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

SOMERS, Wis. (Mar. 19, 2014)-- The University of Wisconsin-Parkside baseball team will continue its nomadic lifestyle this weekend with its four-game set against Great Lakes Valley Conference rival University of Missouri-Saint Louis relocating from a soggy Oberbruner Field to the UMSL Baseball Field.

The Rangers and Tritons will begin the series on Saturday with a doubleheader beginning at noon before closing the set on Sunday with another doubleheader getting underway at 12 p.m.

About the Rangers: UW-Parkside (3-8, 1-3 GLVC) has played all 11 games this season on the road and opened up conference play last weekend in Kirksville, Mo., against GLVC newcomer Truman State University. The Rangers fell 5-4 and 7-0 in the opening day before earning a split on Sunday, downing the Bulldogs 5-3 before falling 6-1.

In the series opener vs. Truman, an error and a walkoff single doomed the Rangers in the bottom of the ninth while yielding six runs in the sixth inning in the nightcap in the 7-0 setback. UW-Parkside plated three runs in the top of the seventh to secure the 5-3 victory to begin Sunday before allowing two runs in the third and three in the sixth in a 6-1 defeat to close the series.

Three Rangers are hitting above .300 on the season with Juan Bowers leading the way with a .378 average with five RBIs. Kris Zarek is hitting .364 with five RBIs while Zach Cunningham is hitting at a .304 clip with a team-leading eight RBIs and four stolen bases.

On the mound, Joseph Plaud leads the team in earned run average at 0.75. The sophomore righthander has struck out six batters in 12 innings of work and limited hitters to a paltry .128 batting average. Cole Kroncke sports an ERA of 4.85 while Josh Serio leads the side with 17 strikeouts. Mario Samuel has been the workhorse for the Rangers, logging a team-high 18 1/3 innings on the bump, including two complete game efforts.

About the Tritons: Missouri-Saint Louis (3-6, 1-3 GLVC) takes on McKendree University this afternoon having lost three of its last four games. UMSL opened the year on Mar. 7 at the Russmatt Central Florida Invitational, playing five games in various venues in the Sunshine State. The Tritons dropped the first three games in Florida before downing Tiffin University 3-2 and 5-3 to close out the trip on Mar. 9.

UMSL opened GLVC play last week, dropping three of four to the University of Indianapolis. UIndy edged the Tritons 3-2 in a marathon 11-inning affair to open the series before the Hounds notched a 3-2 win in game two. On Sunday, the Tritons topped Indianapolis 4-3 but the visiting Hounds got the last laugh with a 4-1 win to finish off the series.

Paul Richmond is the Tritons leading hitter, sporting a .400 batting average while Cody Garlington and Justin Lois are hitting .368 and .360, respectively. On the mound, the Tritons are led by Zach Standerfer who sports a 2.45 earned run average with 10 strikeouts in 14 2/3 innings of action.

Series Renewed: The Rangers and Tritons haven't met in a GLVC series since the 2011 season. That season, UW-Parkside fell 3-2 in the opener before stealing a split with a 4-3 11-inning win in the nightcap on Mar. 28 in Saint Louis. The two teams split a pair of non-league contests during the 2012 campaign with the Rangers winning game one 6-4 before the hosts prevailed 5-1 on Mar. 3 at the UMSL Invitational.