What's on Tap: Fourth-seeded Minnesota State baseball begins the 2018 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Tournament against fifth-seeded Concordia-St. Paul at 12:30 p.m., on Wednesday at Sioux Falls Stadium in Sioux Falls, S.D.
 
The winner of Minnesota State and Concordia-St. Paul will move on to face the victor of top-seeded Minot State and eighth-seeded Northern State on Thursday at 3:30 p.m. The losing teams of the games between Minnesota State and Concordia-St. Paul, and Minot State and Northern State, will meet in an elimination game on Thursday at 12:00 p.m.   
 
Last Time on the Diamond: Minnesota State (31-14, 26-10 NSIC) went 1-3 against Upper Iowa over the weekend in Fayette, Iowa. The Mavericks were swept in a doubleheader on Friday by scores of 5-3 and 7-5 before splitting a twin bill on Saturday (10-4, 7-9).
 
NSIC Tournament: The top-eight teams from the NSIC regular season are set to participate in the 2018 NSIC Baseball Tournament — a double-elimination tournament that will be held May 9-12 at Karras Park and Sioux Falls Stadium in Sioux Falls, S.D. 
 
Minnesota State, which finished the regular season with a 26-10 record in NSIC play, earned the fourth seed in the NSIC Tournament and will begin tournament play against fifth-seeded Concordia-St. Paul at 12:30 p.m., on Wednesday at Sioux Falls Stadium in Sioux Falls, S.D. The rest of the tournament field consists of: eighth-seeded Northern State (20-18, 13-13 NSIC), seventh-seeded Wayne State (20-24, 18-16 NSIC), sixth-seeded Winona State (18-21, 17-15 NSIC), fifth-seeded Concordia-St. Paul (23-14, 16-10 NSIC), third-seeded St. Cloud State (28-13, 21-8 NSIC), second-seeded Augustana (40-8, 26-8 NSIC) and top-seeded Minot State (31-14, 29-6 NSIC).
 
The Mavericks, who won the 2017 NSIC Baseball Tournament, have claimed five NSIC Tournament titles.

King of the Hill: A three-time All-American and Brett Tomko Award winner in 2017, senior right-hander Dalton Roach (8-1) is the Mavericks' all-time leader in career wins (30) and strikeouts (366). Roach is also approaching the Mavericks' record for career innings pitched. He enters the weekend second with 274 2/3 innings — trailing only Jason Hoppe's (2011-14) total of 275 2/3.
 
Superb Southpaw: Senior left-hander Aaron Rozek (7-3) leads the Maverick pitching staff in ERA (2.08), innings pitched (69 1/3) and strikeouts (89). Rozek has set new career highs in innings pitched and strikeouts, while also having a career-best opposing batting average (.213). Rozek leads the NSIC in strikeouts this season.
 
The Wenzel Watch: Josh Wenzel, a senior center fielder, leads Minnesota State in eight offensive categories: batting average (.386), on-base percentage (.439), runs scored (35), hits (64), doubles (13), triples (3), total bases (89) and walks (15). He is also tied for first in runs driven in with 29. Wenzel is one of the top players in program history — ranking in the top 10 of seven offensive statistics: at-bats (3rd, 704), hits (4th, 235), sacrifice hits (5th, 22), runs (7th, 144), doubles (T-7th, 42), RBI (9th, 136) and triples (T-10th, 7).
 
Power Surge: Jordan Hart, a junior right fielder, hit his team-leading sixth homer of the season in Minnesota State's 10-4 win over Upper Iowa in game one on Saturday. He is tied for the fifth-most home runs in program history with 24.

Regional Rankings: Minnesota State was ranked No. 3 in the latest NCAA Division DII Central Region rankings, as announced by the NCAA on Wednesday. Also representing the NSIC in the rankings, Augustana is ranked No. 6 and St. Cloud State is No. 7.  
 
Scouting the Golden Bears: Concordia-St. Paul (23-14, 16-10 NSIC) enters the NSIC Baseball Tournament matchup with Minnesota State having won three out of four games at Sioux Falls on Friday and Saturday in Sioux Falls, S.D. The Golden Bears split a doubleheader on Friday (2-1, 2-3) before sweeping a twin bill on Saturday (8-7, 12-2).

Up Next: The winner of the NSIC Baseball Tournament will earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Central Region Tournament. The NCAA Central Region is made up of 40 teams from the NSIC (15), the Mid-America Athletic Association (MIAA) (13) and the Great American Conference (GAC) (12). Automatic bids are awarded to tournament champions from each conference with the final five spots awarded on an at-large basis. In all, eight teams will advance to the NCAA Central Region Tournament played on May 17-21 at a site to be determined.
 
The NCAA Division II Baseball Championships will take place May 26 to June 2 in Cary, N.C. The NCAA Division II Baseball Selection show will air via webcast at NCAA.com on Sunday, May 13 at 9:00 p.m. CDT.