MANKATO, Minn. - Minnesota State opens the home portion of its schedule this weekend with a pair of doubleheaders against Minnesota Duluth.  Both Saturday and Sunday's action is slated to begin at noon at the Minnesota State Baseball Complex.

A Look at the Bulldogs: The Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs own a 5-7 overall record and will also be playing their first NSIC games this weekend as they are coming off a 9-6 loss to Alderson Broaddus back on Mar. 15.  Marcus Riewer leads the Bulldogs with a .386 batting average while recording a team-high 17 hits.  Riewer has a .451 on-base percentage while recording five RBI and is a perfect 3-for-3 on stolen base attempts.  Anders Engberg leads the team with seven RBI while hitting .306 with a team-best six doubles. UMD has no pitchers with more than one win as Adam Zwak leads the team with 15 strikeouts despite a 9.72 earned run average.  As a team, the Bulldogs are hitting .292 while allowing opponents a .278 batting average.  

Last Action: The Mavericks once again competed in nonconference action in Florida over MSU's spring break as the team proceeded to go 4-2 during the trip.  Minnesota State's four wins came against Ashland (11-9), St. Joe's (11-4), Seton Hill (8-2) and Saginaw Valley State (10-3).  The Mavericks fell short against Ashland, 8-4, while also dropping an 8-7 contest to Grand Valley State.

Early Accolades: Minnesota State saw two players honored by the NSIC earlier this season as senior infielder Pat Dockendorf and sophomore right-handed pitcher Bryce Bellin were recognized by the conference.  Dockendorf was named NSIC Player of the Week while Bellin was named NSIC Pitcher of the Week for their efforts on Feb. 29.  Dockendorf hit .455 in four games helping the Mavericks to a 3-1 record.  He went 3-for-4 with a double, a triple, three runs scored and three runs driven in as MSU downed Colorado Christian, 9-0 on Feb. 24.  Dockendorf also went 2-for-3 with two RBI and a home run in MSU's 4-0 win against Bemidji State on Feb. 22.  Bellin went 2-0 and did not allow any runs in six innings pitched during the week.  He picked up his first win of the year after pitching a scorless inning of relief in the Mavericks 4-0 victory over Bemidji State.  He also went the first five innings, gave up two hits with no walks and did not allow a run while striking out a career-high nine batters in the Mavericks shutout win against Colorado Christian.    

Leading the Way: Freshman Nolan Johnson leads the Mavericks with a .667 batting average as he has started in seven of the nine games he has seen action in.  Johnson also leads the Mavericks with a .645 on-base percentage while he is tied for the team lead three others with one home run.  Tied with Johnson with one home run apiece is Dockendorf, junior Lucas Skjefte and senior Matt Kuchenbecker.  Dockendorf and Skjefte pace the Mavericks with four doubles and 11 RBI.  Dockendorf also leads MSU with 16 runs scored while Skjefte tops the Mavericks with 22 hits, three triples and five stolen bases.  MSU is led on the hill by senior right-handed pitcher Harvey Martin who paces the Mavericks with four wins and a 1.96 earned run average in 23.0 innings pitched.  Bellin has recorded a team-best 20 strikeouts while earning two wins in 20.0 innings pitched.

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