Before returning to its home field this week, the UND baseball team stomped on the Northern Colorado Bears on its weekend roadtrip.

“Biggest thing we’re going to have to do is score runs,” UND coach Jeff Dodson said before heading out to Northern Colorado. “If we go out there with the mindset that to up six runs a game, it’s going to take the pressure off our pitchers.”

The team did just that as it won Friday by a score of 6-3 and didn’t let off the gas Saturday for a victory by a score of 11-6.

UND was playing with a purpose this weekend after being swept by Grand Canyon the week before.

After playing its first 21 games on the road, the Green and White will be looking to do some home cooking as they open up an eight-game homestand starting this Thursday.

It’s been a season of up and downs for the team so far, but highs are far exceeding the lows.

At the plate, senior infielder Tyler Follis leads the team not only batting average, but also on-base percentage and runs scored, and ranks second in numerous categories such as hits and total bases.

Senior Ryan Reese has been the power of the lineup so far the team, leading in long bombs with four and runs batted in. Senior Jeff Campbell currently is the leader for slugging percentage and hits, and second in batting average and doubles.

On the mound for UND, Andrew Thome notched his first victory of the season with an impressive complete game. The senior right hander was able to record 11 strikeouts in his outing and only allow one hit to his last 17 batters faced. More impressive was with his 11 K’s as he moved fifth overall in career strikeouts with 179.

Many of North Dakota’s players currently rank above a .950 fielding percentage. Of the whole team, 17 players have three or less errors.

This Thursday, UND will host Cal State Bakersfield in its home opener. Bakersfield comes in with a 12-13-1 record as of Sunday afternoon and hopes to go break the consistent train and take three from UND.

However, UND will be sure to try and continue its high-scoring performance in its first game at Kraft Field.

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