TysonDurm and JustinOliver grew up together in California, and they can't remember a time when they didn't know each other.

But when it comes to the topic of baseball bats, they're barely on the same planet.

"Wood, definitely," said Durm, a senior right-handed pitcher at the University of Mary.

"I'd have to say metal," replied Oliver, a senior third baseman and catcher.

The reason is forgiveness, but not the kind described in John 3:16.

Wood bats are more forgiving of a pitcher's shortcomings and metal bats have a way of covering a hitter's indiscretions.

"You just have more confidence in yourself and don't have to be so afraid to make a mistake when you're pitching," Durm said in describing the pitcher's edge in wood bat baseball. "… If you make a mistake against a hitter with a metal bat in his hands, chances are he's going to hit it hard and cause damage."

Likewise, Oliver said metal bats give a batter a second chance that wood bats don't allow.

"With a metal bat if you get jammed you can get a hit,"he said. "… With metal you can be fooled and get out on your front foot, and if you can get the barrel (of the bat) through you can still get a base hit," he said.

Until he came to North Dakota, Durm had pitched mostly against metal bats. He transferred to U-Mary last year just as the DAC-10 went to wood bats. This spring, in their transition to NCAADivisionII, the Marauders play wood bat baseball against DACopponents and employ metal bats against NCAAfoes.

Durm and Oliver agree that the difference between wood bat baseball and the metal bat game is "huge."

Pitching strategy is reversed, depending on what type of bat the hitter lugs to the plate.

"With wood, you can go inside a lot more and have confidence in your inside fastball because the bat in their hands is a lot heavier. He's not going to be as quick,"Durm said. "And the sweet spot (on a wood bat) is a lot smaller, so if you get anywhere near his hands the ball is not going to go very far. When you're facing guys with metal bats, you try to live away because most college hitters can hit the inside pitch. If you live away, you're less likely to get hurt by a home run or double."

Durm said he's free to be much more aggressive in wood bat baseball. "With wood bats you can live with the fastball a lot more because the danger of a fastball getting hit hard is a lot less with wood bats," he said. "… Against metal bats you have to keep them off-balance in every at-bat with off-speed stuff."

Top-notch batters will always get their hits, Durm pointed out. "A really good hitter is going to be good with wood or metal," he said. "But metal bats definitely help average hitters."

U-Mary hitters started out the season using metal bats throughout their 12-game southern swing. Since they returned to North Dakota, they've primarily used wood. An exception was Monday's doubleheader with Northern State of Aberdeen,S.D., a NCAAIIschool.

"Monday we went to metal, and it took me a game to adjust," Oliver said. "I was 0-for-3 the first game and went 1-for-1 with two walks and a double the second game. … What defines a good hitter is just making the adjustments … Aguy who doesn't make the adjustments is going to break his bats (using wood) or be out in front (using metal)."

When he's catching, Oliver said he runs the game much differently with wood than he does with metal.

"As a catcher, I love the wood bats because you can call a different game," he said. "You can go about challenging guys when you're behind in the count. … With metal bats you think curveball or a change-up maybe."

When he's playing third base and metal is the order of the day, Oliver gives hitters a healthy amount of respect.

"I'd been facing wood bats for a month, and yesterday I found myself playing a lot deeper (against Northern State), even in bunt situations," he said.

From a hitter's perspective, Oliver said it's hard not to love a lively metal bat with a big barrel that offers a lot of pop. But simply as a baseball purist? Well …

"I guess I'd have to say wood," he conceded. "… It shows who your good hitters really are."