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

SOMERS, Wis. (Mar. 18, 2016)-- The University of Wisconsin-Parkside baseball squad packs its bags for Missouri this weekend, facing a trio of opponents from the Show Me State. The Rangers' road swing begins today with a three-game set against William Jewell College while also facing Rockhurst University and Missouri Southern State University.
 
The Rangers and Cardinals open the series today at 2 p.m. in Liberty, Missouri. The two squads resume the series on Saturday at 1 p.m. with the rubbermatch set for 12 p.m. on Sunday. UW-Parkside and Rockhurst face-off at 2 p.m. on Monday while the trip comes to a close on Wednesday with a 1 p.m. contest against MSSU.
 
About the Rangers: UW-Parkside (3-5) looks to snap a two-game slide after falling 5-3 to Judson University last Saturday. Prior to that, the Rangers won two of three against Rockhurst on March 5 and 6, including 9-1 and 3-2 wins to open the series.
 
Against Judson, Parkside enjoyed a 12-10 edge in hits but was unable to dig out of an early hole after surrendering the first four runs of the game.
 
Four Rangers with at least 20 at-bats are punching above .300 at the plate, led by Jake Kolasinski with a .480 batting average with nine RBIs. Kyohei Makita owns a .444 average having scored nine runs with Troy Bittenbender and Zach Thompson boasting .391 and .321 averages.
 
Tyler Jandron has a 2.38 earned run average in four appearances, notching a team-high 17 strikeouts while Josh Serio and Mario Samuel have 12 and 10 punchouts, respectively. Nate Stolte has been the workhorse so far this season, pitching a team-high 14 innings.
 
About the Cardinals: William Jewell (10-6), winners of 10 of the last 12, head into the series riding a four-game win streak. The Cardinals dropped a four-game set to Cameron University to open the season in February before ripping off six in a row before dropping a wild 17-16 decision to Bemidji State University on Mar. 6. WJC suffered a 5-4 setback to Washburn University three days later before earning wins at the expense of McKendree University (twice), Washburn and Bemidji State.
 
Leading the Cardinals who own a 4-1 mark at Tally Stadium is Garrett McKinzie with a .404 average with 15 RBIs. Drew Standifer hits at a .394 clip while Andrew Miller has scored a team-best 13 runs.
 
Zach Hutcherson boasts a 1.46 earned run average with 11 strikeouts in 12 1/3 innings of action while Bill Kirkpatrick is 3-0 on the mound with a 2.08 ERA in 21 2/3 innings.
 
About the Hawks: Rockhurst (6-7) has gone 2-3 since last meeting the Rangers on March 6. That stretch includes wins over Upper Iowa University (6-1) and Cedarville University (11-10) along with setbacks to Mansfield University (12-11), University of Minnesota-Crookston (12-8) and Grand Valley State University (17-9).
 
Mitch Stickney is the team's top hitter, owning a .400 batting average with 11 RBIs and three home runs. Brett Marr has a .396 average with three doubles while Henry Weiler has belted in 10 runs.
 
Alex Merithew has a team-best 1.69 earned run average, limiting opposing hitters to just a .216 average at the plate in 21 1/3 innings of labor. Mich Lydon-Lorson has a 2.66 ERA, fanning a team-high 10 batters in 23 2/3 innings of action.
 
About the Lions: Missouri Southern State (13-4, 5-4 Mid-American Intercollegiate Athletic Association) heads into a three-game league set against Missouri Western State University having won three of its last four games.
 
MSSU avoided a series sweep on Mar. 6, downing University of Nebraska-Kearney 16-7 before taking two of three at the expense of Emporia State University last weekend. The Lions suffered a 3-2 heartbreaker in the opener before netting 5-0 and 5-3 wins.
 
The Lions are hitting at a .320 clip as a team with three players hitting above .400. Leading the charge is Jackson Cain with a .436 batting average while Jesse Rall sports a .420 average with 21 RBIs, and six home runs. Brett Graham enjoys a .405 average at the plate while on the basepaths, Chris Hoffman has seven stolen bases.
 
Payton Walker has tossed two complete games for the Lions, leading the team in innings pitched (36) while owning a 1.50 earned run average and a 4-1 record. Zach Litchen has a 2.22 ERA, netting a team-high 34 strikeouts.
 
Streaks: Jake Kolasinski has recorded a base hit in all eight games this season, including four multi-hit games. Extended back to the end of last season, the righthanded junior has tallied 10 straight contests with a base knock. Other active hit streaks include Juan Bowers and Bobby Neylon who have both logged hits in five and four consecutive outings, respectively.
 
GLVC Reshuffle: 2016 will have a slightly different look to GLVC play with interdivisional games eliminated from the league calendar. Teams will now play seven four-game sets against the rest of their division with the top four teams from each division meeting for the GLVC Tournament from May 12th to 15th in Westview, Indiana. 
 
Out of the (North)Woods: Last summer four Rangers appeared in the Northwoods League, one of the top collegiate summer leagues in the nation. Josh Serio was a league All-Star playing for the eventual champion Kenosha Kingfish while fellow pitcher Mario Samuel also spent time with the local squad. Tyler Jandron spent some time with the Wausau-based Wisconsin Woodchucks with Jake Kolasinski opening the season with the Lakeshore Chinooks based out of Mequon, Wisconsin. For 2016, Serio resigned with the defending champion Kingfish.