On Tap: The Minnesota State baseball program, now 10-8 (1-3 NSIC) on the 2016 season, will host the Bemidji State Beavers this Saturday and Sunday at the MSU Baseball Complex in Mankato, Minn.  A total of four games will be played with the first game on Saturday starting at 12:00 p.m. and the first game on Sunday starting at 12:00 p.m.

Last Time on the Diamond:  The Mavericks wrapped up their first Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference games of the season on Monday and Tuesday of this week.  In the four-game series with the Bulldogs, MSU claimed just one victory.  The first game went in UMD's favor by way of 6-2, while game two was halted after the bottom of the eighth inning with the score tied at two, due to darkness.  The game picked back up on Tuesday, where sophomore Josh Wenzel drove in senior Kyle Toth from third base for the game-winning run with an RBI single in the 11th inning.  The Bulldogs took games three and four by scores of 4-3 and 13-9.

In game one on Monday, things seemed pretty stagnant with each pushing just one run across the plate in the first four innings.  Minnesota-Duluth opened things up with  five-run fifth inning, taking  6-1 lead.  The Mavericks tacked one on in the bottom of the sixth, but that wasn't enough as the Bulldogs pulled out the 6-2 win in the seven-inning game.

Sophomore Dalton Roach took the loss, throwing 4.2 innings, allowing five earned runs on 10 hits and striking out eight.  

Game two played all the way through eight-complete innings with the score deadlocked at two runs before the umpires and coaches deemed there was not enough light to move forward until Tuesday.  On Tuesday, things picked up right where they left off.  Minnesota State senior Dakota Belter shut down the Bulldogs in the next three innings, allowing the Maverick offense to score the one run they needed in the bottom of the 11th.

Belter picked up his second win on the season, while starter, sophomore Brody Rodning threw seven innings, giving up two runs on six hits and fanning six.  Belter, now 2-0 on the year, threw four innings and did not allow a run while striking out two batters.

The Mavericks fell short over the course of the next two games.  MSU took  three run lead in the bottom of the third, but gave up four-unanswered runs in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings, including two in the top of the seventh.  

Sophomore Aaron Rozek went 6.2 innings strong, giving up four runs before being relieved by Belter.  Offensively, Wenzel went 3-4 in the contest, batting two runs in.

In the final match, the Mavericks would give up three runs in the first-three innings before they got on the board themselves.  Minnesota State scored four runs from the third to the sixth innings, only to be shadowed by UMD's wight runs in that span, including three home runs by the Bulldogs in the sixth, making it a 10-4 affair.  Minnesota-Duluth added three more in the next three innings, while Minnesota State tallied five in the last two for a final of 13-9 in UMD's favor.  The Bulldogs out hit the Mavericks by a clip of 19-13 in the contest.  

Starting pitcher, junior Mitchell Bauer took his first loss of the season (2-1) in the game allowing three runs on seven hits in three innings thrown.  Offensively, a total of five Mavericks accounted for two hits each, while junior Eric Peterson and seniors Taylor Branstad and Chase Lonetti all collected two RBI in the contest.

Scouting the Beavers: Most recently, the Beavers were swept in a four-game series last week on March 25-26 at Concordia-St. Paul.  The Golden Bears took the first-two games on Friday by clips of 10-8 and 4-3.  Concordia- St. Paul then took the final-two games 11-7 and 4-3.

Head coach Tim Bellew has amassed a 168-307-1 record in his 10 seasons at the helm of the program.  The Beavers now have a 3-17 record in the 2016 season and are led offensively, BSU is led by Mason Cisneros who is batting .432 in his 10 games started with six RBI, followed by Tyler Nelson batting .419 in 19 games started, with four doubles and triples, batting in 16 runs and scoring 13 runs.  On the mound, Nate Heisick is 2-2 on the season and is leading the Beaver staff with a 2.89 ERA giving up 10 runs and striking out 16 in 18.2 innings pitched.

Last Matchup: The Mavericks swept the Beavers in four games last season and out scored BSU by a total clip of 88-34 in 2015, including a 41-20 win.

Minnesota State History: The 2016 season marks the 76th for Maverick baseball. MSU owns a 1,675-843-7 (.665) all-time record in 2,525 total games. Minnesota State has five Northern Intercollegiate Conference titles (1968, 1969, 1979, 1980, 1981), Nineteen 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 34 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, 2015) 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, 10 Mavericks have been selected as All-Americans.

Quick Hitters: 

• Junior Eric Peterson is leading or is tied for the team lead in seven different categories (Batting Average-.361, Slugging%-.492, On Base%-.518, Runs-23, Walks-10, HBP-11, Sac Bunts-3).
• As a team, MSU is batting a solid .737 when runners are on third with less than two outs and .327 when runners are in scoring position. As a team MSU is batting .750 when runners are on third with two outs and .329 in scoring position.
• Against opponents, the Maverick pitching staff is dealing a .230 batting average to left-handed batters and .307 to righties.
• MSU has scored a total of 134 runs in the first 18 games on the season, up two runs from last year at this point.
• The last time Minnesota State lost two games in a row a home was in the 2011 NSIC Tournament where the Mavericks lost to Minnesota Duluth on May 11, 5-0 and then to St. Cloud State on May 12, 2-1.  The last time MSU lost consecutive games at home in the regular season also occurred in 2011 when St. Cloud State defeated the Mavericks in a double header on April 2, 3-0 and 12-2.

Leading the Herd: Junior infielder Eric Peterson is leading the Maverick offense with a .361 batting average through 18 games this season and is tied for second on the team in hits with 22 and leading the squad with 23 runs. Senior Taylor Branstad is tied for the team lead with 23 hits batting .329 and is tied for the team lead in home runs with sophomore Dylan Dresel with two.
 
On the mound, junior Mitchell Bauer leads the starting corpse with a 5.29 ERA forging a 2-1 record while sophomores Dalton Roach and Brody Rodning have struck out 28 batters each.  Senior reliever Peter Guastad has mad a team-high eight appearances having not allowed an earned run in his 10.2 innings of work thus far.

Setting the Standard: Minnesota State finished in the top-10 of the NCAA DII circuit in four different categories in the country last season, including a number one ranking in batting average at .355. The Mavericks also finished fourth in win-loss percentage at 82.7%, in a tie for eighth with 621 hits, and in a tie for ninth with a 42% on base percentage. 

Sensational Skipper: Head coach Matt Magers is in his eighth season at the helm of the Mavericks baseball program. Magers has produced a 316-94 (.771) record and now sits in second for all-time wins at Minnesota State behind his predecessor Dean Boyer (1977-2008/ 990 wins). Magers is one of three coaches at MSU who has passed the 200 wins mark (Jean McCarthy: 1964-76/ 250 wins).

40+: Minnesota State as recorded eight 40-or-more-win seasons in its 76 seasons of competition. Six of those seasons have come under the watch of head coach Matt Magers. 

Preseason Prognostications:  Minnesota State was selected to finish second in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll garnering 5 of the 15 first place votes. Nationally, the Mavericks were ranked No. 9 in the NCBWA Preseason poll and were No. 2 in the Central Region poll.

Senior Taylor Branstad and sophomore Dalton Roach were selected to the NSIC Players to Watch List while Branstad garnered NCBWA All-Central Region Preseason Team honors.

Position Breakdown:  The 2016 Minnesota State baseball roster features a total of 18 pitchers. Of the 305.1 innings accumulated by the Mavericks' top-six pitchers last season, five are returning who accounted for 260 IP. MSU's pitching arsenal won't be missing much as the five pitchers who are gone after last season accounted for just five wins in 2015. Of the 18 pitchers on the roster, four of them are southpaws and of the 13 position players on the roster, eight of them are infielders. The Mavericks have four outfielders and will carry six catchers along with two utility players.

Minnesota State in the Polls:  Currently, the Mavericks are receiving votes in the NCBWA DII Poll, and ranks 4th in the NCBWA Central Region Poll. 

Welcome to Minnesota State: The Maverick's roster this season features 17 newcomers including 16 freshman on the squad.  Along with 17 fresh faces on the roster, the Mavericks also acquired the assistance of newly-hired Assistant Coach P.J. McIntee.  McIntee joins the program this season after serving as an assistant at Morehead State (Ky.) in 2015, helping  the Eagles claim an Ohio Valley Conference tournament title in 2015.

What Lies Ahead: After their series with Bemidji State, the Mavericks will faceoff with No. 1 St. Cloud State on April 6th in St. Cloud, Minn., for a double header before traveling to Bismark, N.D., to play a pair of double headers against the University of Mary April 9-10.