On Tap: No. 11 Minnesota State baseball travels to Augustana for a four-game Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference series to wrap up the regular season. The two teams are slated to play doubleheaders on Friday and Sunday, beginning at 4:00 p.m., and 1:00 p.m., respectively.
Last Time on the Diamond: Minnesota State (38-7, 33-3 NSIC) swept Upper Iowa in a four-game series (17-7, 6-4, 3-0, 12-2) at Dean Bowyer Field on Friday and Saturday — extending its winning streak to 10 games and clinching the 10th NSIC regular season championship in program history.
Regular Season Champs: The Mavericks, who improved to 33-3 in NSIC play with a four-game sweep of Upper Iowa on Friday and Saturday, clinched their 10th NSIC regular season championship.
NSIC Pitcher of the Week: Junior right-hander Dalton Roach (8-0) earned NSIC Pitcher of the Week honors for the first time this season – the third time in his career – after tossing a seven-inning, complete-game, one-hit shutout. Roach equaled his season high with 14 strikeouts and took a no-hit bid into the seventh inning. At one point, Roach retired 17 consecutive batters faced, including a stretch of eight-straight strikeouts.
One of the Top Pitching Staffs in NCAA DII: The Maverick pitching staff has been one of the best in NCAA DII — ranking second in hits allowed per nine innings (7.46), second in strikeout to walk ratio (3.57), eighth in strikeouts per nine innings (9.7), tied for fifth in shutouts (7), 11th in walks allowed per nine innings (2.71) and first in WHIP (1.13).
Junior right-hander Dalton Roach ranks fourth in NCAA DII with 14.28 strikeouts per nine innings, eighth in strikeouts with 101 and second in WHIP (0.80).
NSIC Sluggers: Minnesota State leads the NSIC in slugging percentage (.489) and home runs (52). Four Mavericks have hit at least seven home runs: junior first baseman Dylan Dresel (10), sophomore right fielder Jordan Hart (9), junior center fielder Josh Wenzel (9) and senior third baseman Eric Peterson (7).
All-Time Maverick: Senior infielder Eric Peterson scored seven runs on the week to increase his career-runs scored total to 215. Peterson — the Mavericks' all-time leader in career runs scored — is the only Maverick to eclipse 200 runs scored. He also ranks in the top five all-time in five additional categories: stolen bases (T-4th, 55), doubles (T-4th, 44), triples (T-4th, 9), at-bats (4th, 689) and hits (2nd, 239). In addition, Peterson is seventh in program history with 198 games played.
Minnesota State in the Polls: The Mavericks moved up to No. 11 in the May 2 edition of the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association NCAA DII Poll.
Regional Rankings: Minnesota State is ranked second in the NCAA DII Central Region Rankings. The top eight teams make the regional tournament — hosted by the top seed.
Bowyer Field: Minnesota State's home field was officially named Dean Bowyer field on Saturday. The field is named after Dean Bowyer, the winningest head coach in program history with 990-career coaching victories at Minnesota State from 1977-2008.
Scouting Augustana: The Vikings (33-18, 27-9 NSIC), who enter the series with the Mavericks in second place in the NSIC, split a four-game home-and-home series against Wayne State on Friday and Saturday – with each team sweeping their home doubleheader.
At the plate, Kris Ashland is second on the team in batting average (.384) and on-base percentage (.443), and he leads the team in home runs (16), RBI (57), and slugging percentage (.742).
Toeing the rubber for Augustana, Jacob Blank (10-0) has been amongst the best pitchers in NCAA DII with a 0.80 ERA, .179 batting average against, 73 strikeouts and two shutouts in 56 1/3 innings. His 0.80 ERA ranks second in the nation amongst eligible pitchers and his .89 WHIP ranks eighth.
Facing Augustana: Last season, the Mavericks split a regular season doubleheader at home against the Vikings. The Mavericks won game one (6-2) before losing game two (10-4). The two teams met again in the NSIC Tournament, with Mavericks losing 5-2.
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