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

SOMERS, Wis. (Apr. 9, 2014)-- After two straight months and 25 games on the road, the University of Wisconsin-Parkside baseball squad will finally enjoy the comforts of home, hosting Great Lakes Valley Conference East Division rival University of Southern Indiana in a four-game set beginning on Friday at Oberbruner Field.
 
The series opens a day earlier than originally planned as the Sunday games were moved to Friday to avoid the threat of precipitation. First pitch for Friday's opener is slated for 12 p.m. with the series continuing on Saturday with another doubleheader beginning at 12 p.m.
 
About the Rangers: UW-Parkside (7-18, 5-13 GLVC) heads into its home opener looking to snap a five-game slide, dropping four games against Saint Joseph's College last weekend.
 
Parkside began the month with a 19-9 beatdown of Lewis University on April 1 before falling 2-1 in game two. Parkside fell 12-5 and 3-1 on Saturday against the Pumas while suffering a 3-2 extra innings setback on Sunday before closing the set with a 10-2 loss. In Sunday's nine inning loss, it was a wild pitch in the bottom of the inning that plated SJC's winning score.
 
Zach Cunningham is the Rangers' top hitter, carrying a .306 batting average with 12 RBIs. Eric DuCharme is hitting .300 with 12 RBIs while DJ Peltz is hitting at a .286 clip.
 
On the mound, Cole Kroncke has a team-best 3.09 ERA while Joseph Plaud sports a 3.18 ERA. Mario Samuel and Josh Serio have been workhorses all season, both tossing three complete games. Samuel leads the team in innings pitched (38 1/3) while Serio owns a team-high 33 strikeouts.
 
About the Screaming Eagles: Southern Indiana (21-7, 13-3 GLVC) heads to Somers riding a seven-game win streak and owns a three-game buffer atop the GLVC East Division standings.
 
USI last tasted defeat on Mar. 30, falling 7-6 to host McKendree. The Eagles rebounded with an 8-5 13-inning victory to salvage a split before sweeping Bellarmine 8-2 and 4-3 on Apr. 1. Southern Indiana won all four games against Illinois Springfield last weekend, claiming an 8-2 win on Friday before sweeping Saturday with 6-3 and 9-1 victories. Southern Indiana closed the UIS series with a 5-1 win on Sunday.
 
Kyle Kempf paces the Eagle offense, driving in 17 runs on the season while collecting 11 extra base hits. Hamilton Carr owns the team's top batting average, hitting at a .438 clip but has made just 32 at-bats while Jonathon Wandling and Andrew Cope are hitting .351 and .330, respectively.
 
On the mound, Ben Wright has a 1.31 ERA with a 4-1 record while Jonathon Wandling has a team-high 40 strikeouts. Matt Chavarria is the closer, notching six saves, striking out nine and yielding no earned runs in 11 innings of action.
 
Return of Arch: USI Head Coach Tracy Archuleta makes his first trip back to Wisconsin since taking over the Eagles' baseball program in 2007. Archuleta previously served as the head coach for UW-Parkside for five years from 2002-2006, compiling a record of 148-124. That run included two NCAA Tournament appearances for the Rangers, including a GLVC Championship in 2005.
 
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.
 
Home Sweet Home: UW-Parkside has played all 25 of its games on the road this season, a streak that will end on Friday with the team's home opener at Oberbruner Field. Of the 265 NCAA Division II baseball programs, all but 17 have played at least one home game this year. By the time Friday rolls around that number will be whittled down to just seven teams, including five from Minnesota.