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On Tap: The Minnesota State baseball team finished the regular season with a 40-5 overall record and 30-4 in the NSIC to earn the No. 2 seed in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference/US Bank Baseball Tournament.

The Mavericks are slated to play seventh seeded Winona State in the first round of the tournament. The game will be held Wednesday at Sioux Falls Stadium in Sioux Falls, S.D., at 3 p.m.

Scouting the Warriors: Winona State went 21-28 overall and owned league ledger of 19-17 in the NSIC. The Mavericks and Warriors just finished a four game series at the MSU Baseball Complex this past weekend to end the regular season. MSU took three of four from WSU.

In game one of that series, redshirt freshman Aaron Rozek pitched 5.2 innings and allowed just two earned runs and struck out seven batters to help the Purple and Gold to a 3-2 win. With the score tied at 1-1, senior Connor McCallum hit an infield single and senior Nolan Johnson hit a sacrifice fly to give MSU a 3-1 lead. Junior Dakota Belter came and picked up his eighth save of the year to preserve the win.

In game two, the Mavericks offense came out right away and put a three spot on the board in the first inning. McCallum, junior Taylor Branstad and redshirt freshman Dylan Dresel all picked up an RBI. In the fourth inning, senior Kevin Kramer hit a two run double to the gap in right center and junior Kyle Toth hit a single to score Kramer in the next at bat. McCallum hit a solo home run in the seventh as MSU won 7-3. Sophomore Mitchell Bauer pitched seven innings and allowed one earned run and struck out six batters and Belter picked up his ninth save of the year.

Senior Joey Reed picked up his second win of the year and Belter picked up his tenth save as the Purple and Gold won the third game by a score of 4-2. Reed pitched six innings and allowed four hits and one earned run while striking out one batter. Johnson hit an RBI single in the first and Toth hit his first home run of the season, a two run bomb to left field, to push the score to 3-1. McCallum added a run with an RBI single down the right field line to give the Mavericks a cushion.

The Warriors offense jumped on starting pitcher senior Nick Veale right away in the first inning as they scored three runs thanks to a three run home run by Travis Evanson. McCallum cut into the lead with a single to center in the second to plate two. WSU mounted a rally in the fifth inning and scored four runs on five hits to pull away and take the final game 8-5.

Winona State Leaders: Leading the  offense for WSU is sophomore Jesus Cazares (IF, 6-4, 205, Appleton, Wis.) who is batting .365 with 33 RBI, seven doubles and five home runs. Senior Travis Evanson (1B, 6-4, 250, Lakeville, Minn.) has 12 home runs and is batting .331 with 29 RBI.

On the hill the Warriors are led by senior Chase Blazier (RHP, 6-5, 195, Harvard Ill.) who stand 4-4 with a 3.20 ERA. Junior Mitch Voter (RHP, 6-3, 220, La Crosse, Wis.) has made 14 appearances and has registered six saves owning a 0.46 ERA.

Inside the MSU vs. WSU Series: The Mavericks hold the edge in the all-time series against the Warriors posting a 64-25-1 record.

Minnesota State History: The 2015 season marks the 75th for Maverick baseball. MSU owns a 1,662-831-7 (.666) all-time record in 2,500 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, 2012,2014). 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 eight in the NCAA Division II World Series (1971, 1979, 1980, 1986, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014) including third-place finishes in 2012 and 2014 and a national runner-up performance in 2013.

Additionally, nine Mavericks have been selected All-Americans.