Aberdeen, S.D. – The Northern State University baseball team will face No. 1 seed Minot State in opening round of the NSIC Conference Tournament held in Sioux Falls. First pitch is scheduled for 12 p.m. against the Beavers at Karras Park on the campus of Augustana University.

The Wolves enter the tournament as an 8^th seed with a 20-19 overall and a 13-13 NSIC record. Last week Northern State went 3-1 facing Winona State in the final games of the regular season. NSU as a team, is hitting .285 with 23 home runs, seven triples, and 80 doubles on 328 hits. Jack Schmidt leads the team with .390 batting average, second on the team is Dakota Stilson with a .359, and Hayden Hall has a .321 average on the season. Schmidt also leads the Wolves with 55 hits, second is Stilson with 46, and Lucas Lorenz have tallied 38 hits on the season. Schmidt notched a team high eight home runs on the season and Lorenz is second with four. Schmidt has a team leading 16 doubles, second on the team is Stilson with 13.

NSU as a pitching staff has a 5.16 earned run average, giving up 318 hits, 165 earned runs, striking out 231 hitters, while walking 138, and giving up a .276 batting average. Luke Chevalier leads the pitching staff with four wins on the season with 53.2 innings and 48 strikeouts, Thomas Sertic is second on the team with 42.1 innings pitched and 41 strikeouts. Colton Landreth is third on the team with 26 strikeouts in 28.2 innings. Holt Hunziker and Chevalier has a team leading three saves, Hunziker has tallied two runs in 18.1 innings in relief while striking out 18. Grant Farmer tallied two earned run in 14.2 innings pitched striking out 11. Fielding percentage for the Wolves is at .950 with 63 errors as a team in 1272 chances.

Wolves are coached by Dean Berry in his eighth year as head coach posting a 144-175 record.

About the Beavers:

• The Beavers enter the tournament as the top seed with a 31-14 overall and 29-6 NSIC record (1^st).
• Minot State as a team, notched a .289 batting average, 95 doubles, seven triples, and 47 home runs on 400 hits. Leading the Beavers in batting is Michael Borst, posting a .355 average on the season; second hitting .331 is Celestino Rodriguez.
• Rodriguez and Darrel Doll has tallied nine home runs for the Beavers, Trevaun Smith is second on the team with six home runs. Wyatt Schlosser has a team leading 19 doubles and second on the team with 17 doubles is Doll.
• As a pitching staff, the Minot State pitchers are posting a 4.73 earned run average, giving up 239 runs (182 earned), 124 walks, 288 strikeouts, and giving up a .285 batting average.
• Justin Demary, Andres Hackman, and Jaymon Cervantes each tallied five wins for the Beavers. Demary leads the staff with 65.1 innings and 57 strikeouts on the season. Tanner Galey notched the lowest earned run average with a 0.90 in 20.0 innings. Hackman is second on the team with 54.0 innings and 43 strikeouts.  

Last Match-Up:

• Northern State lost two games earlier this season against the Beavers losing 2-6 and 2-8.
• Seven players recorded a hit in game one, in game two Justin Barreneche, Hall, and Stilson recorded a hit in the loss.
• Northern is 11-7 all-time record against Minot State coming into the 2018 season, winning five out of eight matchups dating back to 2014 season. Wolves currently on a two game losing streak against the Beavers.