valley, Minn.) and Jabby Bakhit (Omaha, Neb.) round out the quintet of .400 hitters. Nelson also has 10 RBI in his last 12 games after having only five in the first 25 games.

MASHIN' SIOUX: Not only has the team batting average risen in the last 12 games, but the power numbers have as well. For the year, the Sioux have belted 24 home runs, but 15 of those have come during the last 12 games. Juniors Andrew Gudmunson (Minot, N.D.) leads the team with four of those home runs, while Aaron Cook (Erskine, Minn.) and sophomore Jake Magner (Grand Rapids, Minn.) each have three. Magner also has a team-high 18 RBI over that span.

JUNGLING BELL ROCK: Junior Ryne Jungling (Mandan, N.D.) has made up for a shaky start to the season in a big way here lately. Sharing catching duties with Andrew Sadler (Grand Forks, N.D.) over the past four games, Jungling is batting .636 (7-for-11) with five runs and five RBI. He has hit safely in six straight after opening the season mired in an 0-for-23 slump.

LINDING A HELPING ARM: True freshman David Lind (Brooklyn Park, Minn.) registered the first two complete games of his career last week en route to earning Great West Pitcher of the Week honors (April 27). He was the second Sioux to earn the league's weekly pitching honor this season (Brandon Baumgartner, 4/13).

Lind notched two of UND's three wins on the mound a week ago in tossing a pair of seven-inning complete games. On April 20 at South Dakota State, Lind scattered eight hits and allowed four earned runs to secure his first collegiate win.

On three days rest, Lind came back and tossed a four-hitter against Dakota Wesleyan, helping the Sioux defeat the Tigers 9-1 and win back-to-back games for the first time this season.

Lind, who started the campaign 0-3, picked up his third straight win in a start on Saturday against Concordia to even his ledger at 3-3.

NELSON IGNITES: Shorstop Josh Nelson (Apple Valley, Minn.) has been a steady defender up the middle for the Sioux this season, but has picked up the pace offensively here of late as well. Nelson has hit safely in 10 of 12 games and is 19-for-44 (.432) at the plate. He has scored 13 runs and driven in 10. Nelson has seven multiple-hits efforts and his average is up 82 points to .273.

AARON'S COOKIN': Junior Aaron Cook (Erskine, Minn.) has been one of UND's top hitters in the early part of the 2009 campaign. Cook has waited his turn to get a chance to play regularly at the collegiate level and his patience is paying off. Cook redshirted during the 2006 season, did not see any action in 2007 and had only three pinch-hit appearances a year ago.

However, the 2009 season has been much different. Cook has started 33 of 37 games (four at RF, 27 at DH). Cook is currently second on the team with a .322 batting average and second with 13 extra-base hits (eight doubles, four home runs). Cook had the first the multiple-home run game of his career on April 20 in game one of a doubleheader at South Dakota State. His three-run shot in the fifth inning broke a 5-5 tie and he added a two-run shot in the sixth. Both of his home runs came on the first pitch of the at-bat.

BAKHIT'S BAT IS BACK: Junior Jabby Bakhit (Omaha, Neb.) is beginning to show signs of the form that had him voted on to the All-Independent team prior to the season. In his last 12 games, Bakhit is 14-for-35 (.400) with five sacrifice bunts. That effort has his average at .240 after hovering below .200 for the majority of the campaign.

Bakhit is the lone returner on the Sioux roster that earned all-NCC honors a year ago after redshirting in 2006 and only getting five at-bats as a redshirt freshman in 2007.

He was the first Sioux recognized by a national publication this season, earning preseason all-Independent team honors from Baseball America.

Last year, Bakhit was inserted into the line-up and served as the team's primary leadoff hitter, batting .340 with two doubles and 14 RBI. He was also swift of foot, tying for the team-lead with five stolen bases. He started 34 games.

LUECK PASSES LAKERS HEAD COACH ON "K" LIST: Senior Mike Lueck (Victoria, Minn.) equaled his season high with seven strikeouts in his last start (vs. SDSU on 4/22). In doing so, he moved into eighth place on the UND career strikeout list passing current L.A. Lakers head coach Phil Jackson. The former UND two-sport star has gone on to one of the most illustrious coaching careers in the NBA, but before he made his way as a professional on the hardwood, Jackson was a hurler for the Fighting Sioux as well.

Jackson fanned 125 in his two-year baseball career at UND from 1965-66. Lueck trailed the fellow righthander by just one entering his start against South Dakota State and fanned two in the first frame to surpass him.

Lueck also moved into the top 10 in another category this season after tossing the 10th complete game of his UND career against Kansas on March 3.

MAREK RISING: Senior Andrew Marek broke out of a season-opening slump at Southern Illinois (March 13-15) to help the Sioux take their first Division I series win. Marek opened the campaign 2-for-30 (.067), but has since been one of the most consistent hitters in the Sioux line-up. He is batting .375 (39-for-104) since the second game at Southern Illinois and has hit safely in 22 of 27 games.

Marek has all of his team-leading 12 doubles during that stretch and has added 22 of his 23 RBI. Since his sluggish start, Marek has seen his batting average rise to .306 - the fourth best among the Sioux regulars.

SEVEN HEAVEN: The Fighting Sioux offense has a goal of scoring seven runs in each game this season. The feat has been achieved in 13 games, including four of the last six. It is no coincidence that all 11 of UND's 12 victories this season have come when the team reaches that goal.