THIS WEEK: Minot State begins a six-game road trip with a midweek date in Bemidji, Minn., with Bemidji State Wednesday. MSU finishes off the road swing a little further down US Highway 2 in Duluth, Minn., taking on Minnesota Duluth Saturday and Sunday. Start times at BSU are 2/4:30 p.m. and weekend games are set for 12/2:30 p.m.

RECORDS: The Beavers are currently fourth in the Northern Sun with a 15-9 conference record and are 20-12 overall. BSU is 9-13 in NSIC play and 12-22 overall. UMD enters the week with an 11-11 record, seventh in the league, and is 16-18 overall.

COACHES CORNER: Scott Eul is in his first season as head coach of the baseball program at Minot State and is 20-12 in his young career. Eul joins MSU after spending the past two seasons helping build St. Cloud State into a national powerhouse. Tim Bellew is the head coach at Bemidji State and is 195-365 overall in 12 seasons. He is the school's all-time leader in wins and was named 2013 NSIC Coach of the Year. UMD's head coach is Rob Rientz who is also in his 12th year. Rientz is 280-289 overall.

FOLLOW THE BEAVERS: MSU provides live video – with Leif Bakken serving as the play-by-play announcer – and live stats at msubeavers.com for all home NSIC games. Minot State Athletics also is active on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and You Tube with all feeds accessible at msubeavers.com/stayconnected.

RANKINGS: None of the three teams are ranked in the latest National Collegiate Baseball Writers' Association Division II Central Region or national poll, but Minot State received two votes in the Central Region this week.

RECENT HISTORY: Minot State swept the University of Sioux Falls in four games on the weekend to complete a 10-game homestand with a 6-4 record including a win over then No. 21 ranked Minnesota State. BSU won one of four games at Wayne State College on the weekend in both Yankton, S.D. and Wayne, Neb. UMD also went 1-3 during the weekend, falling twice on Saturday at Augustana after splitting on day 1.

ALL-TIME AT A GLANCE: Minot State trails both teams in the all-time series since joining NCAA Division II. The Beavers trail the Minnesota Beavers 10-4 and is 2-8 against UMD.

LAST TIME OUT: Minot State lost twice at home against Bemidji State last season in April in two distinct styles, falling 4-2 in a pitcher's duel in game 1 and a 18-13 slugfest in game 2. BSU's Nate Heisick outpitched MSU's Kendal Daniels to earn the win. Ten days later, MSU fell four times at Minnesota Duluth, but outside of a 21-6 score in game 1, played very well against a Bulldog team that was 33-9 at the time and one of the top hitting teams in the NSIC.

NOTING THE BSU BEAVERS: Bemidji State has struggled at the plate in 2017, batting just .260 overall, while allowing teams to hit .334 against them… BSU's Scott Litchy has a .382 batting average to lead the team and has six HRs and 21 RBIs… Gunner Olszewski has stolen 12 of 14 bases… Tommy Geisenhof has been a workhorse out the bullpen with 10 appearances without a start and is the team's leader with a 2.53 ERA… Ryan Fransen is 3-1 with a 4.86 ERA for BSU.

NOTING THE BULLDOGS: Minnesota Duluth has eight players hitting over .300 and 11 who are at .290 or better… Leading the team at the plate is Drew Stewart who is batting .347 with 21 RBIs… Ben Danielson is batting .385 but only has 26 at bats… Four players have hit three home runs for the Bulldogs' total of 17 on the year… Colton Sinning is 2-1 with a save sporting a solid 1.46 ERA in 12 appearances… Rece Dietrich leads the team in wins with three.

ACE ALEX: Senior Tanner Alexander has solidified his role as ace on the Beavers staff with a 4-2 record and a solid 3.26 ERA. He is fifth in the NSIC in ERA. Alexander has four complete games – second in the NSIC and 27 th in DII – and has a 4.67 strikeouts-to-walks ratio.

CHASING SAL: MSU sophomore Michael Borst, the reigning NSIC Player of the Week, leads the league in RBIs with 49. He is just one RBI shy of tying teammate Celestino Rodriguez's single-season record of 50. With two weeks, to play, Borst will most likely pass that number and will look to become the first Beaver to lead the league in RBIs since joining the league. He is 17th overall in DII and fifth in RBIs per game.

BY THE NUMBERS

4: Current win streak for Minot State, thanks to its first NSIC weekend sweep, taking four from Sioux Falls.

6: Saves for six different players in 2017.

49: Minot State's rank in the nation in batting average as the Beavers have hit .312 through 32 games.