FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Mark Albanese, Assistant Athletic Director for Sports Media Relations

SOMERS, Wis. (Mar. 12, 2014)-- The University of Wisconsin-Parkside baseball squad returns to Missouri for the second straight week, trekking to Kirksville in the northeast corner of the state to face Great Lakes Valley Conference newcomer Truman State University in a four-game weekend series.

The Rangers and Bulldogs begin the series on Saturday with a doubleheader getting underway at 12 p.m. The four-game set concludes on Sunday with first pitch slated for 1 p.m. at Bulldog Baseball Park. Live stats for all four games will be available.

About the Rangers: UW-Parkside (2-5) begins GLVC play after winning two of three last weekend against Missouri University S&T in Rolla, Mo. The Rangers scratched across two runs in the top of the 10th inning thanks to a Miner error and got a solid 5 1/3 innings of long relief from Mario Samuel to earn the 7-6 win in the opener on Mar. 8. Game two of the day was cancelled due to freezing rain and sleet. Host S&T claimed game one on Sunday 2-1 in a pitching duel before UW-Parkside pounded S&T 9-2 in the series finale.

Six Rangers are hitting above .300 on the season with Kris Zarek leading the way, sporting a batting average of .438 with four RBIs. Juan Bowers is hitting .391 while Zach Cunningham is averaging .364 at the dish with a team-best five RBIs. Nick Janssen is hitting .333 while Zach Thompson and Trent Muscat are sporting averages of .320 and .313, respectively.

On the mound, Joseph Plaud sports a team-best 2.08 earned run average, striking out four in 4 1/3 innings of action. Cole Kroncke sports a 2.79 ERA while Josh Serio leads the team in strikeouts with 11. The Ranger pitching staff has gone the distance in three of the seven games played this season, including in two of the three games contested last week in Rolla, Mo.

About the Bulldogs: League newcomer Truman State (3-6) preps for its first ever Great Lakes Valley Conference game this weekend, welcoming the Rangers to Bulldog Baseball Park.

Truman heads into the game having split its last six games. The Bulldogs downed Hillsdale College 8-4 and 5-2 on consecutive days last weekend down in Louisville, Ky., before dropping a pair of games to Bellarmine University on Monday. Truman State was back on the diamond for the fourth straight day on Tuesday, heading to Bolivar, Mo., to earn a doubleheader split with Southwest Baptist University. Truman blasted the Bearcats 21-9 in the opener before Southwest Baptist turned the tables in game two, securing a 17-7 decision.

Paul Trenhaile leads Truman at the plate, hitting .500 on the season with a team-best 10 RBIs and four extra base hits. Mike Monfre hits .471 while Jarod Hahn boasts a .387 batting average.  Corban Williams and Zak Larkin are pests on the basepath, each stealing seven bases. 

On the bump, Mark Roberts leads the way with a 2.08 earned run average, logging 13 innings on the season and fanning 11 batters. Tim Lee owns an ERA of 3.46 with seven strikeouts in 13 innings of action.