MINOT, N.D. – Coming off a strong showing in South Dakota, the Minot State baseball team is back in action with another NSIC series on the road, this time taking on Southwest Minnesota State.
The games originally scheduled for the Southwest Minnesota State campus have been moved because of bad weather and now the two teams will play a neutral site doubleheader in Wayne, Nebraska on Thursday with first pitch at 2:30 p.m., then head to South Sioux City, Nebraska for another doubleheader starting at 1:30 p.m. on Friday.
Minot State heads into the weekend having won 4 of its last 6 contests, including taking 3-of-4 from Winona State in a neutral site league series in Sioux Falls that concluded 10 days ago.
Pitching has been key for the Beavers (7-11 overall, 4-4 NSIC) in their last half dozen games as the team has a 4.02 ERA during that stretch which has helped lead the way to victory.
Leading the way have been
Craig Schmich, who threw a complete-game, 7-inning, 7-strikeout win over the Warriors, and
Trevyn Badger, who struck out 8 in 6 innings work in another victory over Winona State.
Offensively the team continues to hit well and hit four home runs in their combined recent wins, while
Grant Gabbert and
Ricky Apodaca have led the way with seven- and five-game hit streaks, respectively.
Apodaca hit 12-for-22 (.545) during the last six games with 9 RBIS, 9 runs scored, 4 doubles, and a triple, while Gabbert is hitting .348 on the season with 3 homers and 12 RBIs.
Adding to the strong offensive effort is
Brian Parry, who leads the team with a .422 average and who has reached bases safely in 11 straight games, while
Brent Riddle is hitting .284 with 3 home runs and 17 RBIs.
Last season, the Mustangs (8-8, 2-6) swept the teams' doubleheader played in Minot in April.
Chase McDaniel leads the Mustangs hitting .394 with 3 home runs and 19 RBIs for a team hitting .302 with 11 homers and averaging 6.75 runs per game.
Kolby Kiser (2-1, 2.02 ERA) and Ryan Chmielewski (2-1, 5.73 ERA) have combined for half the team's wins on the mound as the Mustangs have a 5.91 team ERA and have been mowing down opposing batters with 152 strikeouts in 126 1/3 innings.
