On Tap: Fourth-ranked Minnesota State will pursue its third-consecutive NCAA Central Region tournament title and fourth in the last five seasons this weekend in Russellville, Ark. The third-seeded Mavericks will battle fourth-seeded Emporia State at Arkansas Tech's Tech Field in the opening game at 12 p.m.
 
NCAA Central Region Tournament First Round Schedule
No. 3 Minnesota State vs. No. 4 Emporia State                   12 p.m.           Tech Field
No. 2 Southern Arkansas vs. No. 5 Arkansas-Monticello     3:30 p.m.        Tech Field
No. 1 Arkansas Tech vs. No. 6 Augustana                           7 p.m.             Tech Field
 
Last Time on the Diamond:  The Purple and Gold saw a pair of 2-1 defeats bookend a 17-5 victory at last week's Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference tournament. MSU senior righthander Jason Hoppe (Rice, Minn.) twirled his sixth complete game adding nine strikeouts against two earned runs in MSU's 2-1 opening round loss to Wayne State. The Mavericks followed that with a 17-5 triumph over Concordia University behind a three hits, runs and RBI from freshman Eric Peterson (Eagan, Minn.) Junior Nolan Johnson (Bloomington, Minn.) added four RBI, while senior Stetson Olson (Renton, Wash.) produced a home run, two RBI and two runs scored. Last Friday, MSU carried a one-run lead into the ninth inning against St. Cloud State only to see the Huskies plate two runs in the bottom half for a 2-1 walk-off victory. Junior righthander Mathias Butala (Cold Spring, Minn.) spun eight shutout innings with just two hits in the no decision, while senior Todd Standish (Brookings, S.D.) totaled a game-high three hits in the game en route to earning NSIC All-Tournament Team honors.
 
A Look at the Hornets: Emporia State will make it 10th appearance in the NCAA tournament after winning the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association tournament title and owns a 40-17 overall record. The Hornets are batting .296 and averaging 6.6 runs per game this season, while the ESU pitching staff owns a 3.99 team earned run average and .269 opponent batting average. Junior Justin Harris (OF, 5-8, 170, R/R) leads the squad with 42 stolen bases while ranking second in batting average at .332 and RBI with 44. Junior Price Jacobs (OF, 6-1, 180, R/R) is hitting a team-high .362 with eight home runs, nine steals, 33 RBI and 35 runs, while fellow junior Dean Long (INF, 6-3, 205, R/R) has clubbed a team-best 14 home runs and 60 RBI with a .304 average. On the hill, junior Shawn Talkington (RHP, 6-0, 180) stands 7-2 with a 3.05 ERA, .248 opponent batting average and 69 strikeouts in 76.2 innings pitched; and senior reliever Brenton Higgins (RHP, 6-1, 165) is 7-2 with a 1.98 ERA, .198 opponent batting average and 49 strikeouts over 50.2 frames.
 
Inside the MSU-ESU Series:  MSU stands 0-3 all-time against Emporia State with all three meetings coming in the NCAA tournament. The two teams last met in 2007 with the Hornets winning, 8-7.
 
The Rest of the Field:  Top-seed and host Arkansas Tech (42-10) is making its first appearance in the NCAA tournament and was crown Great American Conference regular-season champion. The Wonder Boys are batting .295 as a team and averaging 6.3 runs per game, while the Tech hurlers boast a 3.82 ERA and .238 opponent batting average. ATU will battle sixth-seeded Augustana (40-14) who enters the tournament winners of eight straight and are making their second NCAA appearance as NSIC tournament title winners. Augie owns a .343 team batting average with a 7.7 runs per game average, while the Viking pitching staff holds a 3.73 ERA and .246 opponent batting average.
 
Second-seed Southern Arkansas (38-17), winners of three straight GAC tournaments, is making its ninth NCAA appearance. The Muleriders are batting .300 as a team and averaging 6.5 runs per game, while the SAU hurlers hold a 3.75 ERA and .266 opponent batting average. The Muleriders will tangle with fifth-seeded Arkansas-Monticello (36-15) who is making its first NCAA appearance after finishing as runner-up in the GAC tournament. The Boll Weevils are batting .286 as team and scoring 6.3 runs per game on average, while the UAM pitching staff owns a 3.54 ERA and .263 opponent batting average.
 
Mavericks vs. The Field:  MSU holds a 6-4 ledger against Arkansas Tech and stands 52-14 all-time vs. the Vikings of Augustana after splitting a four-game series earlier this season.
 
The Mavericks claimed their only ever meeting with Southern Arkansas and stands 1-1 against Arkansas-Monticello as the two teams met for the first time back in February.
 
Minnesota State History: The 2014 season marks the 74th for Maverick baseball. MSU owns a 1,621-822-7 (.663) all-time record in 2,450 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 four Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference crowns (2010, 2011, 2012, 2013). The program has 33 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, 2014) 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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