THIS WEEK
The University of Mary baseball team wraps up a 10-game road trip with a trio of games at Winona State University on April 7-8. The Marauders and the Warriors will play a Northern Sun doubleheader on Friday, April 7, starting at 1:30 pm. The two teams will play a single 9-inning game on Saturday, April 8, at noon. All games will be played at Loughrey Field in Winona, MN.
 
LAST WEEK
The Marauders opened their "home" schedule in Wayne, NE, after wintery weather conditions forced UMary to relocate. In a site reversal, the Marauder split a pair of games against Wayne State College, defeating the Wildcats 5-2 before falling 12-9… UMary was then the home team in Wayne against #22 Minnesota State University. The Marauders opened with a 5-2 win before the Mavericks bounced back with 14-6 and 14-7 wins to claim the series 2-1… A series scheduled for Sioux Falls, SD, was relocated to Omaha, NE. The Cougars rallied to win the opener 7-5 before the Marauders claimed a 10-3 win.
 
JOURNEY
Snow and lower than average temperatures across the Upper Midwest have forced teams to be creative and flexible and committed as they relocate games across the map. When the current UMary road trip wraps up with three games at Winona State, the Marauders will have played 10 games in 11 days in four ballparks in three cities.
 
THE RECORDS
The Marauders are 12-15 this season and 5-7 in the Northern Sun… Winona State is 13-17 and 9-6.
 
RANKED
The Marauders have played three teams who have been nationally-ranked this season… Unranked when UMary played Central Oklahoma to open the season, the Bronchos reached a high of #5 in the poll before falling out of the rankings… MSU Denver was #23 at the time the Roadrunners played the Marauders and reached #13 before also exiting the poll… Minnesota State was ranked #22 when the Mavericks played the Marauders.
 
MARAUDERS ROW
The Marauders offense is off to a tremendous start this season. UMary has posted double digit runs in ten of 27 game and has scored five or more in 24 of 27 games… Among NCAA Division II teams the Marauders offense ranks:

• 13th in home runs/game (1.6)
• 14th in slugging percentage (.539)
• 30th in doubles/game (2.19)
• 39^th in triples/game (.33)
• 40^th in scoring (8.3 runs/game)
• 44th in batting average (.316)
• 65^th in on base percentage (.410)

 
NCAA Individual Top 60 Rankings

• Derek Shoen
  • 19^th in slugging percentage (.800)
  • 27^th in home runs/game (.37)
  • 48^th in hits/game (1.59)
  • 58^th in batting average (.410)
• Kalem Haney
  • 35^th in doubles/game (.44)
• Krece Papierski
  • 18^th in hit by pitch per game (.48)
• Noah Hull
  • 52^nd in home runs/game (.32)
• Josh Walker
  • 41^st in RBIs/game (1.30)
• Jonathan Draheim
  • 45^th in walks/nine innings (1.74)

 
KA-BOOM
Eleven different Marauders have hit home runs this season. Derek Shoen leads the way with 10. Noah Hull has seven and newcomer Josh Walker owns six. Krece Papierski owns five. Overall the Marauders have cracked 43 home runs in just 27 games. The Marauders set a team record for home runs last season (2022) with 51.
 
CLIMBING THE CHARTS

• Derek Shoen owns 35 career home runs with the Marauders and is second all-time at UMary. Tyler Liffrig is the Marauders career record-holder with 39 (2007-10)
• Shoen is 3rd all-time in RBIs (116). Liffrig and Jeff Wedul are tied for most career RBIs with 141 each.
• Cal James is third in career doubles with 40. Liffrig tops the list (44) with Feldman (41) second.
• James is close behind Shoen in RBIs with 105. James is tied for 4^th all-time with Michael Feldman.
• James is 5th in career hits with 165. Andy Leer tops the list with 189, followed by Michael Feldman (186), Liffrig (172) and Travis Dressler (167).
• James is 5^th all-time in runs scored with 115. Shoen is 6^th with 111. Leer is the all-time leader in runs scored with 132, followed by Jeff Wedul (130), Tyler Liffrig (126) and Feldman (124).  

 
4 DIGIT OPS
Two Marauders own an OPS (On-base percentage plus slugging percentage) of four digits, with another three in the 900s. Derek Shoen leads the way at 1.308 followed by Noah Hull (1.082). Cal James (.989), Krece Papierski (.979), Daniel Martin (.924) and Kalem Haney (.896) are close behind.
 
IMPACT DEBUTS
Outfielders Josh Walker and Dan Walker have made an immediate impact for UMary. A transfer from Sacramento State, Walker is hitting .258/.352/.494 with six home runs and 30 RBIs. He ranks 41^st in home runs/game (.31)… Martin, a New Mexico transfer, is slashing .327/.405/.519 with four home runs, 21 RBIs and a team-best 30 runs scored.
 
DOUBLING DOWN ON TWO
Marauders second sacker Kalem Haney leads the Marauders in doubles with 10 and ranks 5th in the nation in doubles/game (.56). The redshirt freshman is hitting .317/.403/.508 with 15 runs scored and 11 RBIs.
 
DRAHEIM MOVING UP CHARTS
Jonathan Draheim is moving up the charts in several career categories. The senior righthanded is 4th in innings pitched (200.2), 2nd in starts (36), 3rd in strikeouts (158), and second in wins (13), two wins behind the career mark of Ryan Astle (15). Draheim is also one shutout behind the career totals of Astle and Dale Dingmann.
 
NOTHING IS FREE
Austin Wagner has yet to issue a walk this season through 24 innings. The dominant lefthander is 3-0 in four starts and has struck out 15 while allowing 25 hits. He leads NCAA Division II in strikeout-to-walk ratio and walks allowed per nine innings. He is 56th in WHIP (1.04).  
 
RECORDS
The Marauders set team records for runs (26), hits (24), RBIs (25) and home runs (9) in a 26-14 win at Southern Nazarene on February 14.
 
PROJECTIONS
After back-to-back NSIC tournament appearances – the first in program history – the Marauders were picked to finish 4th in the 2023 NSIC Preseason Baseball Coaches Poll. This is the highest preseason projection for the Marauders since beginning play in the NSIC in Spring 2007.
 
2023 MARAUDERS NSIC PRESEASON PITCHER TO WATCH
Lefty Austin Wagner had a second straight dominant season for the Marauders and set a couple strikeout records along the way. The senior from Fond Du Lac, WI, posted a record of 5-4 with three complete games across 68 innings in 12 starts, all team-highs. He struck out a UMary season-record 92, an average of 12.2 per innings. His 15 strikeouts against the Bulldogs broke the school record. Wagner also walked just 15 batters and had a WHIP of 1.06.
 
2023 MARAUDERS NSIC PRESEASON PLAYER TO WATCH
A 2-time first team all-conference selection, Derek Shoen broke the Marauders single season records for home runs (15) and RBIs (51) in 2022. The senior from Truman, MN, scored 50 runs and hit .339 with a .473 on base percentage and a .644 slugging percentage. Schoen also picked up a pair of saves. Additionally he was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District baseball team. Only the fourth UMary player to earn 1st team All-NSIC honors, Shoen set single game school records with three home runs and seven RBIs last spring. Shoen is 3rd all-time at UMary with 25 career home runs and 9th in RBIs with 83.
 
KEY RETURNERS
An experienced ballclub, the Marauders return eight regulars in the field and nine pitchers from last year's squad. Key returners for the Marauders include 2021 All-NSIC third basemen Cal James, who set a school record with 18 doubles last year, SS Michael Polson, outfielders Kyle Jameson and Kendall Keller, OF/1B Noah Hull, and catchers Krece Papierski and Ben Prediger. Returning starting pitchers include Jonathan Draheim, who with 11 career wins is closing in on Ryan Astle's school record of 11, Kody Jones, Parker Wakelyn and Joseph Sinclair. Relievers who saw significant action last year include Liam Sommer, Paxton Miller, Mark Schommer, and Jayden Smith.
 
2022 IN REVIEW | RECORDS EDITION
Here's an (almost) complete list of records set by the Marauders during the 2022 season:

• In a 23-17 win at UC Colorado Springs on Feb. 28, 2022, the Marauders tied the school record for runs in a game, set a record for hits (23), record for RBIs (21), record for doubles (7), and tied NCAA-era record for runs scored by individuals (4 by Michael Polson, Kyle Jameson and Derek Shoen)
• 8-game win streak (NCAA-era record)
• 15 strike outs by Austin Wagner against Minnesota Duluth
• 3 home runs and 7 RBIs by Derek Shoen at Augustana (single game NCAA era record)
• 6 home runs in a single game (ties NCAA era record)
• 92 strikeouts by Austin Wagner (single season record)
• 18 doubles by Cal James (single season record)
• 15 home runs by Derek Shoen (single season record)
• 51 RBIs by Derek Shoen single season record)
• 23 wins was an NCAA single season team record
• 414 strikeouts and 403.2 innings pitched– single season team record
• 51 home runs is a single season team record
• Single season team record for putouts (1,211) and total chances (1,752)

 
NEXT UP
The Marauders are scheduled to host Augustana in a doubleheader on April 12 and Southwest Minnesota State in a 3-game series April 15-16.  
 
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