When the UND baseball team visited the thin air of Greeley, Colo., earlier this month, the Sioux and Northern Colorado combined for a whopping 107 runs in the four-game series.
But on the eve of the Great West Conference baseball tournament, UND coach Jeff Dodson said he expects pitching and defense to be the key when the Sioux host the Bears at 7 tonight at Kraft Field.
"Pitching and defense is what has plagued us all year," Dodson said. "It hasn't been one or the other, but a combination of the two.
"Our offense is fine. But at tournament time, the offense is usually a non-factor. It's more about pitching and making plays in the field."
The Sioux, who are the No. 7 seed in the tournament, are 10-33 overall and 7-17 in the conference. UND has had 14 losses by three or fewer runs.
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"For most of our games, we've needed to make one more play or get one more guy out," Dodson said.
The Sioux were swept by Northern Colorado in Greeley, but the Sioux were able to score 46 runs and touched up last season's conference pitcher of the year Joe Sawicki for six earned runs in 2Xc innings of work during a 19-18 slugfest.
Northern Colorado coach Carl Iwasaki echoed the importance of defense during the tournament.
"It's going to come down to pitching and defense," Iwasaki said. "We respect (UND's) bats. UND has some really good hitters and we expect a battle. They did a heck of a job hitting against us in some high-scoring affairs, but if this needs to be a 1-0 game so be it."
Although Northern Colorado has put up big run totals against the Sioux, the Bears own the No. 2 seed thanks to a respected pitching staff.
"Our biggest concern is their pitching," Dodson said. "Their staff is very good. If we can manufacture a few runs and control their hitters, we should have a chance."
GWC takes to Kraft
All eight conference teams took turns practicing on Kraft Field on Monday, which was followed by a kid's clinic put on by representatives from each team.
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Utah Valley coach Eric Madsen, whose team holds the No. 1 seed, said Kraft's first-year artificial turf played similar to other complexes the Wolverines are familiar with.
"Our guys have played on turf before and it's not a lot different," Madsen said. "The only unique aspect is our guys haven't thrown off an all-turf mound before. But they got a chance today to throw off of it, and they liked it."
UVU enters the tournament with a 22-2 conference mark, but Madsen says his team doesn't necessarily consider itself the favorite.
"There are good teams throughout this conference," Madsen said. "We've been in very few blowouts. We just have to play the level of baseball we expect to play. We have as good of a chance as anyone."
Miller reports on sports. Reach him at (701) 780-1121; (800) 477-6572, ext. 121; or send e-mail to tmiller@gfherald.com .
