It's conference tournament time for the University of Minnesota Duluth softball team, who will face Winona State University in the opening round of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Tournament Thursday in Sioux Falls, SD. The defending NSIC Tournament champion Bulldogs will begin their defense at 5:30 p.m. on Bowden Field.

Five Things to Know, Postseason Edition: :

1.  Against the Warriors

The Bulldogs are looking for revenge against the Warriors after being swept by WSU in the ROTC Dome in Rochester, Minn. back on March 25th by scores of 3-2 and 7-2. Over their last 10 meetings, the two sides own a record of 5-5. UMD senior pitcher Lauren Dixon took on the second most runs of the season – six – in four innings of work in game one. Julia Gronholz was the long Bulldog to turn in more than one hit – the senior went 2-of-3 in the first game.

In game two, sophomore pitcher Alyssa Williams had the loss from the mound but split pitching duties with rookie thrower Maddy Walsh. Williams faced 12 batters, struck out one and allowed two hits, while Walsh faced 12 and struck out three with one run allowed. Senior shortstop Kiana Bender was 3-of-3 in the game from the plate to lead the Bulldogs bats.

Last season, UMD met the Warriors in the quarterfinals of the NSIC Tournament, a day two 4-1 win.

2. We're Back

UMD returns to the NSIC Tournament the reigning tourney champions after marching through the tournament last season. The Bulldogs defeated Minot State University 2-0 in the opening game on May 3, 2023 before defeating the Warriors the following day. In the semifinals on May 5, UMD defeated top-seeded Augustana University 4-0 before finishing off the Vikings 90 in the NSIC Tournament Championship 9-0 on May 6. Last season's title was the first tourney trophy for the Bulldogs since 2002 and its fifth in program history.

3. Win and In 

The Bulldogs will take a six-game winning streak into the tournament, which includes four shutouts. UMD owns a 39-14 overall record – the third-straight season head coach Lynn Anderson's squad has turned in 39 or more wins in a season. Anderson is also closing in on 150 career wins – she will start the tournament with 146 career triumphs.

4. (Re)Write the Book

Senior pitcher Lauren Dixon has taken over UMD career marks for wins (72), games completed (78), starts by a pitcher (102), and is just seven innings away from owning the innings pitched record of 646 – DIxon currently has pitched 639.2 innings over her four year career. Dixon is also nearing the single season shutout record with nine – she set the record of 11 last season and already owns the career record of 30.

Dixon and the rest of the Bulldog pitchers also set a team single-season record last Friday against the University of Mary when freshman Mary Walsh secured the Bulldog pitching group its 340the strikeout with her third strikeout of the game in the top of the fourth inning – a record that UMD had just set in 2022 (339).

Senior Kiana Bender has continued to add to the career walks record – a number that now stands at 109 so far this season. Nicole Schmitt is hunting her own record – the junior first baseman is just four doubles shy of tying the single season for doubles (22), and currently owns 18.

5. Fill Up the Trophy Case

Four UMD players garnered NSIC All-Conference honors yesterday. Senior pitcher Lauren Dixon, senior outfielder Kat Burkhardt and junior first baseman Nicole Schmitt earned NSIC All-Conference First Team, while freshman pitcher Maddy Walsh garnered a spot on the NSIC All-Conference Second Team. 

Dixon, the NSIC's Preseason Player of the Year, lived up to the hype, and in doing so, rewrote UMD's career pitching record book to her liking. The Sobieski, Wisc. native, has grown the Bulldog career strikeout record to 804 with the addition of 219 – an NSIC-high – so far this season and owns a record of 21-5. DIxon, a two-time NSIC Pitcher of the Week and named to the NFCA D2 Pitcher of the Year Watchlist, also took over UMD career marks for wins (72), games completed (78), starts by a pitcher (102), and is just seven innings away from owning the innings pitched record of 646 – DIxon currently has pitched 639.2 innings over her four year career. The standout pitcher threw her first career no-hitter on April 10 against the University of Minnesota Crookston, and currently owns the lowest ERA across her career in a single season of 1,02, as well as holding opposing batters to a .154 batting average – another career low. Dixon, who ranks sixth in the NCAA with six shutouts and now has a UMD career record of 30, is now a two-time All-NSIC First Team selection. 
 

Burkhardt, a 2023 All-NSIC Second Team selection, moved up to the conference's top team after putting up the highest batting average of her career (.372). The New Berlin, Wis. product owns the 15th highest batting average in all of the NSIC in 129 at bats, and 11 times had a multiple hit game. Burkhardt, who hit a career-best 11 doubles and had 27 RBIs, also had 41 putouts from the field and a career-high four assists.
 

Schmitt becomes a two-time First Team All-NSIC selection after leading the NSIC for most of the season in doubles, which so far has been a career-best 18 – just four doubles away from the single-season record at UMD. With a .373 batting average – the best of her collegiate career, the Verona, Wis. native ranks fourth in the NSIC, and owns the seventh-most RBIs in the league with 45 – also a career mark. In fact, Schmitt had a career-record eight RBIs against the University of Sioux Falls on April 13. Schmitt also owns the 10th most hits in the NSIC – 62, and the second most putouts in the league with 367. In 14 games this season, Schmitt has had 14 multiple hit games, including three games with three or more hits.
 

Walsh earns an all-conference nod as a pitching rookie who currently ranks fourth in earned run average (1.97) and fifth in opposing batting average (.235). A Duluth, Minn. native, Walsh has thrown 54 strikeouts in 78.1 innings of work. With a record of 8-1 on the mound with two saves, Walsh contributed the second most strikeouts on the team this season and was pivotal in the UMD pitchers setting a new single-season record for team strikeouts, which currently stands at 339. Walsh threw a career-high six strikeouts against Wayne State on March 30.