GRAND FORKS, N.D. - It will be one day shy of five years between meetings No. 162 and No. 163 in the longest-standing rivalry in the North Dakota baseball annals. That hiatus officially comes to a close on Easter Sunday when the Fighting Sioux and North Dakota State Bison face each other in a doubleheader at the Metrodome. UND was victorious in the last encounter with NDSU, blanking the Bison on their home field, 6-0, on April 5, 2005. The Sioux have won seven of the last eight meetings overall and own a 92-69-1 edge in the all-time series. Sunday's doubleheader is slated for a 3 p.m. start, while Monday's twinbill will begin at Noon.

TRACK AND LISTEN: All four games, which will all be of the seven-inning variety, between the Sioux and Bison will be broadcast live on the internet at www.FightingSioux.com. Fans can follow the action on SIOUXtra with Baseball SID Ryan Powell handling the play-by-play.

SIOUX AT THE METRODOME: It has been 10 years since the Fighting Sioux played a game in the Metrodome as the club holds a 5-11-2 record all-time in 18 contests played on the former home field of the Minnesota Twins. First base coach Brian DeVillers was a freshman on the 2000 UND team that fell to Northern Iowa in its season opener that season, 10-3. The Sioux played eight games at the Dome during the 1985 season, posting an 0-7-1 mark. After two more setbacks to open the 1986 season, UND finally picked up a win inside, defeating Simpson College, 5-3, as the Sioux went 2-3 that year. The Sioux returned to the Metrodome in 1998, sweeping a two-game series with Northern Illinois. The Sioux also picked up a win and a tie against Southwest State in 1999 before suffering the seven-run setback to the Panthers in their last visit to Minneapolis.

NICE TO MEET YOU: The Fighting Sioux will play seven first-time opponents during the 2010 season. As UND continues its transition to the Division I level, playing new teams will be the norm. With the Sioux having already faced Wichita State and Oral Roberts, the remaining five of those first-time opponents are members of the Great West (Utah Valley, Texas-Pan American, Chicago State, Houston Baptist and New York Tech) as the league embarks on its inaugural baseball season. The GWC also includes NJIT, who the Sioux have a 2-0 edge over in the all-time series and Northern Colorado, a former North Central Conference rival that has split 16 all-time games with UND. Last season, the Sioux faced six first-time opponents in their first DI season, including Nebraska. 

• Head coach Jeff Dodson enters his second season at the helm of the program after leading the team to 14 wins in 2009.

• After going 12 games to open the season without reaching double figures in hits, the Sioux have strung together three consecutive such efforts. The team had a season-high 11 at Oral Roberts on March 27 and had 10 hits in each contest against Nebraska.

• Sophomore Zac Salfer tossed a career-high 7.1 innings in a 10-4 setback to Nebraska on March 31. Salfer's outing was also the longest of the season by a Sioux hurler. 

• Senior Andrew Gudmunson entered the two-game series at Nebraska struggling through a 3-24 (.125) slump to open the season. Facing his old club allowed him to break free as he went 5-for-10 with five RBI. For the second straight season, Gudmunson had a bases-clearing double against the Huskers.

• Junior Josh Lagein hit his first collegiate home run in the second inning of game one vs. Nebraska. His two-run shot gave the Sioux a 4-0 advantage.

• Junior Jake Magner put together his second straight three-hit contest in the opener, going 3-for-5 with a run scored.

• Magner had his second career two-homer game in Sunday's series finale at Oral Roberts. Magner hit a solo shot in the first and a two-run blast in the ninth.

• Magner leads the team with three home runs, seven RBI and a trio of multiple-hit contests.

• Junior Josh Ray hit safely in all three games against Oral Roberts, going 8-for-13 at the plate (.625). He earned Great West Conference Player of the Week honors for his efforts. In the last two games vs. the Golden Eagles, Ray went 7-for-9 with three extra-base hits, including his first Division I home run.

• Ray had the first four-hit game of the season for the Sioux in the series finale on March 27. He had a RBI double in the third and also added three singles.

• With his performance at the plate in Tulsa, Ray saw his average climb from .222 to .350. He currently leads the team with a .333 mark. 

• Senior Jabby Bakhit, Magner and Ray combined for 10 of UND's season-high 11 hits in the 9-7 loss to ORU on Sunday. Bakhit and Magner both had three hits, while Ray finished with four.

• Junior Sam Anderson logged an effective 6.1 innings on the mound at ORU on March 26. Anderson left with the game tied at 4-4 and finished with a career-high six punch outs.

• Junior Brandon Baumgartner worked in relief in two games against ORU, tossing 6.2 innings. He allowed only three earned runs in his appearances in Tulsa.

• Senior Josh Nelson started at third base in game two of a March 19 doubleheader at Missouri. For Nelson, it was his first career start not at shortstop (84).

• Anderson logged the first win of the season for the Sioux, tossing 4.2 innings in a 6-5 victory over SEMO (G2, March 13).

• Junior college transfer Jeff Bunch had two RBI and picked up the save in that victory over SEMO (G2, March 13).

• Lagein was credited with the game-winning RBI in the win at SEMO after singling home a run in the sixth. For the season, he has nine hits, five walks and four HBPs in 13 games.

• Senior Aaron Cook and Gudmunson lead the Sioux with four doubles. 

• UND returns its top three hitters from 2009 in Magner (.393), Cook (.328) and Andrew Gudmunson (.314). That trio also ranked one-two-three in home runs and RBI for the Sioux a year ago: Magner (10-51), Cook (6-28) and Gudmunson (5-25).

• Magner earned all-Independent first team honors in 2009. His 66 hits and 51 RBI tied for the fourth best totals in UND single-season history.

• Freshman Kris Kwak's first two career hits were triples.

ABOUT THE BISON: Head coach Tod Brown is in his third season at the helm of the Bison and he has led his squad to 38 wins during his tenure. He played collegiately at Arizona where he was a member of the 1992 Pac-10 Championship team. NDSU was picked to finish fifth in the Summit League preseason coaches' poll. This will be the third season for the Bison in the league.

• The Bison are off to a 7-10 start and will be coming off a 10-day layoff when they face the Sioux on April 4. NDSU will actually have a stretch of six straight games at the Metrodome after splitting a two-game series with Minnesota on March 23-24.

• Freshman Kyle Kingsley (Fargo South) is off to a 3-0 start in his young career and will take the ball for head Tod Brown in the opener. He has a 2.35 ERA in 15.1 innings of work.

• NDSU first baseman Zach Wentz was named the Summit League's Co-Player of the Week after going 5-for-8 with three RBI against the Gophers.

• Wentz and Eric Nutzhorn share the team lead with two homers each. Nutzhorn, who is the team's designated hitter, has a commanding lead in the RBI category with 15. Wentz is second with eight.

• Kingsley is not the only freshman hurler with a sub 3.00 ERA for the Bison. Classmate Mark Hermes will start Monday's opener, entering the contest with a 0-0 record and a 2.81 ERA.

MAGNER STARTING TO SIMMER: After going through the first six games of the season without a hit, 2009 All-Independent honoree Jake Magner's bat is starting to warm up. He registered his first hit and RBI of the season against SIUE (March 17) in his third at-bat of that contest. In the last six games, Magner is 12-for-34 (.353) at the plate. He also has three home runs with seven RBI. Magner, who led the team with 21 multiple-hit games, has put up a trio of three-hit contests during that stretch as well.

RAY ON THE RISE: Junior college transfer Josh Ray entered the weekend series with Oral Roberts batting just .222, but he left Tulsa with a .350 clip after going 8-for-13 against the Golden Eagles. He earned Great West Conference Player of the Week honors for his efforts as well. The Yucaipa, Calif., native cranked out his first Division I home run in game two and had the first four-hit game of the season for the Sioux in the series finale.

MUSICAL CHAIRS AT THE HOT CORNER: Head coach Jeff Dodson has used four different starting third baseman this season. Senior Josh Nelson, who had started 83 games over the past two-plus seasons at shortstop, got his first career start at third in game two of a doubleheader at Mizzou on March 19. He now has four starts at the hot corner. Another senior, Aaron Cook, has made the most starts at third this season with six. He had never played the position at the collegiate level prior to this season. Cook was the team's primary designated hitter a season ago. Sophomore Kyle Bolander has made two starts and true freshman Kris Kwak has made three starts at third.

DOUBLE-DIP: UND's double-header at Mizzou on March 19th was the second of 13 twinbills the Fighting Sioux are scheduled to play this season. Besides the Saturday double-headers in Great West Conference play, UND will play twinbills against North Dakota State and South Dakota State. The Sioux will play back-to-back twinbills against the Bison on April 4th and 5th at the Metrodome and they also have double-headers against the Jackrabbits in Brookings (April 28) and Grand Forks (May 18).

BUNCH DELIVERS: Junior college transfer Jeff Bunch showed his versatility in UND's first win of the season in game two of a doubleheader at Southeast Missouri State (March 13). Bunch played the first 14-plus innings of the doubleheader at catcher before taking to the mound to record the final four outs and pick up the first save of the season for UND. It was the first appearance on a mound for Bunch since his Little League days in California. Bunch had two RBI in the contest as well, then held the Redhawks off the board over the final 1.1 innings. Bunch has started eight games at catcher and one at shortstop as well this season.

MIX AND MATCH: Head coach Jeff Dodson has used 15 different line-ups in the first 15 games of the season as he tries to find the right combination of veterans and newcomers. Once he settled into a lineup in his rookie season in 2009, the most Dodson used the same lineup in a game was 12 times. Only senior Jabby Bakhit has been in the same spot in the field and in the batting order in all 15 games. He has anchored the lineup in the nine-hole and started every game at second base. Junior Jake Magner has started all 15 games, but saw his streak of 57 straight games at first base come to a close when he got the nod at designated hitter in Wednesday's afternoon tilt against the Huskers.

DUAL THREATS: Last season, outfielder Andrew Gudmunson was the only Sioux player to be used in a dual-role as both a position player and pitcher. That experiment only lasted for one out as Gudmunson did not allow a run in that one-third of an inning on the mound. So far this season, three players have seen action both on the mound and in the field. Junior college transfer Jeff Bunch has started 11 games at catcher, one at shortstop and registered a save in UND's 6-5 victory over SEMO in game two of Saturday's doubleheader. Bunch tossed a scoreless 1.1 innings of work and he also shares the team lead with three RBI. True freshman Kris Kwak has started 10 games in the field (four at shortstop, three at third base) and has also seen action in a relief role in four games. Senior Aaron Cook was the third position player to give it a whirl on the mound - throwing one inning in the 11-0 setback to SIUE on Tuesday. The appearance on the mound was the first in Cook's career.

TEAMMATES AGAIN: Junior college transfers Jeff Bunch and Josh Ray are both newcomers to the Fighting Sioux baseball team, but the duo will be teammates again for the third straight season. Bunch and Ray spent the past two seasons playing on the same team at Mt. San Jacinto College. Bunch his .379 as a sophomore last season, while Ray hit .388 as both players earned second team All-Foothill Conference honors.

PACIFIC COAST CRUSADE: The 2010 Fighting Sioux roster features four players hailing from states bordering the Pacific Ocean. Three Californians and one Oregonian have made the trek to Peace Garden State to play their college baseball. Catcher/shortstop Jeff Bunch hails from Victorville, Calif.. Outfielder Josh Ray is from Yucaipa, Calif., while right-hander Travis Clifton is a native of Monterey, Calif. Grants Pass, Ore., native Craig Dolmage rounds out the quartet. The 2009 UND roster did not feature any players from the Pacific Coast. 

GLANCE AT THE GREAT WEST: The Fighting Sioux will be joining seven other Division I independent teams to form the Great West Conference this season. The eight-team league will begin conference play on the weekend of April 9-11 and compete each weekend in four-game series through May 20-22. The conference season will culminate in Edinburg, Texas, home of Texas Pan-American, on May 26-29 for the inaugural Great West Conference Baseball Tournament.

Besides UTPA, the Fighting Sioux will join Chicago State, Houston Baptist, New York Tech, New Jersey Tech, Northern Colorado and Utah Valley in forming the newly-alligned baseball league. The Great West will be only the second conference the Fighting Sioux will play baseball in, having spent its Division II years playing in the North Central Conference.