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

SOMERS, Wis. (Mar. 19, 2015)-- The University of Wisconsin-Parkside baseball team gears up for its first and longest homestand of the season this weekend, hosting Rockhurst University to kick off a stretch of 10 straight home games.
 
The Rangers open their home slate on Friday with a twinbill beginning at 3 p.m. against Great Lakes Valley Conference interdivisional rival Rockhurst University and continue the series on Saturday with another doubleheader against the Hawks. First pitch on Saturday is slated for 12 p.m. The weekend series against Rockhurst will be contested down the road in Kenosha on the artificial turf at Carthage College's Augie Schmidt Field. UW-Parkside will return to the diamond on Mar. 25, hosting Minnesota State University in a pair of impromptu seven inning games at Oberbrunner Field. First pitch against the Mavericks is slated for 2 p.m.
 
About the Rangers: UW-Parkside (2-5, 1-3 GLVC) opened the lid on conference play last weekend, dropping three of four games against Missouri University S&T in Rolla, Missouri. The Rangers came out of the gate swinging, scoring 13 runs in the opening four innings of game one, emerging with a 15-5 win on Mar. 15 as the squad pounded out 20 hits before falling 7-6 in a marathon 12-inning affair to close the afternoon. UW-Parkside led 6-4 heading into the bottom of the ninth before surrendering a pair of scores to extend the game.
 
The following day, the Ranger offense went into hibernation, scoring just three runs on the afternoon, falling 2-1 and 12-2 to the Miners. In game one, a Reed Brown double down the line plated two in the bottom of the third in what proved to be all the runs necessary for the hosts to win. In game two, Parkside led 1-0 after the top of the first but S&T scored five runs over the next two innings and never looked back, cruising to the win.
 
Troy Bittenbender is the Rangers' leading hitter, carrying a .414 batting average and a .690 slugging percentage while scoring a team-best 10 runs. DJ Peltz has a team-high eight RBIs and four doubles with a .385 batting average while Jake Kolasinski is hitting .333 with seven RBIs. Nick Janssen is the fourth Ranger hitting above .300, carrying a .318 average into the weekend. On the basepaths, Bittenbender has been a menace all season with five stolen bases.
 
Josh Serio is a workhorse on the mound for UW-Parkside, pitching a team-high 15 2/3 innings with 21 strikeouts and a 4.60 earned run average. Reliever Joseph Plaud has seen 10 2/3 innings of work, fanning 13 with a 3.38 ERA.
 
About the Hawks: Rockhurst (9-6, 2-2 GLVC) heads to Wisconsin after splitting its GLVC opening series last weekend against the University of Indianapolis. The Greyhounds blew past the Hawks 8-1 in the opener on Mar. 14 before the tables turned in game two with Rockhurst securing a 10-1 victory. RU prevailed 4-1 in the opener the next day before closing the series with a 6-3 setback.
 
Rockhurt's Brett Marr has been hitting the cover off the ball, heading into the weekend with a GLVC-leading .484 batting average with eight extra base hits and 19 RBIs. Caleb Baker owns a .408 average with 10 RBIs while Calin McCourt is hitting at a .354 clip with 11 RBIs.
 
On the mound, Grant Otte sports a 1.29 earned run average in three relief appearances while Joe Huber has a team-best 26 strikeouts in 25 innings of action with a 2.16 ERA. Michael Lydon-Lorson sports a perfect 3-0 record n the mound, tossing three complete games and striking out 23.
 
About the Mavericks: Second-ranked Minnesota State (9-1) opens up Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference play at home this weekend, hosting a four-game set with the University of Mary before traversing down to Somers for the midweek twinbill.
 
The high-octane Mavericks have scored at least 10 runs on four occasions this season while dropping just one game this season, a 3-2 decision to Northwood University (Michigan) while down in Winter Haven, Florida.
 
Four Mavericks are hitting above .400 on the year led by Nolan Johnson who is hitting at a .488 clip with seven doubles. Max Waletich carries a .444 average with 11 RBIs while Dylan Dresel and Kevin Kramer are hitting at a .412 and .400 pace, respectively for a team averaging 8.5 runs per contest.
 
Joey Reed has seen the most action on the mound for MSU, pitching 12 innings and striking out 10 with a 3.00 earned run average. Reliever Gaustad has made three appearances for the Mavericks, allowing no runs and yielding just four hits while Nick Veale owns a team-best 12 strikeouts on the season.
 
Home Sweet Home: Friday's home opener will be the first home game in March for the Rangers under the tenure of third year Head Coach Daniel Esposito. UW-Parkside's last March home game came during the 2012 campaign with then Head Coach Joel Weaver's squad splitting a twinbill against GLVC rival Drury University on March 24.
 
The Rangers opened its home slate on April 11 in 2014, stunning then No. 18 and eventual national champion University of Southern Indiana 3-2 in the opener before falling 9-3 in game two.
 
UW-Parkside managed just four home games in Head Coach Daniel Esposito's first year at the helm in 2013, having to wait until May 4 to play ball at Oberbrunner Field.