BISMARCK, ND – The warmth and sunshine of Florida has quickly given way to the Upper Midwest vagaries of cool spring temperatures and everything from rain to snow for the University of Mary baseball team. One weekend after returning home from a 10-game trip to the Sunshine State, UMary was set to open their Northern Sun conference slate against Wayne State College in Wayne, NE. Instead the Marauders opener on Saturday, March 17, has been shifted to Omaha, NE.
The NSIC opener for both the Marauders and the Wildcats is now slated for a turfed field at Omaha's Milliard North High School (1010 S 144th St., Omaha NE 68154). First pitch of the twin bill is set for 2 pm.
UPDATE The Sunday, March 18, UMary-WSC games also have been moved to Omaha at the Milliard HS field beginning at 1 pm.
The Marauders enter the weekend with a mark of 2-8.
UMary has displayed offensive potential, hitting .308 as a team with a .389 on base percentage. While only through ten games, it is a marked improvement over a .236 batting average and a .313 on base percentage.
A much more mature team, nine of the top 12 Marauders in at bats this season are upper classmen.
Newcomer
Jesus Payan leads the offense. The junior rightfielder from Chihuahua, Mexico, is hitting .457 with a .537 on base percentage and a .514 slugging percentage. He has two doubles, eight runs scored and a team-high nine RBIs.
Right behind is 1B/P
Travis Stevens. Last season's leading hitter has been the most difficult UMary player for opposing pitchers to retire, generating a slash line of .414/.564/.448. He has scored seven times and knocked in three.
Soph. 2b
Seth Siverson checks in with a .379 average and has scored a team-best 11 runs. His on base percentage sits at .486 and the Bismarck. ND, native is tied for the team lead in steals with three.
Sr. C
Cody Ghents (.318/.400/.500) has the Marauders lone home run. JR 3B
Darius Barlas (.308/.325/.359) is tied with Payan for the team lead in runs batted in with nine.
The Marauders pitching staff all had strong showings in Florida but are attempting to find consistency after limited games outside. Stevens strung together five shutout innings to start an 8-4 win over Tiffin and finished with a 5.19 ERA.
Jake Johnson struck out 10 hitters in 11.2 innings but a pair of difficult innings kept him winless during the early stretch of games.
In the bullpen soph.
Will Karrer led the team with six appearances. He posted a win and a save with a 1.50 ERA. Collin Gudereit also earned a save and former Marauders basketball player
Trevor Zacher made his collegiate baseball debut, allowing one earned run over three appearances and five innings.
Wayne State is also 2-8 after playing games in Colorado and Kansas this spring. Tanner Simons is off to a tremendous start, slashing .412/.459/.882 with four doubles, four home runs, 10 runs scored and 11 RBIs.
After its excursion to Nebraska, UMary remains on the road with four games scheduled at Upper Iowa on March 24-25 and at Minnesota Duluth on March 27 before hosting four games against Minnesota State University on March 30-31.
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