On Tap: Third-ranked Minnesota State will play six contests over the next four days before enjoying the weekend off due to the Easter holiday. The Mavericks will host Bemidji State tomorrow at the MSU Baseball Complex beginning at 1 p.m., before a four-game road series at Northern State Thursday and Friday.
 
Last Time on the Diamond:  The Purple and Gold claimed five of their six contests a week ago with their lone defeat coming in a road split at U-Mary last Wednesday. Junior Mathias Butala's (Cold Spring, Minn.) registered a career-high 12 strikeouts but was doomed by two unearned runs in the bottom of the seventh in the 2-1 loss. MSU rebounded with a 14-2 trouncing in game two as junior Joey Reed (Lindstrom, Minn.) earned his first win in his first start as a Maverick.
 
Due to poor field conditions, Minnesota State played host to Minnesota Crookston this past Saturday and Sunday in what was its home opener. MSU drilled the Golden Eagles by margins of 14-0 and 14-1 the first day as senior Jason Hoppe (Rice, Minn.) struck out nine to earn his league-leading seventh win of the season. Fellow senior Bryce Bellin (Kimberly, Wis.) picked up his first victory of the year in the second affair despite a 2.03 ERA on the year as freshman Eric Peterson (Eagan, Minn.) finished the day six-for-seven with four extra-base hits and two steals.
 
MSU complete the four-game sweep of UMC with a 13-2 victory and 18-4 triumph last Sunday. Senior Stetson Olson (Renton, Wash.) drilled his team-leading seventh home run of the year in game one. The second contest saw senior Todd Standish (Brookings, S.D.) tag four doubles, while senior Taylor Nawrocki (Fairmont, Minn.) allowed no earned runs to improve to 5-0 on the season.
 
A Look at the Beavers: Bemidji State stands 13-12 overall and 7-5 in conference play after dropping a pair of contests at home against Winona State last Saturday.  The Beavers are batting .280 as a team and averaging 4.6 runs per game led by senior Zach Braun (C, 6-0, 210, Lakeville, Minn.), who owns a .329 batting average with three home runs, 27 RBI and a .500 slugging percentage. BSU holds a 6.49 team earned run average and has surrendered a .325 opponent batting average to date. Freshman Terry Hadden (RHP, 6-0, 175, Elk River, Minn.) stands 3-1 with a 5.79 ERA and eight strikeouts across 23.1 innings of work.
 
Inside the MSU-BSU Series:  The Mavericks stand 42-9 all-time against the Beavers after going 3-1 last season with three of the four contests decided by one run.
 
A Look at the Wolves: Northern State owns a 17-10 overall ledger and 10-6 mark in NSIC play, good for fourth place, as it has won eight straight entering this weekend. Offensively, NSU is batting .285 as a team and averaging 6.0 runs per game, while the Wolves' pitching staff sports a 4.67 team ERA and .308 opponent batting average.  Junior Matt Stubbs (3B, 5-11, 200, Rochester, Minn.) leads the team with a .382 batting average, 13 extra-base hits and 24 RBI. On the hill, junior Cody Johns (RHP, 6-0, 160, Naches, Wash.) stands 2-2 with a 2.95 ERA and 23 strikeouts across 39.2 innings pitched.
 
Inside the MSU-NSU Series:  The Mavericks stand 12-2 all-time against the Wolves after the two teams split a four-game series in Rapid City, S.D., last season.
 
Minnesota State History: The 2014 season marks the 74th for Maverick baseball. MSU owns a 1,608-820-7 (.662) all-time record in 2,435 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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