What's on Tap: Minnesota State will face Arkansas-Monticello in the first game of the NCAA Central Region Tournament as the fourth seed. Joining the Mavericks and the fifth seeded Weevils in the Central I Regional Tournament is top seeded Augustana (which is playing as the host) and eighth seeded Oklahoma Baptist. The first game against UAM will be on Thursday at 3:30 p.m., at Ronken Field in Sioux Falls, S.D.

Last Time on the Diamond: Minnesota State went 1-2 in the NSIC Tournament last week, first defeating Northern State 4-2 in 10 innings. The Mavericks dropped the next two games 12-4 to St. Cloud State and 4-1 to Winona State to be eliminated from the tournament. 

Single Season Record: Senior outfielder Jordan Hart is now tied with Kevin Dixon (2005) for the most home runs in a single season. Hart belted his 18th home run of the season against Winona State on May 3 and his next home run will be the sixth record broken this season. Hart also owns the career home run record, career RBI record, career total bases record, season RBI record and season total bases record.

Walk-Off Home Run: Junior infielder Ty Buck won the Mavericks' opening game of the NSIC Tournament with a walk-off two-run home run in the bottom of the 10th inning. Buck also had walk-off hits against Findlay on March 6 and Wayne State on April 19.

NSIC Accolades: Minnesota State was well represented in the NSIC postseason awards including Hart being named the NSIC Player of the Year and freshman Nick Altermatt being named Freshman of the Year. Joining Hart and Altermatt on the NSIC First Team was sophomore Cam Kline, junior Jon Ludwig, senior Tom Imholte and junior Teddy Petersen. Buck and sophomore Jimmy Larson were also named to the NSIC Second Team as well as Imholte and Petersen being named to the NSIC Gold Glove Team for the second time in their careers.

CoSIDA All-District: Imholte and Petersen were also named to the CoSIDA All-District First Team for their performances on the field and in the classroom. Both players will now be considered for the CoSIDA All-America honor.

Scouting Arkansas-Monticello: The Weevils finished the regular season with a 31-12 record and won the Great American Conference regular season with a 24-6 record. Now having a record of 33-14, most recently UAM went 2-2 in the GAC Conference Tournament. The Weevils won the first two games over Harding and Southwest Oklahoma before dropping the next two to Oklahoma Baptist and Harding to exit the tournament. As a team, the Weevils are hitting .307, slugging .498 with 173 extra base hits and have an on-base percentage of .393 through 47 games. As a pitching staff, UAM has a 4.92 earned-run average with 375 strikeouts and allowing 218 walks.

Senior outfielder John Mauldin leads the way offensively by batting .349 with 14 doubles, one triple, 13 home runs and 37 RBI. Senior infielder Kaleb Warden has had a good season, batting .320 with 11 doubles, 13 home runs and 47 RBI. Junior right-hander Matt Lundh (7-1) has made 11 starts and sits with a 3.73 ERA. In 62.2 innings of work, he has 78 strikeouts and 30 walks. Junior left-hander Ojani Chacon has been the main weapon out of the bullpen, making 18 appearances with seven saves. He supports a 3.54 ERA with 41 strikeouts and 23 walks in 48.1 innings. 

Facing Arkansas-Monticello: MSU leads the all-time series versus UAM with an 8-3 record. The Mavericks and the Weevils squared off in the 2019 opening series this season as MSU took two out of three from UAM. The Mavericks won the first two games 5-0 and 11-1 before the Weevils won the finale 9-7.

Up Next: Minnesota State needs to win the NCAA Central I Regional Tournament to advance to the Super Regional. The Regional is a double-elimination tournament and the Mavericks will face either Augustana or Oklahoma Baptist on Friday in game two.