(MINOT, N.D.) – The Minot State baseball team heads into 2020, looking to repeat and improve upon its 2019 success. In 2019, the Beavers had one of their best seasons in program history, winning 36 games, including 24 in the conference and advancing to the NSIC championship before falling to Augustana.

The Beavers lose several key players to graduation from 2019, leading to the Beavers being selected fifth in the NSIC Coaches' preseason poll. Despite the losses, the Beavers return several talented players including NSIC Players to Watch RJ Martinez and Trevaun Smith.

The Beavers look to exceed expectations and earn a trip to the NCAA tournament.

The Minot State positional breakdown is listed below.

Outfield:
Key Players: Jackson Pokorney, Matt Kruszka, Drew Behling

The Beavers will look for improvement at the plate from Jackson Pokorney, who hit .244 in the 2019 season in 31 games played. He should contribute to a strong defensive outfield.

Matt Kruszka enters his first year as a Beaver. The transfer from Niagara County Community College, hit .377, with 21 RBI, 16 stolen bases, and 34 runs scored. He looks to be a big part of the Beaver lineup with his defense and ability to run the bases and figures to feature somewhere atop the batting order.

Drew Behling, another junior college transfer from Rock Valley College. Last season, Behling hit .371, scored 40 runs, hit seven home runs, and knocked in 32 runs.

Infield:
Key Players: Blake Gallagher, Kellen Peat, Declan Buckle, Ryley Humrighouse, Dustin Wilcox

Blake Gallagher projects to be the starting first baseman for the Beaver baseball team. In the 2019 season for Colby Community College Gallagher hit .324 with an on-base percentage of .442. Gallagher will also provide some pop for the Beaver lineup, hitting ten home runs last season.

At second base, the Beavers turn to redshirt freshman Kellen Peat. While unproven with the Beavers, at Chaparral High School, he hit over .300 for two consecutive seasons with an on-base percentage of .382, expect to see Peat on the bases often.
At short, the Beavers will run with Declan Buckle. Buckle posted a fielding percentage of .902 at the shortstop position for Indian Hills Community College. He is a staunch defender who also can run the bases, scoring 60 runs in his two years at Indian Hills.

Ryley Humrighouse is expected to be the regular third baseman for the Beavers this season. Coming off of a year in which he hit just under .300, posted 18 stolen bases and a fielding percentage of over .900, he is expected to be a significant contributor to the Beaver lineup and defense.
At catcher, Dustin Wilcox returns for the Beavers. Wilcox did not play in the 2019 season but was a regular on the 2018 NSIC regular-season championship team. That year he played in 38 games, starting 31, not making an error all season.

Designated Hitter:
Key Players: Trevaun Smith

NSIC Player to Watch Trevaun Smith brings a lot of excitement on the base paths. He is a career .289 hitter, but pitchers have a tough time keeping him off the bases as Smith has posted a .403 on-base percentage. It is what he does when he is on the bases that will cause problems for opposing teams, however, as he had 37 stolen bases in 2019.
 
Starting Rotation:
Key Players: RJ Martinez, Noah Myhre, Zach Newman, Garrett Nicholson

RJ Martinez was the second Beaver named NSIC Player to Watch. His 2019 season was a good one. Martinez threw a total of 59.1 innings, starting seven games and throwing to an ERA of 3.64. Martinez produced a stellar WHIP of just 1.35, while also striking out around a batter per inning.

Noah Myhre figures to be a prominent member of the Beaver starting rotation in his first year with the program after a two-year stint at Los Angeles Valley College. Myhre produced a 5.29 ERA in 47.2 innings pitched in his sophomore year, along with 42 strikeouts.

Zach Newman returns to the Beavers for his third year after taking a big step from his freshman year to his sophomore year. If Newman takes a similar leap in year three, the Beavers rotation may be one of the better staffs in the conference. As a sophomore, Newman started ten games, throwing to an ERA of 3.71 in 53.1 innings pitched. Newman allowed opposing hitters to hit just .227 against him and struck out 49 batters.

Garrett Nicholson is a division 1 transfer from Central Michigan University. Thus far, Nicholson has recorded no collegiate stats as he redshirted there as a freshman in 2018 and did not play last season but has plenty of arm talent.

In addition to these four, Dominick Parkhurst and Grant Dowty are fighting to be regular members of the starting rotation.

Bullpen:
Key Players: Blake Gallagher, Aaron Kern, Branden Hatley, Jordan Chappell

Gallagher figures to be the Beaver closer this season with good reason, averaging over 12 strikeouts per nine innings as a member of the Colby Community College pitching staff.

Aaron Kern has put together back-to-back good years as a member of the Beaver bullpen. Going into his senior year, that is expected to continue. In three years, Kern has produced a 5.37 ERA and struck out 56 batters in 68.2 innings.

Branden Hatley and Jordan Chappell also are expected to figure prominently into the Beaver bullpen in their first year as Beavers.
 
The Beaver baseball teams is expected (pending weather) to start their season off on Saturday with a four-game series in two days against Missouri S&T and then follow that up with and then stay in Missouri for a doubleheader against William Jewel College on Feb. 18^th and finish off the Missouri road trip with a four-game series at Missouri Western State University.

All of these games can be followed via the watch or live stats links on the baseball schedule at the following link: https://msubeavers.com/sports/baseball/schedule.