Aberdeen, S.D. – The Northern State baseball team is set for their third consecutive series at their "home away from home" in the Wayne community, as their second straight home series was moved to the neutral site location on Wednesday. The Wolves and Cougars are scheduled for a 10 a.m. and 12 p.m. doubleheader at Easton Field in Wakefield, Nebraska, on Friday. The teams will then conclude the series with a final contest at 10 a.m. on Saturday in Wayne, Nebraska, at the Wayne City Field.

GAME & FAN INFORMATION

• Links watch the games and follow live stats are attached above

NORTHERN STATE STORYLINES

• Northern State enters the 3-game series with a record of 8-16 (3-10 NSIC)
• The Wolves earned a doubleheader split against NSIC contenders, Augustana, on Tuesday afternoon, as they dropped a tightly contested 13-12 game one before winning game two 10-7
• As a team Northern has hit .265 with 199 hits, 42 doubles, one triple, 27 homeruns, 112 RBI, and 130 runs scored through 24 games played
• Reece Ragatz (.344) and Jack Paulson (.309) are the only two players to be batting above .300 currently this season
• Ragatz also leads the team with a .820 slugging percentage and 1.226 on-base plus slugging percentage, Niko Pezonella has a team best .421 on-base percentage
• Paulson has notched a team-best 25 hits this season while Pezonella and Austin Portner are tied for the team lead with six doubles apiece; Ragatz has recorded the lone triple for the Wolves this season and has a team-high eight homeruns and 24 RBI
• Portner has scored a team-best 21 runs this season
• Paulson enters the series riding a team-best 5-game hit streak and is tied with Portner and Karson Hesser with a team-high six multi-hit games this year
• On the base paths, Paulson, Pezonella, and Hesser each lead the team with three stolen bases
• The Wolves' pitching staff has recorded an ERA of 6.69, allowing 200 hits and 100 walks, while throwing 203 strikeouts; opponents have held a .270 batting average against NSU pitchers
• Max Otto (0-5) and Michael Chevalier (3-3) have the lowest ERA's among Northern starting pitchers at 4.54 and 5.45 respectively
• With seven starts and appearances this season, Chevalier has held opponents to a .250 batting average and struck out a team-best 48 batters; Otto has made six starts in eight appearances this season, holding opponents to a .225 batting average and has struck out 46 batters
• Jack Miller has the lowest ERA among NSU relief pitchers with a 1.69 ERA with five appearances on the mound, other notable relief pitchers include Tyler Boyum with a 4.15 ERA in four appearances, Blake Ask (0-1) with a 5.40 ERA in eight appearances, and Cooper Tessendorf (1-1) with a 5.79 ERA in six appearances
• Otto, Boyum, and Brenden Baxter each have one save for the Wolves this season

SIOUX FALLS STORYLINES

• Sioux Falls enters the 3-game series with a record of 7-22 (6-9 NSIC)
• The Cougars earned a doubleheader split against UMary on Tuesday afternoon, winning game one 7-5 before falling in game two 10-3
• As a team Sioux Falls is hitting .276 with 245 hits, 44 doubles, nine triples, 15 homeruns, 141 RBI, and 156 runs scored through 29 games played
• Brady Klehr (.343), David Swanson (.333), Dane Small (.315), Noah Christenson (.308), and Tyler Cate (.300) are all batting .300 or better currently for USF
• Klehr also leads the team with a .416 on-base percentage, while Small leads the team with a .489 slugging percentage and .902 on-base plus slugging percentage
• Klehr has totaled a team-best 34 hits and is tied with Christenson and Ben Serie with a team-best six doubles; Swanson, Christenson, and Serie have each recorded a team-high two triples, while Small, Serie, and Noah Buss have each hit a team leading three homeruns
• Serie has notched a team-best 18 RBI while Cate has scored a team-high 22 runs
• Small enters the series riding a team-best 5-game hit streak while Serie has a team-best ten multi-hit games this season
• On the base paths, Klehr leads the Cougars with eight stolen bases
• The Cougars' pitching staff has recorded an ERA of 10.28, allowing 311 hits and 166 walks, while throwing 182 strikeouts; opponents have held a .340 batting average against USF pitchers
• Grayson Skinner (1-2), Serie (1-3), and Cole Wright (1-3) have been Sioux Falls' primary starting pitchers this season and have recorded ERA's of 6.68, 8.50, and 11.22 respectively
• Skinner has started and appeared in six games this season, holding opponents to a .231 batting average and striking out a team-high 27 batters
• Reese Gaber and Derek Lundgren have each made nine relief appearances for the Cougars, recording ERA's of 7.20 and 8.04 respectively; Gaber is second on the team with 25 strikeouts and has recorded the only two saves this season for USF
• Grant Hieb is in his seventh season as the head baseball coach at Sioux Falls, he holds a career record of 105-177 with the Cougars

LAST MATCH-UP

• Northern State and Sioux Falls split a neutral site doubleheader in Sioux City, Iowa, last season as the Cougars took game one by a score of 3-2 and the Wolves bounced back with a 3-2 victory of their own in game two
• Northern leads the all-time series 13-3 and the teams have split the last six meetings