On Tap: Top-seeded Minnesota State baseball begins Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Tournament play against eighth-seeded Minnesota Crookston at noon on Wednesday at Faber Field in St. Cloud, Minn. 
                      
Last Time on the Diamond: Minnesota State (40-9, 35-3 NSIC) finished the regular season with a four-game series split at Augustana on Friday and Saturday. The Mavericks lost the first game on both Friday and Saturday, but rebounded to win the second game on each day. 
 
Regular Season Champs: The Mavericks, who finished NSIC regular-season play with a 35-4 record, claimed the 10th-NSIC regular-season championship in program history.
 
NSIC Tournament: The Mavericks are the No. 1 seed in the 2017 NSIC Baseball Tournament. The other seven teams in the tournament are: No. 2-seeded Augustana, No. 3-seeded St. Cloud State, No. 4-seeded Wayne State, No. 5-seeded Minot State, No. 6-seeded Minnesota Duluth, No. 7-seeded Concordia-St. Paul and No. 8-seeded Minnesota Crookston. The Mavericks face Minnesota Crookston on Wednesday at noon with the winner of that game moving on to face the winner of Wayne State and Minot State. The loser of Minnesota State and Minnesota Crookston faces the loser of Wayne State and Minot State in an elimination game.
 
NSIC Player of the Week: Sophomore right fielder Jordan Hart earned NSIC Player of the Week honors for the first time in his career. He earned the honor after leading the Mavericks in batting average (.571), hits (8), RBI (5), slugging percentage (.643) and on-base percentage (.625) last week. Hart garnered four hits, three RBI, a double and a stolen base, and drove in the game-winning run in the Mavericks' 4-3 extra-inning win against Augustana on Friday. He recorded two multi-hit games and tallied at least one RBI in three contests. 
 
One of the Top Pitching Staffs in NCAA DII: The Maverick pitching staff has been one of the best in NCAA DII — ranking fourth in hits allowed per nine innings (7.61), second in strikeout to walk ratio (3.60), eighth in strikeouts per nine innings (9.5), tied for sixth in shutouts (7), eighth in walks allowed per nine innings (2.65) and first in WHIP (1.14).
 
Junior right-hander Dalton Roach (8-1, 1.94 ERA) ranks fourth in NCAA DII with 13.82 strikeouts per nine innings, seventh in strikeouts with 107 and third in WHIP (0.83).
 
NSIC Sluggers: During the regular season, Minnesota State led the NSIC in slugging percentage (.476) and home runs (54). Four Mavericks have hit at least seven home runs: junior first baseman Dylan Dresel (11), junior center fielder Josh Wenzel (10), sophomore right fielder Jordan Hart (9) and senior third baseman Eric Peterson (7).
 
All-Time Maverick: Senior third baseman Eric Peterson is the Mavericks' all-time leader in career runs scored with 218. Peterson is the only Maverick to eclipse 200 runs scored. He also ranks in the top five all-time in six additional categories: stolen bases (T-4th, 56), doubles (3rd, 46), triples (T-4th, 9), at-bats (2nd, 704), hits (2nd, 244) and games played (5th, 202).
 
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 was ranked second in the May 3 edition of 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 Bowyer field on April 29. 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 Minnesota Crookston: The Golden Eagles (24-26, 18-20 NSIC) earned the eight seed in the 2017 NSIC Baseball Tournament after winning six of their last 10 games including a four-game series split (5-2, 4-8, 2-4, 6-3) with Southwest Minnesota State to end the regular season.
 
At the plate, Anthony Stewart led Minnesota Crookston during the regular season in runs scored hits (67), home runs (5), RBI (34), total bases (97), slugging percentage (.490), at-bats (198) and runs scored (46). He is also second on the team in batting average (.338) and on-base percentage (.395). 
 
On the mound for the Golden Eagles, Cody Pamperin (1-6) led the team in complete games (5), innings pitched (71 1/3) and batting average against (.271).
 
Facing Minnesota Crookston: The Mavericks and the Golden Eagles met in a nonconference neutral-site game on Feb. 25 at U.S. Bank Stadium. Minnesota State won the game 8-2.