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

SOMERS, Wis. (Apr. 3, 2014)-- The University of Wisconsin-Parkside baseball team returns to Indiana this weekend for a four-game set against Great Lakes Valley Conference East Division rival Saint Joseph's College.
 
The Rangers and Pumas begin the series on Saturday in Rensselaer with a doubleheader getting underway at 12 p.m. at Gil Hodges Field before closing out the set on Sunday with a twinbill starting at 12 p.m.
 
About the Rangers: UW-Parkside (7-14, 5-9 GLVC) heads into the weekend series having played six games in three days. The Rangers are 4-4 in their last eight games, securing doubleheader splits against the University of Missouri-Saint Louis (6-0, 1-7), University of Indianapolis (1-3, 3-2 and 2-0, 2-12) and Lewis University (19-9, 1-2).
 
Monday's 2-0 shutout earned freshman southpaw Mario Samuel GLVC Pitcher of the Week accolades, after he tossed a complete game one-hitter. Samuel struck out three and tossed 111 pitches at Greyhound Park, securing his third complete game of the season.
 
The Lewis twinbill on Tuesday capped off three straight days of baseball for the Rangers after the UIndy series was bumped from Saturday-Sunday to Sunday-Monday.
 
UW-Parkside put on an offensive clinic in game one against Lewis, utilizing an eight-run first inning and a six run outburst in the fourth. The Rangers finished with 21 hits with Zach Cunningham and Nick Janssen each collecting four hits and scoring three runs. The game was Parkside's highest offensive output since scoring 20 runs against UMSL in a 20-17 victory on April 2, 2010 at Oberbruner Field. The game was also the Rangers' first win over Lewis since the 2010 season.
 
The Flyers earned revenge in game two, salvaging a split after prevailing 3-1 in a defensive struggle. Despite striking out four and allowing just one earned run, Joseph Plaud was hit with the loss on the mound as the Ranger bats mustered just three hits in the game.
 
Three Rangers are hitting above .300 on the season with Nick Janssen leading the way. The infielder is hitting .361 on the season while owning a team best .489 on-base percentage. Zach Cunningham is hitting at a .312 clip with a team0best 12 RBIs while DJ Peltz is sporting a .304 average.
 
On the mound, Joseph Plaud leads the way in earned run average (2.49) and appearances (seven), holding opponents to hitting a paltry .198. Cole Kroncke owns a 2.77 ERA in five starts with 16 strikeouts while Josh Serio leads the team in innings pitched with 34 1/3 innings. Serio has a team-high 29 strikeouts and has amassed three complete games.
 
About the Pumas: Saint Joseph's (9-18, 4-10 GLVC) heads into the weekend having dropped five straight home games. The Pumas downed visiting Lewis 11-2 on Mar. 30 before dropping the back end of the doubleheader 4-2. Lewis swept the twinbill the following day while the UIndy collected 11-10 and 6-3 wins on Monday at Gil Hodges Field.
 
Leading the SJC offense is Joshua Handzik who is hitting .421 with 10 RBIs. Josh Keim is hitting .353 with 11 RBIs while Cameron Chestnut leads the team with 14 RBIs.
 
Jordan Peterson leads the Puma pitching staff, hurling a team-leading 33 1/3 innings and sporting a team-best 2.70 earned run average with 33 strikeouts. Brian Bayliss Jr. has a 4.06 ERA with three complete games and 28 punchouts.
 
Offensive Surge: Tuesday's 19-9 seven inning mercy-rule victory over Lewis was the Rangers' best offensive effort since downing UMSL 20-17 on April 2, 2010. Other notable offensive outputs include scoring a 25-7 win over Cardinal Stritch University in a seven inning game on April 19, 2005 at Oberbruner Field. The Rangers dismantled Bellarmine University 22-7 on May 14, 2005 in the GLVC Tournament while defeating host Quincy University 27-10 on Mar. 20, 2004 in seven innings.
 
Battle for Wisconsin: The Badger State's only two scholarship baseball programs will meet on Tuesday, Apr. 22 at Simmons Field in Kenosha when the Rangers square off against the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. First pitch for the single game is slated for 6 p.m.
 
Homeless: UW-Parkside has played all 21 of its games on the road this season. Of the 265 NCAA Division II programs in the country only 25 have yet to play at home. The league most affected by the extended winter has been the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference with 10 members yet to play at home. The Northeast 10 Conference has five teams waited for a home opener while the Rangers remain the lone GLVC institution yet to play at home.