On Tap: No. 14 Minnesota State (22-7, 11-3 NSIC) continues a full league schedule this week as it hosts Upper Iowa (10-9, 2-0 NSIC) Wednesday at the MSU Baseball Complex at 1:30 p.m. before playing a home-and-home four-game set with Southwest Minnesota State (9-15-1, 4-6 NSIC) at home Saturday (1:30 p.m.) and at Alumni Field in Marshall, Minn. on Sunday afternoon (1:30 p.m.).
 
Last Time on the Diamond:  The Mavericks went 5-1 last week as they split with U-Mary last Wednesday, in Dickinson, N.D. dropping an 8-4 decision before earning a 11-9 walk-off victory. The Purple and Gold carried that momentum into the weekend with a four-game home sweep of Augustana by scores of 10-2, 4-3, 6-4 and 15-5.
 
Senior righthander Harvey Martin tied a season-high with 11 strikeouts as he improved to 4-0 with his second straight complete game victory in game one against Augustana. Fellow senior righthander Mahlon Zimmerman earned a pair of wins over U-Mary and Augie, respectively, to improve to 5-0 while also picking up his sixth save of the year in MSU’s 6-4 victory last Sunday.
 
Sophomore third baseman Connor McCallum stretched his active hitting streak to ten games as he went 10-of-21 (.476) on the week with two doubles, two homeruns, four RBI and 10 runs for a .857 slugging percentage. Not to be out done, sophomore catcher Nolan Johnson raked in all six games last week batting 14-of-21 (.667) with two triples, five doubles, six RBI and eight runs scored for an astonishing 1.095 slugging percentage while adding a stolen base and throwing out seven would-be base stealers.
 
A Look at the Peacocks: Upper Iowa possesses a 10-9 overall record and a 2-0 mark in NSIC play. Most recently, the Peacocks dropped three-of-four ball games last weekend at Nebraska-Kearney. Offensively, Upper Iowa leads the league in batting average (.315) and on-base percentage (.425) while tying for sixth in stolen bases (28). The UIU pitching staff is 10th in ERA (5.88) and seventh in opponent batting avg. (.282).
 
The Peacocks are led at the dish by senior Mikey Henrichs (1B/OF, 6-0, R/R, Hartford, Iowa) who is hitting .475 and slugging .656 with team-highs in RBI (20), hits (29), total bases (40) and stolen bases (10). Junior Tyler Adams (OF, 6-2, L/R, Onalaska, Wis.) is second on the squad with a .388 batting avg., 17 runs scored, 15 RBI and five stolen bases. Junior Martin Valdez (LHP, 5-7, L/L, Baldwin Park, Calif.) leads UIU on the hill with a 3-0 record, 1.80 ERA, 25.0 innings pitched and 26 strikeouts. Senior Eric Anderson (OF/P, 6-0, L/L, Inglewood, Calif.) owns a 4-0 record and 3.38 ERA with a team-high 27 strikeouts in 21.1 innings pitched. Upper Iowa is managed by Mark Danker who is in his 14th year as head coach and 24th season with the program overall.
 
A Look at the Mustangs:  Southwest Minnesota State stands 9-15-1 overall and 4-6 in NSIC action after splitting a pair of league doubleheaders with Minnesota Duluth last week in Sioux Falls, S.D. The Mustangs are fourth in the conference in slugging percentage (.436), third in runs (147) and second in homeruns (17), while their pitching staff is 12th in ERA (6.37) and 14th in opponent batting avg. (.331).
 
SMSU is led on the offensive side by senior Kyle Young (OF, 5-9, L/R, Scandia, Minn.) who is hitting .429 with team-bests in hits (36), doubles (8), total bases (53) and slugging percentage (.631), while senior Brian Ness (1B, 6-1, L/R, Rochester, Minn.) is batting .366 with 19 runs, three homeruns and 16 RBI. On the hill, junior Steven Wehr (RHP, 6-4, R/R, St. Anthony, Minn.) is 0-2 in six starts with a 4.22 and 13 strikeouts in 21.1 innings, and sophomore Joe Axelson (RHP, 6-3, R/R, Spring Lake Park, Minn.) sits 2-2 in four starts with a 6.63 ERA and nine strikeouts in 19.0 innings pitched.
 
Minnesota State History: The 2013 season marks the 74th for Maverick baseball. MSU owns a 1,564-811-7 (.658) all-time record in 2,382 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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