Grand Forks, N.D. - Mother Nature won the last time UND and NDSU were supposed to meet on the diamond as inclement weather postponed a four-game series that was to be split between Fargo and Grand Forks during the opening weekend of April. The two teams will take another shot at playing on Wednesday in Fargo (6:30 p.m. - Newman Outdoor Field). The team do not expect to make up all four games of the original series, but will try to get single games in at each team's home field before the conclusion of the series. No makeup date for a game at Kraft Field has been scheduled yet.

Mother Nature had no chance the last time the two teams did actually play as UND took three of four from its in-state rival at the Metrodome last season. It was the first meetings between the two teams since 2005 (check out page 6 for more details on last year's series.) 

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North Dakota - LHP Zach Ransom (1-0, 5.12 ERA)

North Dakota State - RHP John Straka (0-1, 8.31 ERA)

2010 N W, 10-6 (7)

2010 N L, 8-6 (7)

2010 N W, 3-1 (7)

2010 N W, 8-4 (7)

2005 A W, 6-0

2004 H L, 14-3 

2004 A W, 6-4

2004 A W, 2-1

2004 H W, 2-1

2004 H W, 5-2

• The Fighting Sioux are starting to swing the bats and the results are wins in four of their last five games. UND is hitting .357 during that stretch and averaging nine runs a contest.

• Leading the offensive resurgence has been leftfielder Josh Ray. The Yucaipa, Calif, native is hitting .565 during that stretch and holds a .600 average during his current seven-game hitting streak. 

• Ray's average has swelled to .353 during this spurt and his .490 clip in Great West action is second among league players.

• Ray has had some help as eight UND starters are hitting .300 or better during the last five contests.

• Sophomore Kris Kwak is batting .450 (9-for-20) over that stretch and the biggest of his hits was a walkoff home run to beat Chicago State in the series finale. Kwak's two-run blast gave the Sioux a 10-8 victory and lifted them to their first GWC series win of the campaign.

• Kwak leads the team with 14 extra-base hits on the season, including 10 two-baggers.

• Senior Jake Magner found his power stroke here of late to move into second place on UND's career charts in that category. He hit three last week and now has 36, which is eight behind all-time leader Aaron Larsen.

• Magner has hit safely in his last nine games and has seen his average climb over the .300 mark for the first time this season. He enters the NDSU game with a .309 clip and leads the team with four home runs and 20 RBI.

• Magner is not the only Sioux with a nine-game hitting streak going right now. His classmate Andy Sadler has one as well and is second on th team with a .345 average.

• As for the Sioux pitching staff, it was a week of firsts for the UND hurlers. Lefthander Zach Ransom picked up his first collegiate win in the non-conference victory over Minnesota, Crookston. He fanned a season-high nine Golden Eagles in 5.2 innings of work.

• Seniors Sam Anderson and David Spies both posted their first wins of the season in the Chicago State series.

• JUCO-transfer Cory Baker had a busy Saturday, picking up his first UND win and save of the season in the doubleheader sweep of Chicago State. The righthander picked up the save in game one, striking out three in 1.2 innings of hitless relief.

• In the nightcap, Baker allowed only two unearned runs in five innings of relief to his initial win for the Green and White. Baker combined to strike out 10 Cougars on the day.

• Baker was named the GWC Pitcher of the Week for his efforts in the doubleheader.

• Shortstop Ryan Gerber has overcome a slow start to put together a productive stretch of games out of the No. 2 hole for the Sioux. The freshman started the season with just four hits in his first 45 at-bats, but has since hit .348 (24-for-69) over a 17-game span.

• Gerber has hit safely in his last seven games (.414, 12-for-29) and has five extra-base hits and eight RBI as well.

• Third baseman Kyle Bolander has also been swinging a hot stick for the Sioux. The junior is batting .405 in his last 10 games and has six multiple-hit contests during that stretch.

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.

ALL-TIME VS. NORTH DAKOTA STATE: The in-state rivalry between North Dakota and North Dakota State on the diamond dates all the way back to 1906 when the Fighting Sioux took two of three from the Bison. The rivalry resumed after a four-year hiatus last season at the Metrodome where UND took three of four from NDSU. Those victories helped the Sioux increase their all-time lead in the series to 92-61. Besides that four-year break, the teams had met every season since UND reinstated its baseball program in 1956 except for the following four seasons: 1975, 1979, 1997 and 2001.

UND has won eight out of 10 overall in the series since the 2003 season and has taken each of the last three meetings played in Fargo. Last season, leftfielder Josh Ray went 7-for-15 (.467) against the Bison as UND hit .318 in the series. Ray had four doubles as he accounted for half of UND's extra-base hits in the series. Second baseman Jabby Bakhit, since graduated, batted .500 in the series (6-for-12) and Grand Forks native Andy Sadler batted .364 (4-for-11). The Sioux swept the first doubleheader, winning game one, 8-4, then taking game two, 3-1, behind the stellar pitching of Sam Anderson. The tall righthander surrendered just one earned run on six hits in six innings of work before Brandon Baumgartner pitched a scoreless seventh for the save.

The Bison snapped a nine-game losing skid to the Sioux in the opener of Sunday's doubleheader by the score of 8-6. UND took the series though behind a complete-game effort by senior Derek Biermaier in the nightcap. The Sioux won 10-6 behind an 11-hit attack that featured 10 singles. Bakhit and classmate Josh Lagein each had two RBI in the contest, while Ray added two more hits and scored a pair of runs.

THE SKINNY ON THE BISON: After opening their season on a 13-game losing streak and winning just two of their first 20 games, the Bison have righted the ship of late. NDSU won eight straight after the sluggish start and has won 12 of 15 overall.

The Bison have five regulars hitting .300 or better on the season with Tim Colwell pacing that group with a .324 average. Zach Wentz does a little bit of everything for NDSU, as the third baseman/pitcher is batting .313 on the season with a team-leading four home runs. He also has 18 RBI, which ranks second on the team and has two wins on the mound and a 6.61 ERA in eight starts. Wentz is coming off a complete-game victory over Centenary (seven innings) i his last action on the mound.

Second baseman Wes Satzinger leads the club with 20 RBI with 13 of those coming in Summit League action. NDSU currently sits in third in the league standings with a 10-5 league mark. Shortstop Max Casper has upped his average in league play by nearly 100 points from his overall clip of .263. He is batting .360 to lead all Bison players in Summit games.

Senior Colby Tognetti has been NDSU's most consistent starter, posting a team-best 3.56 ERA and lowering that to a 3.18 mark in Summit games. He holds a 3-3 overall record. Sophomore Mark Hermes is the top strikeout producer for NDSU with 33 Ks in 46.1 innings of work.