What's on Tap: Minnesota State baseball will face Southwest Minnesota State in a mid-week series. Games will be played on March 21 at 12:00 p.m., and 2:00 p.m., in Mauston Wis., at the Woodside Sports Complex. A weekend series against Minot State is currently set for March 23-24 at Bowyer Field. Games will be played at 12:00 p.m., and 2:00 p.m., on Saturday with a single game at 12:00 p.m., following on Sunday.

Last Time on the Diamond: Minnesota State dropped the opening conference series to St. Cloud State 2-1 on March 18-19 in Omaha, Neb., at Millard North High School. SCSU took games one and three 7-1 and 8-2, while MSU won game two 10-5.

Fantastic Freshman: Freshman infielder Nick Altermatt has started every game for the Mavericks at shortstop this season. Altermatt is second on the team with a .382 batting average, while collecting 21 hits and 13 RBI. He was also one of three Mavericks to send a three-run home run over the left field fence in the 10-5 win over SCSU. This was his first career collegiate home run that put the Mavericks up 9-0 at that point in the game and chased the Huskies' starter.

Perfect Record. Sophomore right-handed pitcher Cam Kline moved to 4-0 on the season after the 10-5 win on Monday. Kline is now tied for the most wins in the NSIC and also is tied for second with 33 strikeouts.

Junior right-hander Jon Ludwig (2-0), sophomore right-hander Trevor Divinski (1-0) and freshman right-hander Jack Zigan (1-0) have also yet to be handed a loss in their starts this season.

Scouting Southwest Minnesota State: The Mustangs currently sit with a 2-6 record including a 1-2 mark in the NSIC. Recently, SMSU dropped two out of three to Concordia-St. Paul after winning the first game of the series 6-5 then dropping the next two 3-2 (10 innings) and 7-1. As a team, the Mustangs are hitting .262, slugging .354 with 15 extra base hits and have an on-base percentage of .346. As a pitching staff, SMSU has a 5.29 earned run average with 58 strikeouts and allowing 22 walks.

Junior shortstop Nathan Kuhn leads the way offensively by batting .400, with three doubles, a triple and five RBI through eight games. Sophomore left-hander John Bezdicek has made two starts for the pitching staff and sits with an even 3.00 ERA. In 12 innings of work, Bezdicek has struck out 11, while allowing five free passes.

Facing Southwest Minnesota State: MSU leads the all-time series versus SMSU with a 52-6 record. The Mavericks earned a four-game sweep over the Mustangs last season on March 17-18. Minnesota State won by the scores of 8-0, 1-0, 2-1 and 6-5.

Scouting Minot State: The Beavers currently sit with an even .500 record at 6-6 and have yet to play a conference series. Minot State finished up a trip to Arizona last Thursday and went 5-1 on the trip. As a team, the Beavers are hitting .319 with 29 extra base hits, including 18 doubles. The pitching staff holds a 4.88 ERA with 90 strikeouts and 46 walks.

Junior infielder Ryley Humrighouse has started the year on a tear, batting .513 with an OPS of 1.199 in 12 games. Senior right-hander Andres Hackman has pitched 10 innings in two starts, holds a 2.70 ERA, has 11 strikeouts and three walks

Facing Minot State: MSU leads the all-time series over Minot State 6-5. Last season, the Beavers took three of four against the Mavericks, winning the last three after MSU won the first. Minot State also eliminated Minnesota State from the NSIC Tournament by a score of 5-2.

Up Next: Minnesota State is scheduled to continue NSIC play with a mid-week home series against Minnesota Crookston on Wed., March 27 at 1:30 p.m., and 3:30 p.m. The Mavericks will then hit the road against Bemidji State for their first conference road series. On March 30-31, a doubleheader will be played on both days with the first three games counting towards the conference record. Games will be played at 12:00 p.m., and 2:00 p.m., both days, respectively.