On Tap: Minnesota State baseball continues Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference play with a four-game series against Minnesota Duluth this weekend. The teams are slated for doubleheaders at 6:00 p.m., on Friday at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minn., and at 1:30 p.m., on Sunday at MSU Baseball Complex. 
    
Last Time on the Diamond: The Mavericks (9-4, 4-0 NSIC) opened NSIC play with a four-game sweep (3-0, 6-1, 4-3, 6-3) over U-Mary on Saturday and Sunday at Veterans Field in Minnetonka, Minn. The Mavericks outscored the Marauders 19-7 over the four-game set.    

Winning with Pitching: The Mavericks' starting rotation has compiled 12 starts of at least five innings, including five efforts of at least seven-innings. Minnesota State is 8-4 when a starter completes at least five innings and is 5-0 when a starter tosses at least seven innings. 

K-Machines: The Minnesota State pitching staff has recorded 129 strikeouts in 108-1/3 innings. Junior right-hander Dalton Roach (2-0) has struck out a team-high 34 batters in 19 innings for an average of 16.9 strikeouts per nine innings — the third highest strikeouts per nine innings rate in NCAA DII. Four other Maverick hurlers have tallied at least 17 punch-outs in 2017: senior right-hander Mitchell Bauer (26), junior southpaw Brody Rodning (22), junior right-hander NIck Belzer (17) and sophomore right-hander Jon Ludwig (17). 

Among the Nation's Best: The Maverick pitching staff has been one of the best in NCAA DII this season. As a staff, Minnesota State ranks second in the nation in three categories: ERA (2.41), WHIP (1.03) and hits allowed per nine innings (6.65). The Mavericks also rank third in strikeout-to-walk ratio (4.03), sixth in strikeouts per nine innings (10.7), 13th in walks allowed per nine innings (2.66) and 16th in shutouts (3).

Four Maverick starting pitchers rank in the top 25 in NCAA DII in WHIP: sophomore right-hander Jon Ludwig (2nd, 0.53), junior southpaw Brody Rodning (9th, 0.76), Junior right-hander Dalton Roach (12th, 0.79) and senior right-hander Mitchell Bauer (25th, 0.88). Rodning ranks 8th in NCAA DII in ERA (0.53) and Ludwig is 11th (0.60).       

Sophomore Sensation: Sophomore outfielder Jordan Hart is off to a torrid start in 2017 — leading Minnesota State in seven offensive categories: batting average (.438), hits (21), runs scored (16), runs batted in (12), doubles (6), total bases (35) and slugging percentage (.729). 

Steal Tycoons: Senior infielder Eric Peterson leads the Mavericks with seven stolen bases in 2017. Three Mavericks are tied for second with two steals each: junior infielder Dylan Dresel, sophomore outfielder Jordan Hart and freshman utility player Teddy Petersen.

Record Watch: Senior infielder Eric Peterson has scored 177 runs in his Maverick playing career, which ranks third amongst student-athletes in program history. Peterson is three runs shy of Kosuke Hattori (2007-10), who ranks second with 180 runs scored, and five shy of the most runs scored in program history – 182 (Eric Lonquist, 1999-2002).

Scouting Minnesota Duluth: The Bulldogs (6-8, 3-1 NSIC) enter the series with the Mavericks after winning 3-of-4 games against Upper Iowa over the Weekend (15-7, 9-2, 0-2, 10-4). 

Minnesota Duluth, which was picked to finish 5th in the 2017 NSIC Preseason Poll after compiling a 39-16 (29-7 NSIC) record in 2016, features freshman outfielder Drew Stewart — the team leader in three offensive categories: batting average (.444), slugging percentage (.815) and on-base percentage (.500). As a team, the Bulldogs are batting .311 on the season.   

On the mound, freshman left-hander Rece Dietrich leads the Bulldogs in wins (2), innings pitched (16-1/3) and strikeouts (16). The Minnesota Duluth pitching staff has a 7.50 ERA.

Facing the Bulldogs: Last season, the Mavericks lost 3-of-4 meetings with the Bulldogs.