MANKATO, Minn. - Minnesota State takes a break for Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference action this weekend when it travels to face Sioux Falls in a pair of doubleheaders.  A schedule change has moved the games up a day as the team will now play doubleheaders on Friday and Saturday with Friday's action slated to begin at 4 p.m., while Saturday's doubleheader will begin at noon.

A Look at the Cougars: The Sioux Falls Cougars own a 3-17 overall record heading into this weekend's action against the Mavericks.  Sioux Falls is on a six-game losing streak as its last win came back on Mar. 10 in a 4-0 victory over William Jewell.  The Cougars have been on the road for their last five games as the team spent its spring break playing five games in California.  Sioux Falls is led by junior Anthony  Williams who has started 15 games for the Cougars while owning a .353 batting average with five runs scored and four RBI.  Senior Jimmy Maxwell leads Sioux Falls with nine RBI while owning a .280 batting average.  Sophomore Derek Fischer leads the pitching staff with a 2-1 record while accumulating a 3.80 earned run average after allowing nine earned runs on 20 hits while striking out 17 batters in 21.1 innings of work.

Sweep 'Em Up: Minnesota State completed a four-game sweep against Minnesota Duluth last Saturday and Sunday to open the NSIC action a perfect 4-0.  MSU took two from the Bulldogs on Saturday (W, 4-3; W, 9-2) before winning the final two in the series on Sunday (W, 5-3; W, 9-6).  All four of MSU's starters earned the win in their respective starts as sophomore Bryce Bellin (3-0), senior Harvey Martin (5-0), senior Ben Kincaid (2-0) and sophomore Tyler Ockuly (2-1) each earned a win.  Ockuly led MSU with nine strikeouts in just six innings of work while allowing three runs.  Senior right-handed pitcher Nick Sutherland earned two saves on Sunday as he now has all four Maverick saves this season.  Junior Lucas Skjefte saw his 14-game hit streak come to an end on the first game on Sunday after going 0-for-2 with a run scored.  Skjefte had recorded at least one hit in each of the team's games until Sunday's first game.  MSU was led offensively by senior Matt Kuchenbecker who recorded eight hits as he hit .533 over the weekend with a home run and four RBI.  Skjefte hit .462 over the four-game span with six hits including a double, triple and a home run while driving in two runs.  Senior Pat Dockendorf drove in a team-best eight runs while hitting .357 with five hits including two home runs and a triple.

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