While the UND baseball team had found some success early in the season in the Western Athletic Conference, it has failed to find its groove yet again, especially against non-conference teams.

Since sweeping Northern Colorado in late March, UND has struggled mightily, going 1-6 in games prior.

After getting swept by Creighton, UND looked to right the ship against non-conference South Dakota State.

The game was closely fought, but UND needed a late game rally that ultimately fell short. In the ninth inning, Tyler Peterson hit a two-run homerun to bring UND within one.

That was as close as the team would get, as Matt Wehrli could not finish the job. He popped the ball up into foul territory, and was caught by South Dakota State to end the game at 10-9.

UND is 0-13 against non-conference opponents this season.

The Green and White’s fortunes did not get any better the following series, when they traveled to Illinois to play Chicago State.

In Game 1, the bats were as stagnant as they have been this season, with UND failing to get on base. By the time UND had mustered up two runs, Chicago State had already scored eight runs, and tacked on another two in the eighth inning to end with a 10-2 advantage.

Game 2 turned out to be a little different.

Zach Muckenhirn continued on what has been a great year for the freshman. Muckenhirn brought his A-game, having only allowed one hit in the game through eight innings.

UND was up 1-0 until the ninth, when Muckenhirn finally gave up his first run of the game. The game would go into extra innings, but it wouldn’t last long.

The UND bats exploded in the 10th, rattling off six runs when everything was said and done. Chicago State proceeded to not get a single run, and the game was over — 7-1, UND.

Standouts of the second game were Muckenhirn, who went 9.1 innings, giving up only one run off of five hits, and notching four strikeouts. Jeff Campbell had a solid day in the batter’s box, going three for five with a run and one RBI.

“Much better effort by our guys today,” UND coach Jeff Dodson said. “The intensity was great today and the way the guys responded in the 10th was great to see. Overall, a team effort today with Muckenhirn going into the 10th for us and earning the win.”

Game 3 would not go as well.

Pitching became the problem early in the game, as Jeff Campbell let up three runs in the first inning. UND would continue to play catch up the rest of the game.

In the ninth inning, the Green and White would try to rally as they were down 7-3. With the bases loaded and two outs, Campbell hit a single up the middle to score two runs, coming within two runs of the lead. Unfortunately, that would again be as close as they got. Ryan Reese flew out to left field to end the game. UND lost 7-5.

“We gave ourselves a chance again late,” UND coach Jeff Dodson said. “We didn’t take care of situations early in the game.”

Even though things have not been smooth sailing for the Green and White, there is a silver lining.

Since the Creighton and South Dakota State games were out of conference, they did not do much to UND’s standings in the Western Athletic Conference.

UND currently is in a three way tie for third place at 7-5 with New Mexico State and Seattle.

This weekend, UND will face off against Seattle. The winner of this series will receive an advantage in seeding the rest of the season.

This weekend will also mark the first home series for the Green and White as they have yet to play in Grand Forks this season.

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