UND stunned the Division I baseball world last week, winning two of three games from national power Southern California.
Since UND's 1-0 and 5-4 wins, and a 7-6 loss in the series finale, Fighting Hawks coach Jeff Dodson has dealt with more media this week than he has in perhaps his previous seven years at UND.
And that's a good thing. No. Make that a great thing for a northern baseball program that faces long odds every season.
Taking two of three from USC is one thing. But a closer look at UND baseball shows considerable success the past few seasons. Last year, UND placed three players in pro ball-Jeff Campbell, Andrew Thome and Tyler Follis.
And Campbell won the College Home Run Derby televised by ESPN in July, blasting more baseballs out of TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha than the best sluggers in collegiate baseball.
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UND baseball simply can't buy the exposure it has received the past seven months. But UND earned the accolades the hard way-selling the program to players who may have been passed over by other colleges. And, of course, UND's new $19 million High Performance Center has made a huge difference not only for baseball, but for most of the school's programs.
At UND's practice Tuesday, junior pitcher Zach Muckenhirn, who threw a three-hit shutout against USC on Friday, was being congratulated for being named the pitcher of the week by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association.
That's rare air for a player in any program.
"I'm really proud of how our kids have handled everything," said Dodson as his players worked out. "Before practice, we had a 10-minute meeting to make sure we stay grounded. We have a level-headed group. This group is mentally tough. We had to go after those kinds of kids this year because of the 12 guys we lost from last year's team.
"We had to go after guys with a chip on their shoulder; guys who are able to brush things off; guys who are excited to be at the University of North Dakota."
UND may or may not make a run at the Western Athletic Conference title this season.
But the program is off to a start envious of any collegiate baseball team that can't sell recruits warm temperatures, abundant sunshine and palm trees.
UND's weekend also was striking considering USC's scholarship advantage. The Trojans, who have more national titles than any school in Division I history, have 11.7 scholarships-the max in Division I. UND has five.
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UND, like other northern schools, has to play guarantee games against Power Five teams in order to make ends meet financially. At last check, USC-ranked No. 12 last week and still stinging from dropping a series to UND-had not asked the Fighting Hawks to return the $12,000 guarantee they received. For programs like USC, guaranteed pay days are supposed to result in guaranteed wins.
Today, UND is en route to Tuscaloosa, Ala., to play a three-game series this weekend against Alabama. The team left Grand Forks at 2 a.m. to catch an early-morning flight. The team is scheduled to land in Atlanta, then bus to the home of the Crimson Tide. Not easy connections, but connections that non-revenue programs know all too well.
Dodson is an Alabama native, growing up roughly 40 miles from Tuscaloosa. Alabama obviously is well aware of what Dodson and the Hawks accomplished in Los Angeles last weekend.
"Bama is a beast of a different nature," said Dodson. "Those SEC teams; they're really good."
But UND wasn't supposed to have a chance against USC, either.
"The last week is really unheard of for us," said Dodson. "But it's just a step. We're not going to get there overnight. But if we keep taking steps like this, we'll be able to do something in the future."
The bottom line is this: UND athletics received a big bang for the buck this week from a baseball team that pulled off two of the biggest wins in school history, regardless of the sport.
