What's on Tap: Minnesota State baseball will face Minnesota Crookston in a mid-week series. Games will be played on Tuesday at 10:00 a.m., and 12:00 p.m., at Franklin Rogers Park. A weekend series against Bemidji State is currently set for March 30-31 in Bemidji, Minn. Games will be played at 12:00 p.m., and 2:00 p.m., on both Saturday and Sunday.

Last Time on the Diamond: Minnesota State went 4-1 last week with a mid-week series sweep against Southwest Minnesota State by the scores of 2-1 and 8-1. The Mavericks then took two out of three in a weekend series against Minot State, winning the first and third games 5-4 and 7-0, then losing the second game 10-7 in 14 innings.

Walking it Off: The Mavericks won two out of the five games this past week by way of a walk-off. Senior outfielder Jordan Hart collected both of those hits, defeating the Mustangs 2-1 and the Beavers 5-4. Against SMSU, Hart singled through the left side where the shortstop usually plays, but the Mustangs were in a pull shift opening the hole. Hart then doubled off the right field wall against Minot to win the series opener.

Hitting Streaks: Hart is also currently on a 10-game hitting streak, which is is the longest for him this season and is tied with senior catcher Tom Imholte for the longest by a Maverick this season. Hart's streak started on March 7 against West Virginia Wesleyan and has seven multi-hit games out of the 10. There has only been one game out of 19 this season where Hart has not recorded a hit and that was against Findlay on the Florida trip.

Complete Games: The Maverick pitching staff recorded two complete games against SMSU on Thursday in the two wins and nearly got a third in the first game against Minot State. Freshman right-hander Jack Zigan and sophomore right-hander Jimmy Larson recorded the complete games with sophomore right-hander Cam Kline going six and two-thirds innings out of seven in the third game. The pitching staff now has five complete games on the season.

Scouting Minnesota Crookston: The Golden Eagles currently sit with a 12-7 record including being tied for first in the NSIC with a 5-0 mark. Most recently, UMC swept a doubleheader over Concordia-St. Paul 5-4 and 14-2, while finishing the series today at 3:30 p.m. As a team, the Golden Eagles are hitting .272, slugging .437 with 58 extra base hits and have an on-base percentage of .379 through 19 games. As a pitching staff, UMC has a 6.14 earned run average with 104 strikeouts and allowing 82 walks.

Senior first baseman Reed Hjelle leads the way offensively by batting .344, with two doubles, two triples, six home runs and 20 RBI. Junior right-hander Jayden Grover (3-2) has made six starts for the pitching staff and sits with a 3.52 ERA. In 30.2 innings of work, Grover has struck out 16, while allowing 17 free passes.

Facing Minnesota Crookston: MSU is perfect in the all-time series versus UMC with a 14-0 record. The  last time the two teams have faced off in the regular season, the Mavericks earned a four-game sweep over the Golden Eagles on April 12-13, 2014. 

Scouting Bemidji State: The Beavers currently sit with a 1-15 record and are last in the NSIC standings at 0-5. Bemidji State was swept by Wayne State 6-0 and 5-2 last Friday in Omaha, Neb. As a team, the Beavers are hitting .216 with 27 extra base hits, including 23 doubles. The pitching staff holds a 10.14 ERA with 68 strikeouts and 57 walks.

Senior infielder Drake Wowro leads the team with a .333 batting average in 10 games played. Senior right-hander Jesse Palafax (0-4) has started five games and has pitched 19.2 innings, holding a 5.03 ERA, with 18 strikeouts and 10 walks.

Facing Bemidji State: MSU leads the all-time series over Bemidji State 58-9. Last season, the Mavericks swept the Beavers 5-1 and 8-4 with the other two games in the series being canceled.

Up Next: Minnesota State is scheduled to continue NSIC play with two road series beginning with mid-week series against Minnesota Duluth on April 3 at 1:30 p.m., and 3:30 p.m. The Mavericks will then face U-Mary on April 6-7, with a doubleheader being played on Saturday at 1:30 p.m., and 3:30 p.m. A single game will follow on Sunday beginning at 12:00 p.m.