Minnesota State Set to Battle Upper Iowa in Four NSIC Road Games

3/24/2010 4:20:01 PM

MANKATO, Minn. — The Minnesota State baseball team (15-5 overall, 4-0 NSIC), which has won its last six games, travels to Fayette, Iowa to take on Upper Iowa University for a four-game Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference match-up, March 27-28 at Robertson Woods Field. Game one on March 27 is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. and the first pitch March 28 is set for noon.

Last Action: The Mavericks defeated Northern State University March 21-22 in a four-game home series. MSU beat NSU 12-1 Sunday for its first NSIC victory and downed the Wolves 21-0 in game two. Minnesota State defeated Northern State in each of Monday's games, 12-9 and 10-4.

About Upper Iowa: The Peacocks are currently 2-6 overall. This weekend's NSIC games will be the first of the season for the Upper Iowa. UIU is led by junior outfielder Jordan Nuss who has started all eight games for the Peacocks and owns a team-best .500 batting average, .524 OBP and 11 hits. Upper Iowa is coached by Mark Danker.

Team and Player Notes:
- The owner of an 11-game hitting streak, sophomore Ben Kincaid has moved up the Maverick hitting charts to rank second with a .385 batters average.
- Junior catcher Steven Helget hit at a .476 clip last week with ten hits in 21 at bats in five games, raising his average to .385 on the year. Helget enters the series with Upper Iowa owning a five-game hitting streak.
- With 177 career games played, senior third baseman Kosuke Hattori has moved into fifth place on MSU's all-time list. Hattori, who is hitting .288 this year, also stands tied for third in career at bats (536), fifth in hits (178), third in runs scored (133), sixth in triples (8), tied for second in walks (87) and is second in career steals (73).
- Junior outfielder Danny Miller is hitting .319 in 2010 and with nine career triples, is tied for third on MSU's all-time list.
- Senior righthanded pitcher Patrick Lenton, a preseason All-America pick, leads the Mavericks with a 5-1 record, a team-low 2.06 earned run average and 44 Ks in a team-high 35 innings pitched. Lenton's 19 career wins ranks seventh all-time at MSU and his 186 career strike outs rank ninth.

2009-10 Maverick NSIC Players/Pitchers of the Week:

Date Player
Position/Stats

Feb. 24 Patrick Lenton Pitcher (W, 3 H, 1 ER, 9 K, 3 BB)

March 3 Kosuke Hattori Player (.857 BA, 1.429 SLG%, 6 H, 2 2B, 1 3B, 2 R, 3 RBI)

March 15 Bret Mitchell
Pitcher (CG SO W, 4 H, 0 ER, 11 K, 1 BB )

On Deck: The Mavericks will play the Mustangs of Southwest Minnesota State in a home-and-home series next week, April 1 and 2. The two teams will play a doubleheader Thursday, in Mankato, Minn., starting at 1:30 p.m., and Friday, in Marshall, Minn., starting at 1:30 p.m.

To view .pdf version of this weeks notes, clicks HERE.

-30-

Print Friendly Version

Date	Player	Position/Stats
Feb. 24	Patrick Lenton	Pitcher (W, 3 H, 1 ER, 9 K, 3 BB)
March 3	Kosuke Hattori	Player (.857 BA, 1.429 SLG%, 6 H, 2 2B, 1 3B, 2 R, 3 RBI)
March 15	Bret Mitchell	Pitcher (CG SO W, 4 H, 0 ER, 11 K, 1 BB )