THIS WEEK
The University of Mary looks to continue its charge to earn a spot in the Northern Sun baseball postseason tournament with five straight home games against two teams in direct competition with the Marauders for a tourney berth.
 
Entering the week tied for sixth place in the NSIC standings, UMary hosts the University of Minnesota Crookston in a midweek doubleheader on Tuesday, April 29. The Golden Eagles are also tied for sixth with UMary and Southwest Minnesota State University. First pitch is set for 1:30 pm at Municipal Ballpark.
 
The UMary regular season wraps up with a visit from the University of Minnesota Duluth on Friday and Saturday, May 2-3. The Bulldogs enter the week one win behind UMary, UMC and SMSU and are tied for ninth in the standings. Friday's doubleheader starts at 1:30 pm. The Marauders Senior Day game is 12 noon on Saturday.
 
CONTROLLING DESTINY
Entering the final week of the regular season with five straight home games against two teams battling UMary for a berth in the 2025 NSIC conference tournament, the Marauders control their path to the postseason. Currently tied for sixth place in the NSIC standings with Southwest Minnesota State University and the University of Minnesota Crookston with a record of 18-17, UMary is guaranteed a spot in the postseason with a clean sweep. The Marauders hold a one-game lead over the University of Minnesota Duluth and Winona State University, both of whom are tied for ninth place.
 
UMary plays UMC in a doubleheader Tuesday and UMD in a three-game series Friday and Saturday. The Marauders won 2-of-3 games at SMSU last weekend and won 3-of-4 at WSU earlier in the season.
 
The top eight teams qualify for the NSIC tournament set for May 7-10 in Sioux Falls, SD.  
 
THE RECORDS
The Marauders are 22-22 overall this season and 18-17 (6^th place tie) in the Northern Sun… Minnesota Crookston is 21-24 overall and 18-17 (6^th place tie) in the NSIC... Entering the week and prior to playing two games at Concordia-St. Paul, the University of Minnesota Duluth is 21-24 overall and 17-18 in the NSIC (9^th place tie).   
 
HISTORY
The Marauders are 15-17 against the Golden Eagles since 2010. UMC has won the last four games, including an extra-inning win in the 2024 NSIC tournament… The Marauders are 12-30 against the Bulldogs since 2010. UMD won 2-of-3 games last season in Duluth, MN, but UMary has won 7-of-10.
 
FOLLOW LIVE
Visit www.GoUMary.com/coverge for available links to live video and stats.
 
LAST TIME OUT
Entering last week in 10^th place in the NSIC standings, the Marauders won four of five games on the road and jumped to 6^th place in the NSIC. UMary swept a doubleheader at Bemidji State University. Konner Kirchoffner allowed two hits and one run in 6.0 innings in a 10-1 win over the Beavers before Isaac Pegors crushed two home runs in a 1-2 win. After opening a weekend series at SMSU with a 7-2 loss, the Marauders came back to win 12-7 behind two Bryce Leafgren home runs and 18-13 as Pegors homered and drove in five runs.
 
20-20-20-20-20
UMary owns 20 wins for a 5^th straight season, all under the direction of head coach Tanner Spencer. The Marauders never had a 20-win season in NCAA play until 2021.
 
PEGORS NAMED NSIC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
OF Isaac Pegors bashed his way to Northern Sun Baseball Player of the Week honors while breaking a pair of Marauders season records in the process. In the span of four games last week, Pegors blasted four home runs, drove in ten runs and scored nine times as the Marauders won four out of five games and moved into sixth place in the NSIC standings. The sophomore from Bismarck, ND, went 9-for-15 with a slash line of .467/.600/1.267 and an OPS of 1.867.
 
In his lone game at Bemidji State University, Pegors hit two home runs, scored four runs and drove in three in a 12-2 win. Pegors then helped the Marauders to a pair of victories for a series win at Southwest Minnesota State University. First he homered once and scored twice in a 12-7 win. The Legacy High School product closed the week by connecting for another home run, scoring three runs and driving in five in an 18-13 win over the Mustangs. In the Marauders win on Sunday Pegors broke the Marauders single season records for home runs (15) and RBIs (57).
 
PEGORS BREAKS MARAUDERS SINGLE SEASON HOME RUN, RBI RECORDS
Isaac Pegors broke the Marauders single-season records for home runs and runs batted in following a big week at the plate. The Bismarck, ND, native set both marks on Sunday after hitting his fourth home run in four games and driving in five runs to lead the Marauders to an 18-13 win. Pegors now has 15 home runs and 57 RBIs with five regular season games to play and possibly additional postseason contests. Pegors broke the old record set by Derek Shoen (14 home runs in 2022) and Josh Walker (54 RBIs in 2023).
 
HULL BREAKS UMARY RECORD FOR CAREER HITS, RBIs
Senior OF Noah Hull moved to the top of the Marauders all-time leaderboard for career hits with 200 on Sunday after posting three hits in an 18-13 road win over Southwest Minnesota State. Hull, who broke the Marauders career record for RBIs a week earlier, surpassed the previous high of 198 by former teammate Calvin James… Hull broke the career mark for RBIs the previous weekend. He now owns 150 RBIs in his career, exceeding the former mark of 141 by Jeff Wedul and Tyler Liffrig.
 
PAPIERSKI TIES SINGLE GAME SCHOOL RECORD FOR HITS
Krece Papierski tied the school's NCAA record for hits in a game with five. The senior outfielder went 5-for-6 Sunday at Southwest Minnesota State with two doubles, a run scored and three RBIs. The last UMary player with five hits in a game was Bryce Leafgren at Missouri Western earlier this season.
 
CLIMBING THE CHARTS
Now the Marauders career leader in runs batted in and hits, Noah Hull is climbing the all-time leader board in several other categories. The 2-time All-NSIC senior first baseman ranks:

• 1^st place in RBIs (150) after passing Jeff Wedul (141) and Tyler Liffrig (141)  
• 1^st in hits (200) after passing Cal James (198)
• 3rd in home runs with 36. Tyler Liffrig (39) is the career record-holder, followed by Derek Shoen (37).
• 3^rd place in doubles (45). James leads with 48, followed by Liffrig (44) and tied with Michael Feldman (41).
• 3^rd in runs scored (133). James is the all-time runs leader (154), ahead of Schoen (134).

 
SEASON SURGE
In addition to breaking season records for home runs (15) and RBIs (57), Issac Pegors has a chance to finish in the top six of battering averages. Pegors is batting .410. Only five other Marauders have hit at least .400 in a season with Dan Piilola owning the top mark of .427 in 1999… Pegors is 18^th in NCAA Division II in RBIs/game (1.43) and 19^th in slugging percentage (.815) and home runs/game (.38).
 
DOUBLE TROUBLE
Noah Hull (15 doubles) and Hank Griffin (14) are among the NSIC leaders in doubles as Hull ranks third and Griffin is 6^th. Calvin James owns the record with 18 in 2022… As a team the Marauders average 2.05 doubles a game to rank 39^th in NCAA Division II.
 
RUB SOME DIRT ON IT
UMary batters are sixth in the country in being hit by pitch. The Marauders have been plunked 111 times. Bryce Leafgren has wore a pitch 16 times this season, Isaac Pegors 15, Krece Papierski 14 and Kalem Haney 13 times.  
 
HITTING THEIR STRIDE

• Isaac Pegors has surged to the top of the Marauders hitting charts, posting a line of .407/.506/.815 for a 1.321 OPS. He has ten doubles and leads the team in home runs (15) and RBIs (57). He leads the NSIC in slugging percentage and OPS, is second in batting average and on base percentage and is third in RBIs.  
• Bryce Leafgren has scorched the ball this season to a tune of .353/.486/.632 for a 1.118 OPS. In 42 games he is 48-for-136 with 11 doubles, nine home runs, 34 runs scored and 29 RBIs.
• Kieran Gaffney is 2^nd on the team in runs scored (34) and has five home runs and 30 RBIs. The junior third baseman in his first year at UMary is hitting .259/.374/.373 with a .747 OPS.
• Noah Hull leads the Marauders with 44 runs scored, 15 doubles and three triples. Twenty-three of his 53 hits have gone for extra bases, including five home runs. He also has 37 RBIs. The All-NSIC 1^st baseman is hitting .323/.414/543 for a .957 OPS.
• Kalem Haney is hitting .292/.406/.425 (.831 OPS) with 28 runs scored, two home runs and 12 RBIs.
• Krece Papierski is 3^rd on the team in home runs (5) and has 29 RBIs, ten doubles and 18 runs scored while batting .302/.413/.500 (.913 OPS).
• Freshman catcher Marcus Butts is off to a strong start to his collegiate debut. He is 27-for-83 with a line of .325/.424/.528 and a .882 OPS in 23 games. He has eight doubles, one home run, ten RBIs and 17 runs scored. He hit a game-tying solo home run on a 2-out full-count pitch in the bottom of the ninth inning to force extra innings against SCSU. 
• In his first season at UMary after transferring from Hutchinson Community College, infielder Hank Griffin is hitting .291/.414/.543 with 14 doubles, three triples, a home run, 31 RBIs and 31 runs scored. He leads the team with 16 steals in 17 attempts.

 
TAKING THE HILL

• Aiden Johnson has been stellar anchoring the Marauders rotation in his first season at UMary. The junior transfer from McCook Community College leads the Marauders starters in ERA (4.64). He has gone at least 5.0 innings in six of his 10 starts and has a 4-3 record. Johnson has pitched 52.1 innings and has allowed 529hits and 14 walks for a 1.39 WHIP while striking out 40.  
• Ryan Chamberlain is 4-5 on the season, leads the team in innings (56.2) and strikeouts (45). He has a 6.67 ERA… Twice this season Chamberlain has pitched 9.0 innings in a game.
• Sam Hayen leads the Marauders in saves (6) and is tied for the team lead in appearances (11)… he is 5^th in the NSIC in saves and is 2-0 on the year.
• Konnor Kirchoffner is 3-0 with two saves and a 4.38 ERA in a team-high 11 appearances (four starts).
• Jeff Tiw moved into the starting rotation after four relief outings and is third on the team in innings pitched (32). 

 
SPENCER REACHES 100 COACHING WINS
Marauders head coach Tanner Spencer reached 100 career wins when UMary swept a doubleheader from Concordia-St. Paul on March 13. In just his fifth season as the Marauders head baseball coach, Tanner Spencer has accumulated 116 wins and is second in career coaching victories at UMary. Steve LeGrand leads the way with 121 (1997-2001) with Brad Walsh third with 90 (2005-11). The Marauders have eclipsed 20 wins each of the last four seasons, the only 20-win seasons for UMary since beginning NCAA play in spring 2007.
 
MUNICIPAL BALLPARK ARTIFICIAL TURF DEBUT
The new artificial turf at Municipal Ballpark experienced its first game action when the University of Mary opened a 4-game home series against visiting Wayne State College on Thursday, March 27. Part of a $2.2 million renovation to Municipal Ballpark, the artificial turf was installed last fall. 
 
RECORD DAY
The Marauders rewrote the record book in a 26-22 win at Missouri Western on February 26:

• Team record for most hits (26) and most RBIs (26)
• Ties team record for most runs (26 at Southern Nazarene February 14, 2023)
• Rhett Chisholm broke team NCAA single game record for RBIs (8). Previous record (7) set by Carter Beck in 2024 and Derek Schoen in 2023. This was the first game started by Chisholm and his second collegiate game overall.
• Carter Shin set team NCAA single game record by reaching base safely seven times (3 hits, 3 walks, 1 hit by pitch)
• Bryce Leafgren tied team NCAA single game record with five hits (7^th time in team history, last done by Josh Walker vs. Sioux Falls in 2024).

 
CHAMBERLAIN SWEEPS NSIC, REGION AND NATIONAL PITCHING HONORS
Ryan Chamberlain claimed Northern Sun and National College Baseball Writers Association Central Region and National Pitcher of the Week honors for his stellar outing against Concordia-St. Paul. The junior righthander from Laramie, WY, struck out ten hitters and allowed three hits in a 9-inning 8-0 shutout win over the Golden Bears. He didn't walk anyone. After giving up hits in each of the first two innings, Chamberlain retired 11 straight hitters before giving up a third and final hit to lead off the 7^th inning. He then retired the final nine batters to close out the game and 20 of the final 21 hitters he faced.

• The 9-inning complete game shutout was the first for the Marauders since Michael Vollrath blanked the Apprentice School in 2014
• Chamberlain joins Jonathan Draheim (2021) and Shane Trattles (2013) as Marauders who won NBCWA national pitcher of the week honors at UMary. Draheim and Trattles were both honored after pitching no-hitters.

 
JOHNSON NAMED NSIC PITCHER OF THE WEEK
A stellar complete game shutout effort by the University of Mary's Aiden Johnson earned the Marauders righthander Northern Sun Pitcher of the Week honors. Facing defending Northern Sun champion Augustana University featuring reigning pitcher of the year for the NSIC on the mound, Johnson held the Vikings to five hits and one walk in a 2-0 Marauders win on April 5, 2025. The junior from Westminster, CO, struck out seven hitters in the 7-inning complete game. Johnson, who improved his record to 4-1 on the season with the win, ended strong. After inducing a ground ball double play to close out the sixth inning he retired the side in order in the seventh to finish the win. Johnson becomes UMary's second NSIC Pitcher of the Week in 2025, joining Ryan Chamberlain.
 
WELCOME BACK
The Marauders return 22 players, including 12 pitchers and 10 position players… Seven position players have earned at bats with the Marauders while eight pitchers have made appearances on the mound.
 
HANEY SELECTED TO 2025 NCBWA ALL-CENTRAL REGION PRESEASON TEAM
Marauders infielder Kalem Haney was named to the National College Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Preseason All-Central Region team. Haney becomes the first UMary player to earn NCAA preseason all-region baseball honors from the NCBWA.
 
HANEY NAMED UMARY'S 2025 NSIC PLAYER TO WATCH
A junior middle infielder from Lethbridge, Alberta, Kalem Haney was a dynamic leadoff hitter for UMary in 2024. Primarily playing second base, he hit .360/.460/.560 with a 1.010 OPS. He led the Marauders in steals (14 bases in 15 attempts) and triples (4) and was second in runs scored (48), doubles (13) while starting all 50 games. He also had five home runs. He had at least one hit in 39 games with 17 multiple hit performances. Only once did he fail to have a hit in back-to-back games. Haney was named to the 2024 All-NSIC 1st team and the 2024 NSIC All-defensive team. He earned NSIC Player of the Week honors once last year.
 
CHAMBERLAIN UMARY'S 2025 NSIC PRESEASON PITCHER TO WATCH
A junior right-handed pitcher from Laramie, WY, Ryan Chamberlain finished 2024 with a record of 3-2. He pitched 51 innings over 12 appearances, including six starts. Chamberlain tossed one complete game and struck out 41 batters while walking just 12 to post a WHIP of 1.37. He tied for the team lead in wins, was second in innings pitched and fourth in strikeouts.
 
ROSTER BREAKDOWN

• 47 players
• 22 returners
• 25 newcomers (11 freshmen, 14 transfers)
• 11 freshmen
• 5 redshirt freshmen
• 7 sophomores
• 18 juniors
• 6 seniors
• 28 pitchers (21 RHP/7 LHP)
• 19 position players

 
2024 REWIND

• The Marauders made the NSIC tournament for the 3rd time in four seasons, the only appearances in program history
• UMary tied the school record for home runs, hitting 72 for the second straight season
• Carter Beck was the NSIC Freshman of the Year
• Kalem Haney and Mark Schommer earned NSIC 1st team honors
• Noah Hull and Carter Beck earned NSIC 2nd team honors
• Haney and Hull were selected to the NSIC All-Defensive Team
• Mark Schommer was named to the ABCA/Rawlings All-Central region 1st team and the NCBWA All-Central Region second team
• Noah Hull and Kalem Haney earned NSIC Player of the Week honors
• Lukas Frers received NSIC Pitcher of the Week honors

 
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