MINOT, N.D. – The chase for a berth in the NSIC Playoffs continues for the Minot State baseball team with five crucial games on tap this week starting with a quick road trip to Northern State.

The Beavers (13-26 overall, 10-19 NSIC) hit the diamond Wednesday in Aberdeen, South Dakota for a doubleheader against the Wolves (16-24, 11-19) starting at 1:30 p.m. in a battle between teams separated by just a half-game in the league standings.

Minot State has won its last three meetings with Northern State and will look for a sweep to ignite a late-season charge as the Beavers sit just three and a half games out of the top 8, and a playoff berth, with 10 games remaining.

Offensively, the Beavers have been solid as they are sixth in the NSIC with a .308 batting average and averaging 6.9 runs per game. The Wolves are 11^th in hitting at .289 and average 6.5 runs per game.

Ricky Apodaca, who is No. 2 in the NSIC, continues to lead the Beaver batting attack hitting .440 with 4 home runs and 34 RBIs, while Brian Parry is ninth in the league hitting .390 with 8 RBIs and 34 runs scored for Minot State.

The downfall for both teams has been pitching, though, as the Wolves are 11^th in ERA at 8.20 and Minot State 12^th at 8.88. The team that pitches the best on Wednesday will have a good chance to ignite its late-season charge.

Minot State has gotten some standout performances on the hill of late, too, as Jonah Prokott had a career-high 10 strikeouts in a 6-2 win over Minnesota Duluth on Saturday, and the quartet of Colton Bagshaw, Noah Balandran, Ayden Sauerbrei, and Conner Meldrim teamed up to shut down Mary a week ago in an 18-4 victory.

More outings on the hill like those will go a long way over the next two weeks for Minot State.

After the quick mid-week trip, Minot State returns home to Corbett Field to host St. Could State in a doubleheader on Saturday starting at 1:30 p.m., and then a single final home contest on Sunday slated for noon.

The teams did not play last season because of bad weather, but a perennial powerhouse, the Huskies (24-15, 20-9) continue to be one of the NSIC's best teams as they are third in the league standings, second in pitching with a 5.00 ERA, and third in hitting with a .319 batting average and averaging 10.5 runs per game.

Junior infielder Sawyer Smith leads St. Cloud State's offense as he is 10^th in the league in batting average at .387 with 9 homers and 48 RBIs while infielder and grad student Cal James is hitting .340, is tied for 2^nd in the NSIC with 11 homers, and has 37 RBIs.

On the mound, the Huskies boast two of the league's best in junior left-hander Luke Tupy and senior lefty Payton VanBeck. Tupy, who is No. 4 in the NSIC in ERA at 2.84, is 6-2 in 10 starts with 75 strikeouts, while VanBeck is No. 6 in ERA at 3.40 with a 4-3 record in 10 starts.