On Tap: Third-ranked Minnesota State will complete a 12-game road swing this week as the Mavericks look to maintain the top spot in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference with a Wednesday doubleheader at U-Mary followed by a four-game series at Minnesota Crookston. First pitch with the Marauders is scheduled for 1:30 p.m., while the Mavericks and Golden Eagles will begin at 12 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.
Last Time on the Diamond: The Purple and Gold opened last week's action with a mid-week sweep of Upper Iowa where it claimed a 3-0 victory in game one behind junior
Mathias Butala's (Cold Spring, Minn.) first career complete-game shutout. MSU followed that with a 7-4, 10-inning win over the Peacocks as junior
Max Waletich (Fairmont, Minn.) led the offense with a trio of hits.
Last Saturday, the Mavericks tangled with Augustana in Sioux Falls where the Vikings scored five unanswered runs after a three-run first inning by MSU to hand senior
Jason Hoppe (Rice, Minn.) his first defeat of the year, 5-3. The Mavericks fired back for a 3-2 triumph in game two as junior
Nolan Johnson (Bloomington, Minn.) and Waletich belted solo home runs in the sixth and ninth innings, respectively.
The series finale last Sunday saw Augustana once again claim game one. This time by a margin of 6-3 as all three MSU tallies came via a home run by senior Stetson Olson (Renton, Wash.) in the top of the seventh. The Mavericks once again secured the split taking the second affair 10-9 in 11 innings. Junior
Matt Geislinger (Watkins, Minn.) earned his third win of the weekend - all in relief - and junior
Connor McCallum (Shoreview, Minn.) produced three hits and two RBI in the win.
A Look at the Marauders: U-Mary stands 8-20 overall and 3-9 in conference play after dropping three-of-four contests with Bemidji State this past Sunday and Monday. The Marauders are batting .283 as a team and averaging 5.7 runs per game led by junior
Jason Shaul (OF, 5-9, 175, New Ulm, Minn.), who owns a .396 average with 14 extra-base hits, 21 RBI and 24 runs scored. Mary holds a 7.29 team earned run average and has surrendered a .337 opponent batting average to date. Senior
Sam Salveson (RHP, 6-2, 200, Mandan, N.D.) stands 2-0 with a 1.25 ERA and 10 strikeouts across 21.2 innings and two starts.
Inside the MSU-UM Series: The Mavericks stand 13-4 all-time against the Marauders after the two teams split a mid-week series last season.
A Look at the Golden Eagles: Minnesota Crookston owns a 1-23 overall ledger and 0-12 mark in NSIC play as it is currently on a 12-game losing streak after being swept by Northern State last weekend. Offensively, UMC is batting .231 as a team and averaging three runs per game, while the Golden Eagle pitching staff sports a 10.26 team ERA and .369 opponent batting average. Sophomore
Ryan Haggstrom has paced the offense with a .389 average thus far.
Inside the MSU-UMC Series: The Mavericks stand 8-0 all-time against the Golden Eagles after sweeping a four-game series vs. UMC in the Metrodome a season ago.
Minnesota State History: The 2014 season marks the 74th for Maverick baseball. MSU owns a 1,603-819-7 (.661) all-time record in 2,429 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.
To view the complete eight-page release, click
HERE.
