On Tap: No. 14 Minnesota State (17-6, 6-2 NSIC) has a full slate of conference contests this week as the Mavericks will serve as the home team in a doubleheader against the University of Mary (9-4-1, 0-0 NSIC) Wednesday April 3rd (12:00 p.m. MT) at Astoria Ballpark in Dickinson, N.D. before returning to Mankato to host Augustana College (14-10, 3-1 NSIC) April 6th (1:30 p.m.) and 7th (12:00 p.m.)
 
Last Time on the Diamond:  The Mavericks were unable to string together consecutive victories as they split a four-game series with visiting Northern State last weekend in Rapid City, S.D. MSU earned a 10-1 win before losing 7-5 on Friday night and dropped a 5-3 decision Saturday afternoon but rebounded for a 12-2 win in the series finale.
 
Senior righthander Harvey Martin registered a season-high 11 strikeouts while allowing four hits and one unearned run in game one Friday to improve to 3-0 overall. Martin was riding a 16-inning scoreless streak until an unearned run in the fourth inning. Junior righthander T.J. Larson also improved to 3-0 on the year with his best start of the season. Larson fanned a season-high seven NSU batters and surrendered a pair of hits, walks and earned runs over six innings of work in MSU’s 12-2 victory Saturday afternoon.
 
Sophomore infielder Connor McCallum stayed red-hot at the plate as he went 9-for-13 (.692) with two home runs, three runs scored and nine RBI in the series. The third baseman added a stolen base while posting a 1.231 slugging percentage and 16 total bases. McCallum is now 12-of-25 (.600) in his last eight games. Junior outfielder Parker Sullivan finished the series 6-of-12 (.500) with a home run, two RBI, a pair of doubles and six runs scored,while recording 11 total bases and a .917 slugging percentage
 
A Look at the Marauders: U-Mary owns a 9-4-1 overall record and will open conference play with Wednesday’s doubleheader with MSU. Most recently, the Marauders were swept by Mayville State (NAIA) March 28th by scores of 11-0 and 2-1. Offensively, Mary is fifth in the NSIC in batting average (.305) and third in on-base percentage (.416) while ranking sixth in ERA (3.63) and fifth in opponent batting average (.253).
 
The Marauders are led at the plate by junior Austin Grunstad (INF, 5-10, L/R, Williston, N.D.) who is hitting .483 with nine runs, six extra-base hits, four RBI and two stolen bases in 29 at-bats. Fellow junior Derek Somerville (INF, 5-10, R/R, Minot, N.D.) has a team-high 12 RBI with nine runs and a .325 batting average in 40 at-bats. On the hill, senior Kyal Williams (INF/RHP, 6-4, R/R, Adelaide, South Australia) stands 2-0 with team-bests in ERA (1.37), complete games (2), innings pitched (26.1) and strikeouts (28), while senior Jeff Skadeland (RHP, 6-4, R/R, Williston, N.D.) is 3-1 with a 2.74 ERA and .192 opponent batting average in 23.0 innings of work. U-Mary is coached by Joel Barta who is in his third year managing the program.
 
A Look at the Vikings:  Augustana holds a 14-10 overall record and 3-1 mark in NSIC play after taking three-of-four contests last weekend against Southwest Minnesota State.The Vikings currently lead the conference in batting average (.329), runs (174) and hits (254) while ranking second in slugging percentage (.444) and on-base percentage (.420). Augie’s  pitching staff sits 12th in ERA (6.36), eighth in opponent batting average (.292) and second in strikeouts (163).
 
The Vikings are carried offensively by junior Tony Viger (INF/RHP, 6-2, R/R, Sioux Falls, S.D.) who leads the squad in hitting (.415), RBI (31) and stolen bases (11) while senior David Borchardt (1B/OF, 6-3, L/R, St. Michael, Minn.) is batting .385 with team-bests in homeruns (3), extra-base hits (14), total bases (54) and slugging percentage (.692). On the hill, senior Ben Heairet (LHP, 6-6, L/L, Omaha, Neb.) is 3-3 with a 4.60 ERA and team-high 32 strikeouts in 29.1 innings pitched and sophomore Jordan Milbrath (RHP, 6-6, R/R, Springfield, Minn.) stands 3-0 with a 6.67 ERA and 23 strikeouts in 27.0 innings of work. Mankato East-grad junior Derek Quame (RHP, 6-2, R/R, Eagle Lake, Minn.) holds a 0.69 ERA in 13.0 innings and NSIC-best seven saves.
 
Minnesota State History: The 2013 season marks the 74th for Maverick baseball. MSU owns a 1,559-810-7 (.657) all-time record in 2,376 total games. Minnesota State has five Northern Intercollegiate Conference titles (1968, 1969, 1979, 1980, 1981), 19 North Central Conference championships (1970, 1971, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1988, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2006, 2007) and three Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference crowns (2010, 2011, 2012). The program has 31 appearances in the NCAA Division II National Tournament (1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1982, 1983, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012) and six in the NCAA Division II World Series (1971, 1979, 1980, 1986, 2010, 2012) including two third-place finishes in 1980 and 2012.
 
Additionally, five Mavericks have been selected as All-Americans.

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