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

SOMERS, Wis. (Feb. 12, 2015)-- The University of Wisconsin-Parkside baseball squad opens up its 2015 campaign this week, escaping the clutches of winter and heading to southern Missouri where the team will play twinbills against host Southwest Baptist University and Winona State University.
 
The Rangers and host Bearcats open the lid on the season on Friday with a doubleheader beginning at noon at Dodson Field in Boliver, Missouri. Live stats will be provided for the contest. UW-Parkside returns to the diamond on Sunday, facing off against Winona State in a twinbill beginning at noon.
 
About the Rangers: UW-Parkside saw an 11-game improvement last season, finishing the 2014 slate with a 15-29 overall record and a 13-23 mark in Great Lakes Valley Conference play under second year Head Coach Daniel Esposito.
 
Six of the Rangers' top seven hitters return from a year ago, including Ryan Ruediger and Jake Kolasinski. Ruediger hit .313 at the plate last season, belting nine extra base hits with 16 RBIs with a team-best .409 on-base percentage while Kolasinski hit .303 with a team best 14 doubles last year. Nick Janssen and DJ Peltz hit .288 and 2.86, respectively last year while Zach Cunningham returns after swiping a team-leading seven bases last year.
 
On the mound, southpaw Mario Samuel returns after claiming GLVC Freshman of the Year accolades last season. Samuel owned a 4.42 earned run average last season, tossing 73 1/3 innings and striking out 59 batters. The Bolingbrook, Illinois, native tossed five complete games and finished with a 5-5 mark on the mound. Also returning is reliever Joseph Plaud who led the Rangers in earned run average last season, tossing 42 1/3 innings and sporting a 3.19 ERA with 31 punchouts. Workhorse Josh Serio returns after tossing 71 2/3 innings and striking out 57 as a freshman last year, while John Perez is back after logging 45 2/3 innings of work last season.
 
The Rangers were picked to finish seventh in the East Division in the GLVC Preseason Coaches' Poll released on Feb. 4, collecting 33 votes. Defending National Champion University of Southern Indiana netted 14 first place votes and 119 points to top the East followed by the University of Indianapolis. Lewis University and Saint Joseph's College tied for third in the poll to round out the upper half of the division.
 
About the Bearcats: Southwest Baptist's first game of 2015 will be against the Rangers after finishing last season with a 29-24 overall record and a 24-15 mark in Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association play.
 
Spencer Blacksher is a preseason NCBWA All-American after finishing the 2014 season  hitting .343 at the plate with 15 home runs and 49 RBIs while Ross Wolfe is a preseason All-Region pick after hitting .344 with 28 RBIs and seven stole bases.
 
About the Warriors: Winona State (0-4) heads into the weekend still searching for its first win of 2015 after dropping four games in Texas last week at the Houston Astros' Minute Maid Park. The Warriors opened the season with a 15-2 setback to Tarleton State University on Feb. 5 before suffering a 2-1 setback to the University of Central Missouri the following day. WSU fell 11-3 to Saint Mary's University (Texas) last Saturday before getting blanked 5-0 by Henderson State University on Sunday to close out the trip.
 
Michael Hommes, Tyler Nehring and Jesus Cazares lead the Warriors in hitting, each sporting a .286 batting average through the first four games of the year. No WSU pitcher has tossed more than five innings with Hayden Krimmer sporting a 1.80 earned run average and holding opposing hitters to just a .067 average.