On Tap: No. 11 Minnesota State - who sits second in the NSIC - will battle first-place and ninth-ranked St. Cloud State (23-5, 11-1 NSIC) in St. Cloud Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. before playing a four-game series at third-place Wayne State (24-10, 16-4 NSIC) Saturday at 12:00 p.m. and Sunday, also at 12:00 p.m.
 
Last Time on the Diamond:  The Mavericks - who were idle last week due to inclement weather - went a perfect 4-0 two weeks ago to push their winning streak to nine games as they swept a four-game series with Southwest Minnesota State in Sioux City, Iowa by scores of 15-3, 2-0, 32-11 and 9-7. MSU’s 32 runs in game three of the series were the second-most in a single game in program history.
 
Senior righthander Harvey Martin moved to 5-0 overall with a complete-game victory in game one, while fellow senior righthander Mahlon Zimmerman earned his seventh save of the season. But it was junior righthander Jason Hoppe who turned in the best pitching performance of the weekend as he twirled a nine-inning complete-game shutout in game two to improve to 5-1 with a 1.80 ERA on the year.
 
Sophomore third baseman Connor McCallum stretched his active hitting streak to 14 games going 8-for-17 (.471) from the dish with a homerun, two doubles, four runs scored and six RBI. Meanwhile, senior outfielder Jon Flattery turned in his best series as a Maverick en route to garnering NSIC Player of the Week honors after hitting 8-for-16 (.500) with a double, three homeruns, eight runs scored and 11 RBI, including a four-of-six (.667) performance in game three that included all three round-trippers, five runs and 10 RBI.
 
A Look at the Huskies: St. Cloud State owns a 23-5 overall record and an 11-1 mark in NSIC play after splitting a doubleheader with Concordia-St. Paul last Sunday. Offensively, SCSU owns the fourth-highest batting average (.304) in the NSIC and stands third in on-base percentage (.395). The Huskie pitching staff has an astounding league-best 1.86 ERA and also leads the conference in opponent batting average (.201).
 
SCSU is led offensively by junior Garrett Fischer (1B/OF, 6-3, R/R, New Ulm, Minn.) who is hitting a team-high .462 with 11 RBI, 18 runs scored and four stolen bases, while senior Sean Borman (3B, 6-2, L/R, Minnetonka, Minn.) is batting .367 and leading the squad in slugging percentage (.600), RBI (26), runs (21) and doubles (15). On the hill, junior Kyle Fischer (RHP, 6-3, R/R, New Ulm, Minn.) stands 8-1 with a 1.81 ERA and 35 strikeouts in 54.2 innings of work and junior Corey Fitzgerald (RHP, 6-3, R/R, Richfield, Minn.) owns a 3-0 record with a 0.73 ERA and 21 strikeouts in 24.2 innings pitched.
 
A Look at the Wildcats: Wayne State stands 24-10 overall and 16-4 in conference action after sweeping a four-game set at home last weekend against visiting Northern State. The Wildcats are eighth in the league in batting average (.290) and tenth in slugging percentage (.398) while their pitching staff has the second-best ERA (2.89) in the NSIC and second-lowest opponent batting average (.233).
 
WSC is led at the plate by junior C.J. Nolen (1B, 6-0, L/R, Sioux City, Iowa) who is hitting .366 and leading the team in hits (45), runs (28) and RBI (23), while sophomore Brandon Lalk (OF, 5-11, L/R, Oshkosh, Wis.) is batting .352 with 20 runs, 22 RBI and a team-best .614 slugging percentage. Senior Tadd Johansen (LHP, 6-4, L/L, Elkhorn, Neb.) owns a 8-0 record with a 1.30 ERA and 49 strikeouts in 55.1 innings, and senior Eric Schwieger (LHP, 6-8, L/L, Grand Island, Neb.) is 2-2 with a 1.69 ERA and 56 strikeouts in 42.2 innings pitched.
 
Minnesota State History: The 2013 season marks the 74th for Maverick baseball. MSU owns a 1,568-811-7 (.659) all-time record in 2,386 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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