GRAND FORKS, N.D. - The Fighting Sioux will host their second consecutive Great West Conference series this weekend when Northern Colorado pays a visit to Kraft Field. The Bears and Sioux are no strangers to conference games though as the teams squared off as North Central Conference members during their Division II days from 1991-2002.
NCC REWIND: The Sioux and Bears last met in 2002 when they split a four-game NCC series in Greeley. The teams split two games the last time they met in Grand Forks in 1999. Overall, the clubs have met 16 times with each side winning eight of those contests.
BACK AT KRAFT: After playing their first 27 games of the season away from Grand Forks, the Fighting Sioux will have played eight of the last 10 games, including this weekend's four-game series with UNC, on their home field.
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, Texas Pan-American and New York Tech, the two remaining first-time opponents are members of the Great West. The Sioux have remaining first-time 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.
MAGNER'S MONSTER WEEKEND GARNERS FOUR NATIONAL HONORS: Junior Jake Magner earned some national recognition after his monster series against New York Tech this past weekend. In all, Magner collected four national honors as he went 10-for-18 (.556) at the plate with six home runs and 14 RBI in the Great West series against the Bears. In Saturday's doubleheader, he belted all six of those home runs and drove in 13 runs as the Sioux earned a split with a thrilling 20-19 victory in the nightcap. The Grand Rapids, Minn., native set school single-game records in the second contest with four home runs and nine RBI. He was the first player in Division I this season to smack four homers in a game and his nine RBI equal the most by a DI player during the 2010 campaign. For his efforts, he was named a Louisville Slugger National Player of the Week by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper and the NCBWA's Pro-Line Athletic National Hitter of the Week on Tuesday. Then on Wednesday, he added two more honors as CollegeBaseballInsider.com named him its National Hitter of the Week and Diamond Sports and the College Baseball Foundation put him on their “National All-Star Lineup”. Magner also earned the Great West Conference Player of the Week honor.
A CLOSER LOOK AT THE SIOUX
• Senior Josh Nelson has hit safely in 14 straight games and is batting .377 (20-for-53) during that stretch. He had four straight multiple-hit games in the New York Tech series and has raised his season average to .337 (second on the team). Nelson is batting .391 (18-for-46) in Great West games and has hit safely in all 12 of those contests as well.
• Junior Jake Magner cranked his 13th home run of the season during the mid-week doubleheader at South Dakota State, moving him into third place alone on the single-season charts (Carter Rogalla holds the clip at 22). He currently ranks eighth on the career charts with 24 (Aaron Larsen tops the list with 44).
• Magner leads the Great West Conference with nine homers and 23 RBI in league play.
• Junior Josh Lagein has found his power stroke in the 2010 season, launching six home runs through 33 games (117 at-bats). The Sioux centerfielder did not have any home runs in his first two seasons (251 at-bats).
• Lagein is batting .318 in Great West games with four home runs and 12 RBI. He has also scored a team-high 15 runs in league games.
• Junior college transfer Craig Dolmage is batting .457 in his last 13 contests (16-for-35) after opening the season in a 1-for-18 slump. His average is up to .321 and Dolmage hit his first DI homer on April 24 in the first game of the doubleheader with NYIT. Dolmage is batting .416 (10-for-24) in GWC action.
• Sophomore David Lind is coming off the first nine-inning complete game of his career last Sunday, when he defeated New York Tech 7-3. Lind allowed eight hits and fanned four as he picked up his second straight win in Great West play. The right-hander is 2-0 with a 3.63 ERA in three league starts.
ABOUT THE BEARS: Head coach Kevin Smallcomb is in his eighth season leading the Bears program, which transitioned back to the Division I ranks in his first season on the job. Smallcomb has never coached against the Sioux as the last series between the two clubs in 2002 was played prior to Smallcomb's first on the job in 2003.
A CLOSER LOOK AT NORTHERN COLORADO
• The Bears have won 14 out of their last 18 contests after opening the season with a 4-15 mark. UNC put together a 10-game winning streak that was snapped in a GWC series against Utah Valley.
• Junior right-hander Joe Sawicki is the two-time reigning Great West Pitcher of the Week. Sawicki is 3-0 with a 3.09 ERA in three league starts.
• Outfielder Jared Berggren leads the club in hitting with a .381 average. He also has seven home runs and 28 RBI - totals that rank second on the team.
• First baseman Kyle Hardman has a team-leading nine round trippers, while catcher Seth Budde leads the club with 31 RBI.
• Second baseman T.J. Berge is batting .469 through 12 GWC games - an average that ranks third in the league.
• The Sioux and Bears have played three common opponents, including a pair of league foes already. UNC swept UT-Pan American at Edinburg, while the Sioux took three-of-four from the Broncs there as well. The Sioux were swept by Utah Valley in Orem, Utah, while UNC dropped three-of-four to the Wolverines at home. The lone non-conference common opponent was South Dakota State. The Bears hosted the Jackrabbits for a weekend series and dropped two-of-three to SDSU, while the Sioux were swept in a doubleheader at Brookings this past Wednesday.
SIOUX CREW DECK PARTY: The Sioux Crew wants to see YOU out at Kraft Field this Saturday for an afternoon doubleheader between the Fighting Sioux and Great West Conference foe Northern Colorado. Free pizza will be provided to all fans in attendance starting at 1 p.m. until it runs out. Don't miss out and get there early. All baseball games are free and open to the public.
BAKHIT COLLECTS INAUGURAL GWC-SAAC SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD: Senior Jabby Bakhit was awarded the inaugural Great West Conference Student-Athlete Advisory Committee Sportsmanship Award on April 29. Bakhit earned the honor on the men's side, while NJIT volleyball player Sabrina Baby garnered the honor on the women's side. Bakhit is a career .288 hitter for the Sioux and is one hit shy of collecting the 100th of his UND tenure. He is also an active leader in the community campus and has done a number of service activities to help earn this distinction.
MIX AND MATCH: Head coach Jeff Dodson has used identical lineups only twice (April 5th doubleheader vs. NDSU and the first games of the Utah Valley and New York Tech series) through 33 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 33 games. He has anchored the lineup in the nine-hole and started every game at second base. In fact, Bakhit has made 106 consecutive starts at second base. Juniors Jake Magner (31 at 1B, one at DH) and Josh Lagein both have 32 starts (all in CF), respecitively.
DOUBLE-DIP: UND has played eight of its 13 twinbills scheduled for the season. Besides the remaining four Saturday doubleheaders in Great West Conference play, the Sioux will play South Dakota State in a doubleheader at Kraft Field on May 18. The Sioux are 4-10 in their seven doubleheaders so far this season.
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. Junior Jake Magner, a two-time recipient a year ago, picked up his first honor this past Monday after hitting .556 (10-for-18) with six home runs and 14 RBI in the series against New York Tech.
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 in his career. 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 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 three starts and true freshman Kris Kwak has made 12, including nine out of the last 10 games.
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.
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.
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.
