Grand Forks, N.D. - The Fighting Sioux baseball team returns to the Sunflower State for a pair of mid-week games beginning Tuesday at Kansas. UND opened its season last weekend in Wichita, Kan., in a three-game series at No. 23 Wichita State. 

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• Centerfielder Andy Sadler has been on a tear from his leadoff spot the last four games, going 10-for-19 (.526) with five RBI.

• Nine of those base hits have been singles, his only none single was a two-run triple in the opener at Missouri State (March 4).

• Sadller went 3-for-4 that game with three RBI. His final RBI came during the ninth inning and gave UND an 8-7 advantage.

• The Sioux would yield two runs in the ninth though to suffer a 9-8 setback.

• Shortstop Ryan Gerber's first collegiate hit came during that game as well and it was also a lead-chanaging blast. His two-run homer put the Sioux ahead 7-6 in the top of the eighth.

• Third baseman Kyle Bolander ranks second on the team with a .312 batting average (5-for-16). The junior has his first two multiple-hit games of his career so far and he scored a team-best four runs in the Missouri State series.

• Bolander currently leads the team with five runs scored and a .478 on-base percentage.

• Lefthander David Spies has only yielded one earned run in 6.2 innings of relief work this season. His 1.65 ERA is tops on the team and he logged five of those innings in the opener at Missouri State to give UND a chance for their near-comeback.

• Fellow lefty Kevin Auth has also only given up one earned run in two relief appearances (three innings, 3.00 ERA).

• Catcher Zack Trygstad has the only multiple extra-base hits on the team. The freshman had both in the same game, when he tripled and doubled in game two of the season-opening series at Wichita State.

• Sophomore Kris Kwak made his first career start at catcher in the series finale at Wichita State. He made started the entire serires at Missouri State at second base. Those were his first three starts at that position. He split time starting between shortstop and third base in 2010 as a freshman.

ALL-TIME VS. KANSAS: The Sioux and Jayhawks played for the first time in 2009 when KU took both games of a brief two-game series in early March. The Jayhawks jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the first three innings to game one en route to an 8-2 victory. A four-run second in game two would help KU register the sweep with a 6-3 victory. 

THE SKINNY ON THE JAYHAWKS: The Jayhawks are coming off a 1-3 effort at the Coca-Cola Classic in Sunrise, Ariz. Two of those losses were by just one run, including a 4-3 setback to No. 7 Arizona State. KU also suffered a 2-1 setback in 10 innings vs. UC-Riverside and a 12-0 shutout to Cal-State Bakersfield. The Jayhawks capped the tournament with a 4-1 victory over Air Force.

The two-game set with the Sioux will be KU's second homestand. The club went 3-1 during the first stretch of games at Hoglund Park.

Third baseman Jake Marasco is the team's  top hitter through 11 games. He carries a .378 average into the mid-week series. Marasco had three hits and scored two runs in the win over Air Force. He is the only regular in head coach Ritch Price's lineup batting over .300.

Price is in his ninth season at KU. He led the Jayhawks to the 2006 Big 12 Championship - the school's first - and NCAA Tournament appearances in 2006 and 2009.

KU opened the season with a three-game series at No. 1 TCU. After the Horned Frogs took the first two, the Jayhawks rallied for a 4-3 victory in 14 innings in the  series finale.

GLANCE AT THE GREAT WEST: The Fighting Sioux will be embarking on their second season in Great West Conference play.  Utah Valley won the league's inaugural regular season and tournament titles in 2010 and the Wolverines were the preseason pick to repeat in 2011.

UND, who was picked to finish fifth in the coaches' preseason poll, will host this year's conference tournament at renovated Kraft Field. The Sioux will host the double-elimination event, May 24-28.

The other six members of the league are Chicago State, Houston Baptist, New York Tech, NJIT, Northern Colorado and Texas-Pan American. The Great West is the second conference affiliation for the Fighting Sioux in program history. UND spent its Division II years playing in the North Central Conference. New York Tech and Northern Colorado are associate members for baseball.