While the weather might not show it, the UND baseball season is right around the corner.

North Dakota will face off against Great West Conference Baseball Tournament winner Houston Baptist on Feb. 28.

Last year was one of UND’s best years in a long time for baseball. The team went 25-22-1 — its best winning record since 2005. It also was the team’s first winning season since it joined Division I baseball. North Dakota won most of their games last year either at home (10-5) or on a neutral site, (7-4-1), but struggled on the road (8-13).

Last year in the Great West Conference Baseball Tournament, UND hit its stride. It was playing its best baseball of the season and was one game away from the championship.

Unfortunately, the team could not keep its momentum up. In the game against Northern Colorado, UND gave up five runs in the sixth inning and could never make up the deficit, losing 11-8.

With this new year, UND will try to make an even bigger splash. The team is returning eight positional players and its entire starting pitching rotation.

The team also is welcoming five new players: Brett Harrison, Zach Heaser, Miles Lewis, Cameron Powell and Connor Trygstad.

“Moving into the Western Athletic Conference has expanded our reach out west,” UND coach Jeff Dodson said. “But our game plan is to get the toughest blue-collar kids we can get. I want to thank associate coach J.C. Field and assistant coach Brian DeVillers for their efforts in landing this talented class.”

Leading the pitching staff is Alex Twenge and Andrew Thome. Both pitchers led the team in starts, 11 and 12 respectively, and look to do so again this year.

Twenge pitched his way to a 6-1 winning record last season, while also posting a 2.52 ERA.

Thome will try to improve on what was a decent year for him. The pitcher went 6-5, with a 4.14 ERA, and led the team in strikeouts with 57 and only gave up two home runs on the season.

While the pitchers are an important part of this year’s squad, the positional players will look to make an impact as well.

Jeff Campbell and Jacob Threlkeld led the team statistically last year, and their hard work was rewarded in the tournament, receiving Great Western Conference All- Tournament honors. Threlkeld, an outfielder, was a machine last year, starting all 48 games of the season — accumulating a batting average of .306, and leading the team in hits with 52.

Jeff Campbell also looks to improve after a solid year. Though his batting average was at .271, he still led the team with 43 RBIs and was tied for first with four home runs. Other leaders like Taylor Petersen and Zack Trygstad all look to make winning a tradition for UND baseball.

Currently, all the other Western Athletic Conference teams have gotten a jump on UND’s season. Bakersfield, which was picked No. 1 in the preseason coaches’ poll, has shot out to a 5-2 record, along with New Mexico State. UND starts the season Friday but does not start conference play until March 14, against Utah Valley.

With most of the team returning, the Green and White hope this will be a season where they can continue their winning ways once again.

Alex Stadnik is a staff writer for The Dakota Student. He can be reached at [email protected].