GRAND FORKS, N.D. - The Fighting Sioux will close out the Great West Conference regular season this weekend with a four-game series against Texas-Pan American. UND took three-of-four from the Broncs in Edinburg a season ago. Those were the first meetings between the two schools on the diamond.
There has been a slight change to the schedule for the weekend as the doubleheader scheduled for Friday has been moved to Thursday and will start at 1 p.m. with a seven-inning contest. The teams are tentatively scheduled to play single games on Friday (3 p.m.) and Saturday (1 p.m.) pending cooperation from the weather.
There has been a slight change to the schedule for the weekend as the doubleheader scheduled for Friday has been moved to Thursday and will start at 1 p.m. with a seven-inning contest. The teams are tentatively scheduled to play single games on Friday (3 p.m.) and Saturday (1 p.m.) pending cooperation from the weather.
Saturday’s series finale will also serve as Senior Day for the Fighting Sioux program. A total of nine seniors (Sam Anderson, Derek Biermaier, Brandon Baumgartner, Craig Dolmage, Scott Eul, Jake Magner, Josh Ray, Andy Sadler and David Spies) will be honored before the game in a brief ceremony. First pitch for that contest is scheduled for 1 p.m.
MEDIA
Live Stats: www.FightingSioux.com
Live Audio: www.FightingSioux.com
PROBABLE STARTING PITCHERS
Game One - Thursday, May 19, 1 p.m. CT
North Dakota - RHP Sam Anderson (1-6, 9.77 ERA)
UTPA - TBA
Game Two - Thursday, May 19, 3:30 p.m. CT (game two of DH)
North Dakota - RHP Jake Swift (1-6, 8.46 ERA)
UTPA - TBA
Game Three - Friday, May 20, 3 p.m. CT
North Dakota - TBA
UTPA - TBA
Game Four - Saturday, May 21, 1 p.m. CT (Senior Day)
North Dakota - TBA
UTPA - TBA
IN THE DUGOUT
• The Fighting Sioux will need some to win all four games and get some help along the way, but they could end up as high as the No. 5 seed for the upcoming Great West Conference Baseball Tournament at Kraft Field.
• Currently, the No. 7 seed, UND needs to take three of four from UTPA to move into at least the sixth spot.
• The lefty duo of Kevin Auth and Brandon Baumgartner gave the Sioux a little momentum heading into the Great West Conference series finale by limiting South Dakota State to just a pair of runs and four hits in a 5-2 victory on Tuesday.
• Auth picked up his first career victory by tossing a season-high 5.2 innings and striking out four. Baumgartner retired all 10 Jackrabbits he faced to pick up his first save of the season.
• With a triple in three consecutive games, senior Josh Ray pushed his season total in that category to seven, breaking the UND single-season record for three-base hits in a season of six (Aaron Larsen, 1998).
• Classmate Andy Sadler had two hits for the fifth-straight game and extended his career-long hitting streak to 18 games against SDSU. His two-run double in the fifth inning proved to be the difference in the contest.
• Sadler has established new career-highs this season in hits (58), runs (33), doubles (eight) and RBI (19).
• Ray, who has hit safely in seven straight, is batting .469 in Great West play (fourth overall) and Sadler is at .414 in league action (eighth overall). Ray leads the team with 59 hits, which is one shy of his total of 60 he hit as a junior in 2010.
• Senior Jake Magner found his name in another UND top 10 list with a RBI-double in the eighth inning against the Jacks. Magner’s two-base hit was the 33rd of his career, moving him into a tie for ninth in that category.
• Magner already ranks in the top 10 list in career batting average, home runs, hits, RBI and total bases. He leads the team this season with 30 RBI and needs only nine more hits to become just the third player in UND history to reach the 200-hit plateau for his career.
• Sophomore Kris Kwak (Maple Grove, Minn.) leads the Sioux with 19 extra-base hits and shares the team lead in home runs with Jake Magner (Grand Rapids, Minn.) at five.
• Lefthander David Spies became the first Sioux pitcher to pick up his second win of the season after tossing a season-high 7.2 innings in a 6-3 victory over NJIT. Spies also moved into sole possession of second place on the UND career charts for appearances in that outing. It was the 51st outing for the Grand Forks native.
• Junior Cory Baker got the final four outs of that victory to post his team-leading second save of the season. Baker ranks fourth in the GWC in strikeouts with 34 in 32.2 innings of work in league play.
ALL-TIME VS. UTPA: UND atoned for being swept on the road in its initial Great West Conference series at Utah Valley by taking three of four from the Broncs in Edinburg on their next road swing. The Sioux pitching came up big in the four-game series, holding the Broncs to just 15 runs total as Zac Salfer and David Lind both picked up victories in their starts. Lefty Brandon Baumgartner therw five innings of scoreless relief to post a win and a save out of the bullpen. Senior shortstop Josh Nelson batted .375 and had six hits along with catcher Jeff Bunch. The Sioux won the opener, 6-2, then one the scheduled seven-inning game by the score of 9-8 in a game that took nine innings. The Broncs then picked up a 2-1 victory in an eight-inning contest before UND took the series finale, 6-3.
THE SKINNY ON THE BRONCS: UTPA will be looking to snap an 11-game losing streak in Thursday’s opener. Third-year head coach Manny Mantara had the Broncs over the .500 mark at 19-17 before this lastest skid. Ten of those losses have come in Great West play where UTPA started out 6-2 after a four-game sweep of Chicago State and a series split with NJIT.
The Broncs were then swept at Northern Colorado before splitting another series, this time with Houston Baptist. A 13-12 loss in 10 innings to the Huskies started the losing streak that also includes a 6-3 setback to Stephen F. Austin on Tuesday in the Broncs’ final non-conference game of the season.
UTPA will be getting used to life in North Dakota as the team will be in the Peace Garden State for around 12 days with the Kraft Field set to host the Great West Conference Baseball Tournament (May 24-28) following the season-ending series for both teams.
Catcher Mike McCarthy is the top hitter on the Broncs, carrying a .378 average into the weekend. His .438 clip in Great West only games is the seventh best average among league players. First baseman Angel Ibanez is close behind with a .412 average in GWC play - a clip that ranks 10th in the league.
Five different Broncs have a save, while Luis Flores owns the top ERA among the starters with a 4.60 tally. Arnold Franco and Michael and Zach Zouzalik share the team lead with three victories a piece. Franco and Zach Zouzalik have done most of their work out the bullpen. Zach and Jonathan Za share the team lead with 18 appearances.
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.
