On Tap: No. 1 Minnesota State returns to the diamond this weekend to open the 2014 season in pursuit of its third straight trip to the NCAA DII College World Series. The Mavericks will challenge Arkansas-Monticello in a doubleheader Saturday beginning at 12:00 p.m. before a single contest Sunday, also at 12:00 p.m., to conclude the three-game set.
 
Last Time on the Diamond:  Last spring, Minnesota State made its 32nd appearance, eighth consecutive, in the NCAA DII National Tournament where MSU went 4-0 at Franklin Rogers Park in Mankato to advance to its seventh NCAA DII World Series and third in the last four seasons.
 
The Mavericks opened the event with a 2-0 victory over Grand Valley State behind a four-hit, complete-game by Jason Hoppe (Rice, Minn.). Two days later, MSU raced out to a six-run lead and eventually claimed a 10-5 victory over the Raiders of Franklin Pierce to remain unbeaten. Lucas Skjefte (Eden Prairie, Minn.) and Scott Lindner (Eden Prairie, Minn.) each drove in three runs for the Purple and Gold.
 
MSU advanced farther than any team in program history with a 6-5 win over St. Edward's three days later capped by a two-run single from Nolan Johnson (Bloomington, Minn.) in the bottom of the seventh. In the title game, eventual champion Tampa broke out for five runs in the bottom of second inning before eventually claiming an 8-2 win and subsequent national championship despite both programs dropping one contest each in the tournament.
 
A Look at the Weevils: Arkansas-Monticello started the 2014 season in a strong way claiming all four of its contests at last week's Houston Astros Winter Invitational held at Minute Maid Park. UAM topped Arkansas Tech and St. Mary's by margins of 7-2 and 16-5, respectively, before knocking off Central Missouri, 4-2 and Henderson State, 6-3. UAM finished 32-20 a season ago falling to Southern Arkansas in the Great American Conference title game.
 
Through four games, the Weevils are batting .303 as a team and averaging 8.3 runs per game. The UAM pitching staff holds a 2.91 earned run average and surrendered a .248 opponent's batting average last weekend.
 
UAM was led by junior Austin Braddock (P/OF, 6-3, R/R, Columbus, Miss.) who hit a blistering .625 with seven RBI, two doubles and a homerun while starting all four contests. Senior Tyler Cartuthers (OF, 5-7, R/L, Denham Springs, La.) and sophomore Corey Wood (OF, 6-1, L/R, Fredericton, N.B.) both batted a cool .500 in a pair of starts, while senior Ben Agredano (INF, 6-0, Anaheim, Calif.) hit .250 with a double, triple, homerun and six RBI.
 
On the hill, senior Kade Garlington (RHP, 5-10, Shreveport, La.) and junior Josh Mingura (RHP, 6-1, Torrance, Calif.) both went 1-0 with a 1.50 and 1.80 ERA, respectively. Junior Jeff Harvill (LHP, 6-1, Keithville, La.) went 1-0 and earned one save in three appearances with a 4.91 ERA.
 
Minnesota State History: The 2014 season marks the 74th for Maverick baseball. MSU owns a 1,584-813-7 (.660) all-time record in 2,404 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 32 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, 2013) and seven in the NCAA Division II World Series (1971, 1979, 1980, 1986, 2010, 2012, 2013) including a third-place finish in 2012 and national runner-up performance in 2013.
 
Additionally, seven Mavericks have been selected All-Americans.
 
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