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

SOMERS, Wis. (Apr. 9, 2015)-- The University of Wisconsin-Parkside baseball squad continues its road swing this week, traveling to Evansville, Indiana, to face Great Lakes Valley Conference East Division rival and defending national champion University of Southern Indiana in a four-game set.
 
The series gets underway at 2 p.m. on Saturday with a twinbill at the USI Baseball Field and concludes on Sunday with a doubleheader beginning at noon. Live stats will be available for all four games.
 
About the Rangers: UW-Parkside (8-13, 7-11 GLVC) netted a series split with McKendree University over the holiday weekend, getting blasted 13-3 and 8-1 on Saturday before the offense came alive on Easter Sunday, leading to 10-9 and 13-6 victories to salvage a split in Lebanon, Illinois.
 
The Rangers were undone by a six-run outburst in both games on Saturday, allowing a half-dozen in the sixth inning of game one and six more during the fifth inning of game two.
 
The shoe was on the other foot the following day, with UW-Parkside utilizing a five run second inning in a 10-9 win in the opener. The Rangers owned an 8-1 edge in the game before surrendering eight runs to the host Bearcats in the fourth inning. Down to its final three outs, Parkside rallied in the seventh inning, getting RBI singles from Jake Kolasinski and Darius Hampton to secure the win.
 
In the nightcap, the visiting Rangers belted 21 hits in the contest, surging to a 10-0 lead after five innings in the 13-6 win. Kolasinski and Hampton paced the Rangers in the second game, both finishing with four hits while five more Rangers collected at least two hits during the game.
 
On the season, Nick Janssen is the squad's leading hitter, carrying a .345 batting average into the weekend with five extra base hits and eight RBIs. Kolasinski is hitting at a .343 clip with four home runs and 18 RBIs while sporting a .571 slugging percentage. Hampton owns a .310 average while Troy Bittenbender has a .308 average, having scored 21 runs and stealing a team-high nine bases. Zach Thompson and Ryan Ruediger round out the Ranger contingent hitting above .300 with Thompson boasting a .306 average and Ruediger owning a .303 average.
 
On the mound, Josh Serio has been the workhorse for the Green and White, pitching a team-high 39 innings and striking out 45 with a 3.92 earned run average. Southpaw Tyler Jandron owns a 2-0 record with 25 strikeouts in 27 innings of work while reliever Joseph Plaud has 25 strikeouts in 25 1/3 innings of action. Closer John Perez has made seven appearances for the Rangers, logging three saves and sporting a 3.18 ERA.
 
About the Screaming Eagles: Southern Indiana (10-14, 7-11 GLVC), the defending national champions, have struggled a bit this season and currently sit tied in the GLVC standings with Parkside.  
 
The Screaming Eagles netted three wins last weekend at the expense of GLVC East rival University of Indianapolis. The visiting Greyhounds won the series opener 11-7 last Saturday at the USI Baseball Field before host Southern Indiana blanked UIndy 8-0 in game two. The Eagles prevailed 3-1 in the opener the following day and capped off the series by squeaking out a 1-0 win in the nightcap to win the series.
 
In the late game it was a Drake McNamara RBI in the third inning that provided the difference while Ben Wright tossed all nine innings to collect the shutout, allowing just four baserunners all game.
 
McNamara is USI's leading hitter, owning a .415 batting average while Kyle Kempf is hitting .362 with six doubles and 14 RBIs. Trent Gunn has a team-best 19 RBIs with a .341 average while on the basepaths, Hamilton Carr has a team-high nine stolen bases.
 
Matt Chavarria owns a team-best 1.37 earned run average, logging 26 1/3 innings on the bump with 30 strikeouts. Chavarria has made two starts, going the distance in both contests while making seven relief appearances and has three saves on the season. Ben Wright has pitched a team-leading 40 innings with 30 strikeouts while Alex Holder owns a 1.75 ERA in 25 2/3 innings of labor.
 
Last Season: Southern Indiana won three of the four games contested last season. Homestanding UW-Parkside opened the series with a 3-2 win on April 11 in the home opener at Oberbruner Field before suffering a 9-3 setback in game two. A thunderstorm the following day pushed the series to nearby Carthage College where the Screaming Eagles emerged with 2-1 and 7-0 victories. The Rangers were one of just four GLVC teams to defeat USI during the regular season in 2014.