Bison spring sports teams look ahead to potential scheduling issues

By Jeff Kolpack

March 22, 2011 11:00 PM

North Dakota State head softball coach Darren Mueller is a lifelong resident of Fargo. He didn't have to go too far back in his memory to when the Bison were playing home games this week.

He also doesn't want to get into scientific data.

"I don't want to get into the global-warming-type-of-thing," he said, "but it's unbelievable how much more a winter month March seems than what it used to be."

His team is scheduled to host Indiana Purdue-Indianapolis in its Summit League home opener April 1-2 at Ellig Sports Complex. Oakland University (Mich.) comes to town the following weekend. With the long-range forecast not looking promising, and a winter storm hitting the region Tuesday and today, Mueller is already looking for alternatives like playing them in another city.

NDSU has played games in the Fargodome, but the venue is scheduled to host a circus.

The average high temperature for the first week of April is the high 40s and that increases to the mid 50s by the middle of the month.

You would probably have a hard time convincing NDSU head baseball coach Tod Brown of that. Two years ago, the March 25 and April 7 home openers were canceled because of snow. A late April snow event canceled a four-game series with Oakland in his first year in 2008.

Adding insult this year is the collapse of the Metrodome roof in Minneapolis. The Bison were supposed to play the University of Minnesota this week.

NDSU is scheduled to play at Concordia next Thursday and at the University of North Dakota the first weekend of April. Both of those fields have turf infields, which increases the likelihood of handling the weather.

"You just scrape and play," Brown said.

Meanwhile, it's back in the Bison Sports Arena for practice.

"What we have to do is get our work in and prepare for the Summit League," he said.

Forum reporter Jeff Kolpack can be heard on the Saturday Morning Sports Show, 9-11 a.m. on WDAY-AM (970). He can be reached at (701) 241-5546.

Kolpack's NDSU media blog can be found at www.areavoices.com/bisonmedia

Related Topics: BASEBALL SOFTBALL

By Jeff Kolpack

Jeff would like to dispel the notion he was around when Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press, but he is on his third decade of reporting with Forum Communications. The son of a reporter and an English teacher, and the brother of a reporter, Jeff has worked at the Jamestown Sun, Bismarck Tribune and since 1990 The Forum, where he's covered North Dakota State athletics since 1995.
Jeff has covered all nine of NDSU's Division I FCS national football titles and has written three books: "Horns Up," "North Dakota Tough" and "Covid Kids." He is the radio host of "The Golf Show with Jeff Kolpack" April through August.