ST. PAUL, Minn. - This weekend's Northern Sun baseball series between Concordia-St. Paul (6-6, 4-0 NSIC) and Minnesota Duluth (7-5, 2-2 NSIC) has been relocated for the second consecutive weekend to Veterans Field at Minnetonka High School due to uncertain field conditions and weekend weather forecasts that could cause the field to be unplayable. Veterans Field features a 100 percent artificial playing surface.

The series will be available to watch online with Dan Flanagan providing play-by-play coverage. The game times each day were not changed with first pitch on Saturday scheduled for 1:30 p.m. with Sunday's doubleheader set to begin at noon.

LAST TIME OUT: Concordia Sweeps UMC
The Golden Bears are on a 4-game winning streak, starting the conference season with a series sweep of Minnesota Crookston last weekend at Veterans Field. In the four game series, Concordia was excellent offensively, defensively and on the mound. The Golden Bears hit .406/.451/.602 with 17 extra base hits out of 52 total hits. The pitching staff held UMC to a paltry .212/.268/.257 slash line, held a 1.69 team earned run average and a 31-3 strikeout-walk ratio while the starting pitchers worked at least six innings in all four games. Defensively, the team didn't commit an error in the first three games and held a .978 team fielding percentage for the weekend. The Golden Bears were also dominant on the basepaths with a perfect 9-9 in stolen base tries while limiting UMC to 1-4 in stolen base chances.

SERIES HISTORY: UMD 19, Concordia 17
The series began when Concordia joined the Northern Sun in the 2000 baseball season with the Bulldogs holding the slight edge. Concordia and UMD have split their last three doubleheaders and haven't played a full four game weekend series since the 2004 season. Four of the last six games between the teams have been decided by either one or two runs. Last year, the teams met at a neutral site in Mauston, Wis. for a mid-week doubleheader with UMD taking the first game 6-4 in 13 innings before Concordia picked up a 10-2 game two win powered by 3-hit games from Kyle Dalton and Brooks Beilke with Alex LaPorte driving in three runs. Yuji Suzuki picked up his first win of the year in game two, going the distance (7) allowing two runs on five hits with no walks and four strikeouts. Kevin Woebke started the first game but didn't factor into the decision, working 7.0 innings allowing four runs on eight hits with seven strikeouts.

STRONG NSIC START
The Golden Bears are one of just three teams to remain unbeaten after the first weekend of league play, joining #2 Minnesota State and #12 St. Cloud State. Since 2013, Concordia is 37-17 in Northern Sun play for a .685 winning percentage (4-0 in 2015, 20-10 in 2014, 13-7 in 2013).

TEAM HITTING
The Golden Bears rank third in the league in hitting (.351), and fifth in on base percentage (.409) and fifth in slugging (.472). The squad is second in the league in hits (11.83/game), fourth in doubles (2.25/game), fifth in runs scored (7.0/game) and third in stolen bases (1.33/game). Additionally, the squad has a low strikeout rate, whiffing just 5.06 times per game which ranks third in the conference.

TEAM PITCHING
Despite a rocky start, Concordia's pitching staff has fared well when compared to its league counterparts. The Golden Bear staff has a 5.36 team earned run average, which ranks fourth in the NSIC and ranks sixth in the league in opposing batting average (.302). Moreover, the staff shows encouraging signs of returning to its 2014 dominance with the second ranked strikeout rate (7.73 per 9) and third ranked walk rate (3.27 per 9) and ranks fourth in fewest doubles (1.64/game) and home runs (0.36/game) allowed.

TEAM DEFENSE
One of the top strengths of the Concordia baseball team is its fielding and the team is third in the conference with a .961 fielding percentage on the year and has turned over a double play per game on average with 13. The run game has also been controlled, with 40 percent of opposing base stealers thrown out in 20 tries.

PITCHING ROTATION
The Golden Bears do not announce probable starting pitchers, so the rotation below is based on last weekends usage. With mid-week games starting this week, the team will be expanding to a 6-man starting rotation which could alter what the team does on the weekend and in the bullpen. So far, seven different pitchers have started a game for the team this year.
1. Zach Rengel (LHP, 2 GS, 1-1, 7.20 ERA, 1.30 WHIP)
2. Cody Schacht (RHP, 2 GS, 1-1, 7.36 ERA, 1.73 WHIP)
3. Kevin Woebke (LHP, 2 GS, 1-1, 1.64 ERA, 1.27 WHIP)
4. Kody Knaus (LHP, 3 GS, 1-0, 2.25 ERA, 1.13 WHIP)

QUALITY STARTS PILING UP
The Golden Bear starting staff went without an official quality start (6 IP, 3 ER or less in a 9-inning game; 5 IP, 3 ER or less in a 7-inning game) for the first seven games of the year as seven different pitchers made one start each in their first turn through the rotation. But since, the staff has tightened up starting with junior left hander Kody Knaus playing the stopper role in making the team's first quality start against Lubbock Christian to close the spring trip. He left with a 4-2 lead after six innings in the game, although he did not factor in the final decision. Knaus has provided bookends on a 5-game streak of quality starts for the pitching staff as he allowed one earned run in six innings in the series finale against UMC on Sunday to pick up his first win. Also included in the streak was Concordia's first complete game, a shutout provided by Kevin Woebke while Zach Rengel was the first Golden Bear starter of the year to notch double-digit strikeouts (10) in the series opener against the Golden Eagles.

DALTON KEEPS HITTING
After finishing seventh in the country in hitting last year, Kyle Dalton is once again off to a fast start at the plate. He's hit safely in all 12 games with a 14 game hitting streak including four 3-hit games and seven multi-hit performances on the year. He's hitting .460 which stands third in the league and is now a career .392 hitter (190-485) in 134 games as a Golden Bear. He mans center field and leads off, and leads the league in hits (1.92/game) and is second in stolen bases (0.42/game). He's slugging .600 with three doubles and two triples while adding five stolen bases and 12 runs scored. He was an All-America First Team utility selection last season, splitting time between second base and center field and is a Preseason All-American this year.

FUZZY POWERS UP
Junior shortstop Eric Fasnacht had a career breakout week last week. In the calendar week (Mon-Sun), he slashed .550/.615/1.300 for a 1.915 OPS as he was 11-20 at the plate with four doubles, a triple and three home runs. He hit his first career home run in his 79th game as part of a two home run game against Hastings (3/16) and added his third homer in the series opener against UMC. He came a home run shy of the cycle, getting robbed at the fence in center in the third game against UMC in his final at bat. He added 13 RBI and scored 10 runs to help Concordia go 4-2 overall on the week.

On the year, he is second in the NSIC in slugging (.821), sixth in RBI (18), sixth in OBP (.500), seventh in home runs (3), eighth in average (.436) and has turned the seventh most double plays (9). On a national scale, he's second in the country in RBI per game, 15th in runs per game, 16th in slugging and 32nd in home runs per game.

THE KID ADJUSTS TO COLLEGE PITCHING QUICKLY
Freshman Connor Olson has quickly ascended to the clean-up spot in the Concordia lineup due to his strong start at the plate. He made his debut as a pinch hitter in the season opener and didn't play game two before hitting seventh in his first career start in the third game of the year. After hitting third against Augstana in a doubleheader that saw third and fifth hitters Ryan Poppitz and Eric Fasnacht sit due to injury, Olson has hit clean-up in every game since. He's responded well to the role, with five doubles and a home run with his .590 slugging percentage ranking third on the team while his 11 RBI are second behidn Fasnacht's 18. He's tied for the team lead with Fasnacht with 13 runs scored and has a .442 on base percentage and only four strikeouts in his first 39 collegiate at bats. He hit his first career home run in the series finale against UM Crookston and has six multi-hit games in 11 total games played on the season. He's been the primary designated hitter while serving as the backup catcher to David Henke.

SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS (courtesy umdbulldogs.com)
UMD | OVERALL: 7-5 (2-2 NSIC)
• Junior first baseman Alex Wojciechowski tore the cover off the ball last week, hitting .409/.485/.741 on the week, 11-of-27 with four extra base hits including a pair of home runs, a double, and a triple, driving in eight runs and crossing the plate seven times. He also drew five walks and swiped on base on two attempts. He lifted a pair of home runs in UMD's come-from-behind 12-8 victory over Sioux Falls on Friday afternoon, finishing 4-of-5 with three RBIs and two runs scored, adding a double as well.
• Sophomore outfielder Grant Farley continues to lead the Bulldogs offensively, hitting .472/.537/.972 on the season with 10 of his 17 hits going for extra bases, including three home runs. Hits 14 RBIs are a team-high while he's also one of four Bulldogs to crack double digit runs scored. Farley leads the NSIC in slugging. UMD has also gotten a surge of power from senior centerfielder John Meyer, who has already surpassed his career-high with three homers in the early going of the season.
• Freshman right-hander Alex Ferguson made a pair of appearances for the Bulldogs last week, throwing 5.1 innings to the tune of a 1.69 ERA and .067 batting average allowed, with just one hit and three walks allowed while striking out two. He tossed 3.1 innings in his first collegiate start against Wayne State (Mich.) last Monday afternoon, allowing just one hit and one run, while striking out two.
• UMD have faced most right-handed starting pitchers this season, 0-1 against the only lefty they've faced, and 7-4 against the other. Still, the Bulldogs are hitting .336 (39-of-116) against left-handers and just .264 (64-of-242) against righties.