GRAND FORKS, N.D. - The Fighting Sioux will play their first of 14 home games this season on Friday as they open a Great West series with New York Tech. First pitch for the four-game series is scheduled for 3 p.m. at Kraft Field. The two teams will also play a Saturday doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m. and a single game on Sunday, which is also set for 1 p.m. The Bears, who are an associate member for GWC baseball, and the Sioux are squaring off for the first time on the baseball diamond.
BACK AT KRAFT: After playing their first 27 games of the season away from Grand Forks, the Fighting Sioux will make their 2010 home debut on Friday against New York Tech. UND has enjoyed an 8-2 record in home openers over the past 10 seasons.
THE GREAT UNKNOWN: 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, Oral Roberts, Utah Valley and Texas Pan-American, the remaining three of those first-time opponents are members of the Great West. New York Tech is the next one as the Bears travel west this weekend for UND's home-opening series at Kraft Field. The Sioux have remaining series against Chicago State and Houston Baptist 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.
A CLOSER LOOK AT THE SIOUX
• The Sioux are 2-0 all-time in games against teams from New York. UND defeated St. Rose in 2000 and Stony Brook in 1998.
• Left-hander Brandon Baumgartner has yet to allow an earned run in three relief appearances against Great West Conference opponents. He picked up a win and a save in five innings of relief last weekend at Texas-Pan American.
• Salfer equaled his career-long outing by giving up just one earned run on 10 hits in 7.1 innings of work.
• Lind established a new career-long outing, surrendering three earned runs on 11 hits in 7.2 innings of work.
• Biermaier tossed his second complete game of the season, but was the tough-luck loser in his contest. The right-hander went seven innings, allowing only two earned runs on six hits.
• Senior Andrew Gudmunson is batting .344 in league play (11-for-32) and has five of the team's 13 doubles in Great West games. He leads the team with nine doubles in all games and has added 15 RBI.
• Classmate Josh Nelson is also off to a nice start in league play. He is batting .333 and has hit safely in all eight Great West contests. The eight-game hitting streak is the longest of his career. He went 6-for-16 (.375) in the series at UTPA.
•Leadoff hitter Josh Lagein has a team-best .398 on-base percentage despite hitting just .239 on the season. His OBP is so high because he has walked 12 times and been hit by a pitch a team-high 13 times. He ranks fourth on the all-time charts at UND, having been plunked by a pitch 26 times in his career.
• After batting just .226 as a team in non-conference games, the Sioux are batting .285 in Great West games and are averaging 5.8 runs per game (4.3 in non-conference games).
• Junior college transfer Josh Ray continues to lead the team in batting average (.346), slugging percentage (.568), hits (28), extra-base hits (12) and total bases (46). He also ranks second in RBI (17) and doubles (eight).
• Junior college transfer Jeff Bunch got his bat going at UTPA, hitting .357 (6-for-17) with two doubles in the series with the Broncs. He was just 9-for-68 (.132) on the season entering the four-game set.
• Junior college transfer Craig Dolmage has three hits in each of the first two Great West series and is batting .400 in league games (6-for-15). The reserve outfielder had just two hits in non-conference action (21 at-bats).
• The team has hit nine of its 14 home runs in Great West play with first baseman Jake Magner leading the charge with three long balls against league opponents. He has six on the season and leads the team with 18 RBI.
• Ray and freshman Kris Kwak have combined for the team's four triples this season. Each player has registered two three-base hits.
ABOUT THE BEARS: Head coach Bob Hirschfield is in his 29th season leading the Bears program. A 1970 graduate of St. John's University, Hirschfield has amassed over 600 wins at the school. He has his team off to a 14-14-1 start this season, including a 6-2 mark in the inaugural season of Great West play.
A CLOSER LOOK AT THE BEARS
• The Bears' offensive production starts with third baseman Effrey Valdez. The junior is batting .474 this season with 14 doubles, six home runs and 23 RBI.
• The offense does not end with Valdez though as he is joined by four other regulars, who are batting over .300.
• Centerfielder Jerry Smith is batting .369 with five home runs and a team-best 31 RBI.
• Valdez is tied for the team lead in home runs with leftfielder Sebastian Grazziani and shortstop Brian Smith. Each member of the trio has belted six round-trippers this season.
• The Bears as a team are batting .326, while opponents are hitting .314 against the NYIT pitching staff.
• Senior Mike Roth anchors the NYIT bullpen with a 2.20 ERA and a team-best five saves. He has 17 strike outs in 25.2 innings of work.
• Friday night starter Preston Wasmund leads the Bears' rotation with a 3.54 ERA. Wasmund and fellow starter Andrew Guarrasi share the team lead with three wins.
• Guarrasi has 54 punch outs in 43.2 innings of work.
MIX AND MATCH: Head coach Jeff Dodson has used the same line-up only once (April 5th doubleheader vs. NDSU) through 27 games of the season. 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 27 games. He has anchored the lineup in the nine-hole and started every game at second base. Juniors Jake Magner (25 at 1B, one at DH) and Josh Lagein both have 26 starts (all in CF) respecitively.
DOUBLE-DIP: UND has played six of its 13 twinbills scheduled for the season. Besides the remaining Saturday doubleheaders in Great West Conference play, the Sioux will play South Dakota State in a pair of doubleheaders. The Sioux are 3-7 in their five doubleheaders so far this season.
BAKHIT IT UP: Second baseman Jabby Bakhit is picking up where he left off late in last season. He hit .400 down the stretch a year ago (18 games, 20-for-50) and is off to a fast start in 2010. Bakhit had a seven-game hitting streak snapped at Utah Valley, but is still batting .313 on the season. He is well on his way to reaching new career highs in RBI (needs two) and hits (needs 11) with 24 games remaining on the regular-season schedule.
DEREKKKKKKKKKKKK BIERMAIER SNAPS SKID, PUNCHES OUT 12: His previous career-high was six strike outs, but junior Derek Biermaier was a little amped up to face in-state rival North Dakota State as the Sioux right-hander fanned 12 Bison in a seven-inning complete game victory over the Bison on Easter Sunday (April 5). Even more important than the 12 punch outs was a losing streak that came to an end with the 8-4 victory. The Sioux had lost 11 straight entering the four-game series at the Metrodome, but righted the ship to take three-of-four from the Bison.
WEEKLY ACCOLADES ABOUND: After earning eight weekly honors a season ago from the Great West, the Sioux picked up accolades in back-to-back weeks recently. Junior Josh Ray (Yucaipa, Calif.) earned the Player of the Week honors on March 29 after hitting .615 in a series at Oral Roberts. On April 6, junior Derek Biermaier shared the Pitcher of the Week honors after fanning 12 in a complete game victory over North Dakota State.
MUSICAL CHAIRS AT THE HOT CORNER: Head coach Jeff Dodson has used five different starting third baseman this season. The latest player to a get a start at third was junior Andy Sadler. The Grand Forks native started the final three games of the Utah Valley series. The starts were Sadler's first at any infield position. 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 and has started the nine games there. Another senior, Aaron Cook, has made six starts at third. 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 seven, including the last four.
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 21 games in the field (14 at shortstop, seven at third base) and has also seen action in a relief role in six 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. New York Tech and Northern Colorado are associate members for baseball.
