The Minot State baseball team is set to begin its season this weekend with six games in St. George, Utah. The Beavers will play three games against Montana State Billings and three games against Dixie State.

With two full seasons at the NCAA Division II level under their belt, the Beavers look to continue their rise up the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference standings as they've done in the past two years.

"We want to keep getting better," said head baseball coach Brock Weppler. "We've been doing that the last couple of years. We've got a little bit different ball club this year. Last year we had a lot of older guys—a lot of junior college guys. This year we've got a lot of young guys that are going to be leaned on at times. Some of our most talented guys on the team right now are freshmen and sophomores."

Recapping last season
With an up-and-down non-conference start to the season, Minot State headed into NSIC play with an overall record of 6-7 in 2014.

After the first series of the conference season against Upper Iowa was cancelled due to weather, the Beavers split their opening series on the road against the University of Sioux Falls. The next 12 conference games didn't go as planned for the Beavers, though. Minot State dropped 11 of its next 12 games and fell to 3-12 in the conference.

The second half of the season proved to be a different story as the team heated up down the stretch. Minot State lost just three games in the final 13 games of the year, and the second half was highlighted by a sweep of U-Mary down in Bismarck.

The Beavers finished the season with an overall record of 19-23 and a conference record 13-15, good for 10th in the NSIC. Minot State finished two places above their 12th place finish back in 2013.

Four players batted over .300 for the Beavers in 2014, all of which are no longer with the team, so the Beavers will look elsewhere in 2015 for offensive production.

Key Returners
While the Beavers lost some important contributors in the heart of their line-up, the team returns some key position players in 2015. Nicholas Hammerl (Sr., SS/2B, West Peoria, Ill.) batted .298 last season while recording 11 doubles. He also led the team in steals in 2014 with nine stolen bases.

Brad Rolff (Sr., INF, North Folk, Calif.) and Paul Vogelsang (So., C, Regina, Saskatchewan) will both look to have big seasons for Minot State as well. Rolf started in all 42 games the Beavers played last season and batted .279. He drove in 10 runs and scored 20.

Vogelsang will take over the majority of the duties behind the plate this season. His bat will provide some pop in the line-up as he hit the second-most homeruns on the team last season (4) playing in just 33 games.

The bulk of the Beavers' pitching staff is back in 2015, led much in part by Austin Zorn (Sr., P/INF, Bismarck, N.D.). Zorn recorded a 2.49 ERA with a 5-2 record and gave up the lowest batting average against (.214) amongst all pitchers on the staff in 2014.

Other notable pitchers returning to the Beavers' staff are Alec Grothe (Jr., P, Bismarck, N.D.), Jesse Goertzen (Jr., P, Steinbach, Manitoba), Austin Berntson (Jr., P/OF, Minot, N.D.) and Joshua Larsen (Sr., P, Surrey, British Columbia).

Key Newcomers
Minot State will rely on a few younger players this season due to the departures of key seniors in 2014.

Kyle Williamson (Fr., 2B/OF, Aurora, Ore.) brings added speed to the Beavers' line-up in 2015. Williamson stole 23 bases in his 2014 high school season while batting .506. He was named First Team All-State in Oregon in 2013 and 2014.

Jordan Schulz will also look to make an immediate impact for the Beavers. A transfer from Division I Stetson University, Schulz will bring added athleticism to the outfield and the line-up.

Other notable newcomers are Jared Young (Fr., UTL/P, Prince George, British Columbia) and redshirt freshman Lane Biggs (P, Salem, Ore.).

Season Outlook
Improvement within the NSIC has been a trend for Minot State the past two seasons, and the team will look to do the same in 2015 hoping to make its first ever NSIC tournament appearance.

Picked to finish No. 12 in the standings by the coaches in the preseason poll, Minot State wishes to prove the conference wrong, and the team feels like it's done everything it can to prepare itself to do so.

"I think we've accomplished about as much as we can in the dome right now," Weppler said. "So far the guys have been getting after it, trying to learn from at-bats and simulated situations. We've done a good job for the most part focusing on the task at hand—getting better each day."

The Beavers begin conference play on March 21 at Wayne State College. The first home weekend for the Beavers is set for a series against Upper Iowa on April 3 and 4 at Corbett Field.