UND freshman Brett Harrison slides to a base last Tuesday at Kraft Memorial Field. Photo by Jennifer Friese/The Dakota Student.

It’s not the way the season starts, but how it finishes.

The UND baseball team has certainly taken that mantra to a new level as it continues to play good baseball.

After dropping six of their first nine within the conference, the Green and White have climbed back up the standings to make a run for the playoffs and look to keep their success going against a struggling Texas-Pan American squad.

UND currently sits in fifth place in standings for the Western Athletic Conference. The team was able to take two out of three games from Sacramento State to go in front of the Hornets with only nine conference games left to play before the WAC Championship on May 20.

After a sweep from Bakersfield in early April, UND has been playing lights out baseball within its conference. In the three WAC series played since April 4, North Dakota has gone 7-2.

As for the teams ahead of UND in standings, UND has played better than all the teams, with the exception of Bakersfield who also gone 7-2, since April 4 in the WAC

After Sunday’s game, junior Luis Calvo emphasized the importance of the victory to move ahead in standings.

“Huge for us,” Calvo said. “The key is to stay healthy now and see how everything goes.”

UND looks for its first WAC championship berth since joining the conference last year.

As for Texas-Pan American, its been going the other way.

Since the same date UND started its WAC hot streak, the Broncos have gone 2-6-1. They currently sit last in the conference.

However, UND won’t take the team lightly as the Broncos have been kicking behind the plate.

In the nine-game span, Texas-Pan American has scored a total of 41 runs, which is just behind UND’s 46.

Texas-Pan American also is looking for more than just turning its season around. Not only is it slumping, it also doesn’t have a win on the road.

As for UND, the team will look to up its home winning percentage as it has gone 5-4 at Kraft Field, but has gone 6-2 at home, including non-conference play since the series against Bakersfield.

The first pitch in this series is scheduled for 5 p.m. this Friday at Kraft Memorial Field.

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