Setting up Shop

Rated 25th in this week's National Collegiate Baseball Writer's Association DII Top 25 Poll, Minnesota State (18-4, 15-3 NSIC) continues Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference action on the road at Upper Iowa (11-11, 9-8 NSIC) with a four-game series this weekend, including one non-conference contest Sunday.


Facing Upper Iowa

The Mavericks are 33-10 all-time against the Peacocks in a series that dates back to 2005. In their last series, MSU took all three games from UIU (16-6, 7-1, 10-3) on the road April 13-14, 2019.

This season, UIU is tied for eighth in the NSIC and batting .251 as a team. Averaging five runs per game while sporting an opponent batting average of .257, the Peacocks sport a team earned run average of 4.92.


Last Time on the Diamond

Minnesota State baseball is 18-3 this season and 15-3 in NSIC play. Last weekend at Minot State, the Mavericks dropped their first series two games to one. Game one was a pitcher's duel that Minot State came out on top of with a fifth-inning solo home run that led them to a 1-0 victory. The Mavericks outhit the Beavers 6-2 in game one. In game two, went the way of the Beavers 11-9 with hits in favor of Minot State 15-2. The Mavericks got their first win of the weekend in game three by way of a 4-2 decision. Minnesota State won the hits battle 9-4.


Mavericks in the NCBWA Poll

The Minnesota State baseball team was ranked 25th in this week's National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Division II Top 25 Poll just two weeks after breaking into poll for the first time since Feb. 5, 2020, (No. 25 in 2020 NCBWA DII Preseason Poll).


The Big One

Two weeks ago, Maverick senior outfielder Joey Werner was named NSIC Player of the Week for the second straight week. The Hastings, Minn., native batted 8-for-19 (.421) in five games from March 24-28 and owned a slugging percentage of .842 with nine RBI. 

This season, Werner leads the Mavericks in batting average (.425), home runs (6), RBI (28) and total bases (58) while sporting a second-best slugging percentage (.725). Werner also leads the Mavericks with a 35-game on-base streak and eight stolen bases on 10 attempts.


Minnesota State Ace

For the second time in his career, senior right-handed pitcher Jon Ludwig was named NSIC Pitcher of the Week (Week One - March 8) after allowing one run to Missouri-St. Louis in his Opening Day start, Feb. 26. Last time out, Ludwig pitched six complete innings allowing one run, a solo home run, and surrendering two hits. The Plymouth, Minn., native struck out 11 of 20 MISU batters faced and did not allow a walk despite taking his first loss of the season (5-1). 

The Osseo HS product has not looked back since, striking out a team-best 59 of 129 batters faced this season. In a team-high six starts, Ludwig has pitched the most innings (33) for the Mavericks while sporting a 3.00 earned run average, .189 opponent batting average and .79 WHIP this season. He owns MSU's best pitching record at 5-1.


Take Two (or Four)

Teddy Petersen leads MSU with 20 free passes this season in the form of 13 walks and seven times being hit by a pitch. A native of Glencoe, Minn., Petersen owns the Mavericks' second-most hits (24), home runs (4), RBI (20) and total bases (44).


The MSU Rotation

The Mavericks have had six different starting arms this season. All together, the MSU starters have combined for 22 starts and 29 appearances mustering 133 innings pitched. In that span, Maverick arms have struck out 173 of 639 opposing batters.


The Maverick Staff

The MSU pitching staff owns the ninth-best ERA in NCAA DII baseball so far this season at a 3.06 mark. Over 22 games, opponents are batting .227 against MSU. Minnesota State leads the NSIC in both categories.


Maverick Two-Way Players

Minnesota State baseball has a pair of two-way players this season in junior Cam Kline and sophomore Nick Altermatt. Kline has five starts on the mound and sports a 3.95 ERA while Altermatt has pitched four starts on the hill for a 2.35 ERA. With the bat, Altermatt is hitting .290 this season while Kline carries a .196 batting average.


Fantastic Freshman 

Leading Maverick youngsters this season is freshman infielder Adam Schneider. In 19 appearances, Schneider has made 15 starts this season and owns the Mavericks fourth-best batting average at .294.


Maverick Closer

Senior right-handed reliever Hunter Even is the Mavericks closer. Last weekend, the Chanhassen, Minn., native shut the door once in the series at Minot State to add another save to his team-high total of six saves on the season. He owns MSU's best ERA this season with no runs allowed over nine and a third innings pitched. Even has 15 strikeouts this season and owns a team-best opponent batting average of .071.


Big-Time Hitters

Among Minnesota State's best extra-base hitters this season are outfielder Jack Waletich and Teddy Petersen, leading the Mavericks with six doubles, catcher Ben Livorsi, leading in triples with a pair, and outfielder Joey Werner, who leads MSU with six roundtrippers in 2021. Werner frontruns the slugging percentage effort at a .725 mark.


Maverick Ironmen

Among the Mavericks roster are three players who have appeared in each of MSU's 22 games this season. They are: Altermatt, Waletich and Werner. Among them, Altermatt and Werner each have 22 consecutive starts this season.


Career Records

Senior Teddy Petersen is currently the lone Maverick on the career record list. His 29 sacrifice hits stand fifth all-time at MSU.

Junior Cam Kline is approaching the top-10 list for career triples. After hitting three last season, Kline now has seven for his career which is one behind Patrick Dockendorf (2008-12) and Josh Wenzel (2014-18) for tenth on the list with eight.


2021 Maverick Captains

The Minnesota State Maverick baseball captains for the 2021 season are Petersen and Waletich.


Preseason Prognostications

Minnesota State, which garnered 2 first-place votes and 181 voting points, was selected to finish second in the 2021 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll.


Sensational Skipper

Head coach Matt Magers is in his 13th season at the helm of the Mavericks. Magers has produced a 484-155 (.757) record and sits in second place for all-time wins at Minnesota State behind his predecessor Dean Boyer (1977-2008 / 990 wins). Magers is 1-of-3 coaches at MSU who has passed the 200-win mark (Jean McCarthy: 1964-76 / 250 wins).


Looking Back at 2020 

Minnesota State finished the 2020 season with an 8-5 record after the season was shortened due to the COVID-19 virus. All of the Mavericks' games were nonconference games as the season stopped right before NSIC play began.


Returning Player Breakdown

The 2021 Minnesota State baseball roster features 34 previous letterwinners. The Mavericks return 15 pitchers from last year's staff and in the field they return 19 position players (10 infielders, six outfielders and three catchers).


2020 Returning Leaders

Jon Ludwig pitched a team high 18.2 innings in three starts for the Mavericks, collecting a team high 24 strikeouts. Junior right-hander Jimmy Larson (12 innings) and sophomore right hander Jack Zigan (9.1 innings) both did not allow an earned run, while Larson held opponents to a team-low .056 batting average against. 

Junior outfielder Cam Kline led the Mavericks in many offensive categories including batting average (.340), triples (3), RBI (11), total bases (26) and walks (11). Kline also tied for the team lead for hits with 16 with sophomore infielder Nick Altermatt, while Altermatt also led the team with five doubles and four stolen bases. Junior catcher Ben Livorsi had a team high two home runs, a .667 slugging percentage and a .500 on base percentage. Senior infielder Teddy Petersen scored a team high 10 runs, while also stealing four bags.


40-Win Club

Minnesota State has recorded nine 40-or-more-win seasons in its 80 previous seasons of competition. Seven of those seasons have come under current head coach Matt Magers.


Minnesota State History

The 2021 season marks the 81st for Maverick baseball. MSU owns an 1,838-881-7 (.675) all-time record in 2,724 total games. Minnesota State has five Northern Intercollegiate Conference titles (1968, 1969, 1979, 1980, 1981), 19 North Central Conference championships (1970, 1971, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1988, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2006, 2007) and five Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Tournament crowns (2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2017). The program has made 37 appearances in the NCAA Division II National Tournament (1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1982, 1983, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2019) and eight in the NCAA Division II World Series (1971, 1979, 1980, 1986, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014) including third-place finishes in 2012 and 2014 and a national runner-up performance in 2013. Additionally, the Mavericks have earned All-American selections 19 times.

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