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

SOMERS, Wis. (May 1, 2014)-- Its crunch time for the University of Wisconsin-Parkside baseball team this weekend, needing a sweep and help from around the division to claim the fourth and final spot in the 2014 Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament. The Rangers close the regular season inside Oberbruner Field, hosting East Division rival McKendree University in a four-game set beginning on Saturday.
 
The Rangers and Bearcats begin the series on Saturday with a twinbill beginning at noon. Action resumes on Sunday with the final doubleheader of the regular season. First pitch on Sunday is also slated for 12 p.m.
 
About the Rangers: UW-Parkside (14-26, 12-20 GLVC) looks to continue its win streak this weekend, needing a sweep to extend the season and earn a bid to the GLVC Tournament. In addition to needing four wins the Rangers need Lewis University to drop all four games this weekend against visiting Bellarmine University while Saint Joseph's College needs to lose at least once this weekend against the University of Illinois Springfield. The top four teams from both the East and West Divisions advance to the tournament in Evansville, Ind.
 
Parkside's in the hunt for the conference tournament after sweeping two of the last three GLVC doubleheaders. The Rangers got things started last Wednesday, belting Lewis 11-3 in game one at Oberbruner Field before utilizing an Eric DuCharme walkoff single to tally the 3-2 victory in game two to secure the sweep.
 
UW-Parkside suffered 3-0 and 4-3 setbacks to host Bellarmine last Saturday in Louisville but rebounded the following day with 7-1 and 6-5 extra innings wins.
 
DuCharme leads the team at the plate, hitting a team-best .322 on the season with 16 RBIs and a team-high 22 runs scored. Ryan Ruediger is hitting .305 with 14 RBIs while Jake Kolasinski has 11 doubles with a .294 average. Zach Cunningham is the leading RBI generator for the squad, collecting 17 RBIs on the season.
 
On the bump, Joseph Plaud owns a team best 2.97 earned run average in 39 1/3 innings pitched. The righthander has spent a majority of the season in the bullpen, recording one save and striking out 29. Cole Kroncke sports a 3.81 ERA in 10 starts, tossing three complete games while freshman Mario Samuel owns a team-high five wins, fanning 46 batters in 65 1/3 innings of action. Fellow freshman Josh Serio has a team-high 56 strikeouts while logging five complete games.
 
About the Bearcats: McKendree (18-28, 10-22 GLVC) heads to Somers having won three in a row and four of its last five games. The Bearcats run began with a split with Lewis on Sunday, winning the opener 12-3 before falling 11-8 in the nightcap. Mckendree earned a non-conference doubleheader sweep of Quincy University on Tuesday, vanquishing the Hawks 8-7 and 9-8 before claiming a 6-3 win over Maryville University the following day.
 
Anchoring the Bearcat offensive attack is Steven Todoschuk, hitting .387 on the season with 11 doubles, seven home runs and 36 RBIs. Jake Kline is hitting .320 with 26 RBIs while Tony Kossina is hitting at a .309 clip with 13 extra base hits.
 
Jon Trampe leads the Bearcat pitching staff with a 3.56 earned run average, striking out 26 in 43 innings of work. Josh Tonozzi has a 4.26 ERA with one save while Sam Lidisky has a team-best 36 strikeouts in 39 1/3 innings of action.
 
Tour de Kenosha: UW-Parkside has now played home games at three different ball fields spread across the greater Kenosha area. The Rangers opened their home slate with a doubleheader at the on-campus Oberbruner Field in Somers before moving to the artificial surface at Carthage College's Augie Schmidt Field the following day due to rain. The Rangers third venue in the area was utilized on Tuesday night, hosting UWM at Simmons Field home of the Kenosha Kingfish. Across all three venues, UW-Parkside owns a 3-4 record, including a 3-1 record at its true home, Oberbruner Field.

Senior Sendoff: This weekend is the final home games for six senior student-athletes. Eric DuCharme, Cole Kroncke and Derek Tuttle leave after two years with the program, Christian Cardenas and Shaun Lena after three years with the green and white while Kris Zarek makes once last appearance at the "O", having played in 67 games over the past four seasons with the Rangers.