Setting up Shop

Rated 19th in last week's National Collegiate Baseball Writer's Association DII Poll, Minnesota State (15-2, 12-1 NSIC) continues Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference action on the road at Southwest Minnesota State (7-7, 5-6 NSIC) for a 7/9-inning doubleheader at 12:00 p.m. Tuesday.


Facing Southwest Minnesota State

Minnesota State is 54-6 in an all-time series against Southwest Minnesota State that dates back to the 1997 season. The Mavericks are currently riding a 13-game win streak vs. the Mustangs that began March 21, 2014.

This season, SMSU is batting .272 with an opponent batting average of .260. The Mustangs pitching staff has combined for a 5.52 ERA over 14 games this season.


Last Time on the Diamond

Minnesota State baseball is off to a 15-2 start overall and 12-1 start in conference action, which marks its best start since the 2015 season, after sweeping a weekday doubleheader against Northern State, March 30, before taking two games of a three-game series last weekend at St. Cloud State (7-5, 8-12, 3-2).


Back in the NCBWA Poll

Last Wednesday, the Minnesota State baseball team was announced to be back in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Division II Poll for the first time since Feb. 5, 2020, (No. 25 in NCBWA DII Preseason Poll).


NSIC Player of Week Three & Four

Last week, 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 (.419), home runs (6), RBI (28), total bases (50) and slugging percentage (.806). Werner also leads the Mavericks with a 30-game on-base streak and eight stolen bases on nine attempts.


NSIC Pitcher of Week One

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. The Mavericks opened the season with a win behind Ludwig's 15 strikeouts against 26 batters faced. The Osseo HS product has not looked back since, striking out a team-best 48 of 109 batters faced this season. In a team-high five starts, Ludwig has pitched the most innings (27) for the Mavericks while sporting a 2.67 earned run average, .206 opponent batting average and .89 WHIP 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.


Take Two

Teddy Petersen leads the MSU with 17 free passes this season in the form of 12 walks and five times being hit by a pitch. A native of Glencoe, Minn., Petersen owns the Mavericks' second-most hits (19), home runs (4), RBI (19) and total bases (38).


The MSU Rotation

The Mavericks have had six different starting arms this season. All together, the MSU starters have combined for 17 starts and 24 appearances mustering 106 innings pitched. In that span, Maverick arms have struck out 142 of 532 opposing batters.


The Maverick Staff

The MSU pitching staff owns the fifth best ERA in the NCAA so far this season at a 2.48 mark. Over 17 games, opponents are batting .222. 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 four starts on the mound and sports a 2.84 ERA while Altermatt has pitched three starts on the hill for a 3.18 ERA. With the bat, Altermatt is hitting .302 this season while Kline carries a .225 batting average.


Fantastic Freshman 

Leading Maverick youngsters this season is freshman infielder Adam Schneider. In 14 appearances, Schneider has made 10 starts this season and owns the Mavericks second-best batting average at .382.


Maverick Closer

Senior right-handed reliever Hunter Even is the Mavericks closer. Last weekend, the Chanhassen, Minn., native shut the door twice to earn his third and fourth saves of the season. Even has MSU's best ERA this season with no runs allowed over seven and a third innings pitched.


Big-Time Hitters

Minnesota State has a three-way tie in its two-base hit race this season with senior outfielders Jack Waletich and Ty Denzer as well as Teddy Peterson all tied with five doubles this season. Maverick catcher Ben Livorsi owns a pair of triples to lead MSU in three-base hits. Joey Werner leads MSU with six roundtrippers in 2021.


Maverick Ironmen

Among the Mavericks roster are four players who have appeared in each of MSU's 17 games this season. They are: Altermatt, Petersen, Waletich and Werner. Among them, Altermatt, Waletich and Werner each have 17 consecutive starts this season.


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 481-153 (.759) record and now 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 after 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 1,835-879-7 (.675) all-time record in 2,719 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.

-30-