THIS WEEKEND
The University of Mary opens Northern Sun conference play against Concordia University – St. Paul on Sunday and Monday, March 23-24, in Wayne, Neb., at Hank Overin Field.
 
SLIGHT DEVIATION FROM PLANS
U-Mary and CSP were originally scheduled to play in St. Paul, Minn., on Friday and Saturday, March 22-23. However, poor field conditions forced the site switch to Wayne, Neb. Projected cold weather in Wayne then pushed the games back one day.
 
THE RECORDS
The Marauders enter the weekend with a record of 5-9 overall. The Golden Bears are 8-2. Neither has played a conference game. While U-Mary has not yet faced an NSIC opponent, CSP split four non-conference games against conference teams in a spring trip to Tucson, Ariz. The Golden Bears defeated Bemidji State, split a pair of games with Southwest Minnesota State and lost a game to Northern State.
 
PROJECTIONS
U-Mary was picked to finish 13^th out of 15 teams in the 2014 NSIC preseason coaches poll. Concordia was selected to finish seventh.
 
SERIES
The Marauders are 3-16 all-time against the Golden Bears, including a 3-11 mark in NSIC contests and 1-6 on neutral fields. Concordia has defeated U-Mary 13 straight times. The Marauders last wins came on April 6, 2008, in a doubleheader sweep of the Golden Bears in Bismarck. U-Mary won the opener 2-1 behind a complete game win by Mike Feldman, who didn't allow an earned run in the game. The Marauders captured the nightcap 1-0 on a controversial walk-off home run by Feldman in the ninth inning. Feldman posted four hits in the game… The two teams did not play last season as weather wiped out a four-game set. U-Mary and CSP last met March 31-April 1, 2012, with the Golden Bears sweeping both doubleheaders.
 
NATION'S BEST
The Marauders opened the season with six straight games against nationally-ranked teams. U-Mary lost all four games at St. Mary's to start the year. Ranked 15^th at the time, the Rattlers are now 3^rd in the NCBWA March 11 poll. Barry University was ranked 18^th when it faced U-Mary. After rising as high as 16^th, Barry fell out of the poll last week. Lynn University was 21^st when it faced U-Mary and is now ranked 13^th.
 
BACK TO THE FUTURE
During its spring trip to Vero Beach, Fla., the Marauders played four games with wood bats. U-Mary played four teams from the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference, which is a wood bat conference. The Marauders took two games from Post University and dropped single contests against Nyack and Chestnut Hill. The Marauders adapted to the wood bats quickly, scoring 36 runs in the four games with a .281 batting average and a .424 on base percentage. U-Mary did struggle for power, slugging .348. Marauders foes scored 26 runs with a .326 batting average, .406 on base percentage and a .446 slugging percentage.
 
PATIENCE
Utility man Dwight Mack is tied for the NSIC lead in walks with 10. Teammate Derek Somerville is third with nine.
 
POUNDING
Left fielder Jason Shaul leads the NSIC in getting hit by a pitch. He has been plunked six times this season.
 
SWIFT AND STRONG
Senior 1B/DH Derek Somerville leads the Northern Sun in steals, swiping eight bases in nine attempts. Hitting in the middle of the order, Somerville is 12th in RBIs with 12.  Twice Somerville has two steals in a game.
 
TRIPLE THREAT
Junior leftfielder Jason Shaul (New Ulm, Minn.) is second in the NSIC in triples with three. With five already in his career, Shaul is tied for fifth all-time at U-Mary in triples. He is among NSIC leaders with a .531 slugging percentage. For the year Shaul is hitting .347 with a .484 on base percentage.
 
GET IT STARTED
Senior 2B and leadoff hitter Austin Grundstad (Williston, N.D.) leads the Marauders with a .357 batting average. He also has a .439 on base and a .393 slugging percentage. Grundstad leads the Marauders with 20 hits and is tied with Jason Shaul in runs scored with 12.
 
DOUBLE CHECKING
Sophomore Dwight Mack (Mandan, N.D.) has to pay close attention to the lineup card to figure out where he is playing. So far this season Mack has caught, played first and third and served as the Marauders designated hitter. The transfer from North Dakota State is hitting .351, slugging .514, and is among the NSIC leaders in on base percentage (.489).
 
DIAL IT IN
Senior SS Alex Deyle (Bismarck, N.D.) is the fourth U-Mary player hitting over .300. Deyle is sitting at .327 with a .408 slugging percentage and an on base mark of .365. He has committed just one error in 53 chances. Overall U-Mary is 34^th in the country in fielding percentage.
 
FITTING IN
Freshman Andrew Beyer has quickly found his place in the Marauders lineup, starting all 14 games in the outfield. The Fargo, N.D., native is hitting .275 with a .408 on base percentage. He is second on the team with nine RBI and his nine runs scored is third. Beyer has yet to make an error in 39 chances.
 
TEN
Shane Trattles posted a career-high 10 strikeouts in the Marauders win over Ohio Valley. It is the team's third best mark in the school's NCAA era (2007-).
 
SHUT 'EM DOWN
Michael Vollrath is holding foes to a .237 batting average, the ninth lowest figure in the NSIC. His ERA of 3.66 is 20^th. Vollrath started the season by throwing 5.2 hitless innings at St. Mary's. He then threw a nine inning shutout against The Apprentice School in his last outing.
 
NEXT UP
The Marauders are next scheduled to play at Winona State University on March 29-30.
 
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