THIS WEEK: Minot State finishes off a stretch of six straight road games with a midweek trip to Minnesota Crookston Thursday before starting their 2017 Northern Sun home schedule Saturday and Sunday with Winona State. MSU plays UMC at 1/3:30 p.m. and takes on WSU at 12/2:30 p.m. both days. The pair of double-headers with WSU are scheduled for Jack Hoeven Field.

RECORDS: Minot State is off to one of its best starts in school history, coming into the weekend with an 11-4 overall record and a 6-2 mark in NSIC play. UMC is 9-11 overall and 3-5 in NSIC games. WSU comes into the week at 4-14 and 4-4.

COACHES CORNER: Scott Eul is in his first season as head coach of the baseball program at Minot State and is 11-4 in his young career as we head coach. Eul joins MSU after spending the past two seasons helping build St. Cloud State into a national powerhouse. Steve Gust in his second season with UMC, going 39-57 overall including a 25-21 campaign in 2016. Kyle Poock has been the head coach at WSU for 15 seasons, posting a 389-312-2 record with the Warriors.

FOLLOW THE BEAVERS: MSU provides live video – with Leif Bakken serving as the play-by-play announcer – and live stats at msubeavers.com for all home NSIC games. Minot State Athletics also is active on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and You Tube with all feeds accessible at msubeavers.com/stayconnected.

RANKINGS: Minot State comes into the week as the No. 10 ranked team in the latest National Collegiate Baseball Writers' Association Division II Central Region poll. This marks the first time in school history the Beavers have been ranked in the region after receiving votes in 2013. MSU, UMC and WSU were not ranked in the national poll  

RECENT HISTORY: Minot State won its second straight NSIC series, taking 3 of 4 from Concordia-St. Paul in St. Paul last weekend. MSU swept both games the first day and split two games on the second day. The split snapped a five-game winning streak. In the three wins, MSU averaged eight runs per game, while giving up just a total of nine runs. UMC split a series with USF on the road, splitting both days. UMC lost game 1 both days before winning game 2 in each. Winona State lost its NSIC series with Bemidji State, falling in the final three games after winning game 1.

ALL-TIME AT A GLANCE: Minot State holds a slim 6-4 lead over Minnesota Crookston all-time dating back to when both teams were NAIA programs. WSU also enjoys a slim lead in its series with MSU, coming into the weekend with a 5-2 lead.

LAST TIME OUT: Minot State split a pair of nonconference games with UMC to start the season at US Bank Stadium. MSU won its season opener 3-2 with the Golden Eagles winning in game 2 5-4. Geordie McDougal singled home Trevaun Smith for the game winning in the seventh for the Beavers. Jeremy Sylvester earned a win with three scoreless innings in relief, while Jordan Schulz went 4 for 4 at the plate for the Beavers. UMC earned the split with a run in the top of the eighth in game 2, breaking a 4-4 tie. MSU also battled WSU at US Bank Stadium in the second week of the year and beat the Warriors 4-1. Michael Borst went 3 for 4 and Justin Demary and Austin Kern teamed for a five-hitter in the win.

NOTING THE GOLDEN EAGLES: Minnesota Crookston has been up and down all season with three winning streaks of two games and two losing streaks total… The Golden Eagles haven't hit the ball much early on with a .243 team batting average, but have held opponents to just a .294 average… Reed Hjelle and Mitchell Bornhauser are the only two UMC hitters batting above .300 with Hjelle leading the way with a .333 average… Justin Yutrzenka is 3-0 with a 2.40 ERA in 30 innings pitched for UMC.

NOTING THE WARRIORS: Winona State had a rough start to its 2017 season, losing its first 10 games – including a nonconference loss to Minot State – before splitting its past eight games… Mitchell Heid leads the team with a .349 batting average, while Jesus Cazares and Joe Kubera paced WSU with 21 hits apiece… WSU has only hit three home runs all season, two coming from Kubera… Derek Masberg has made seven appearances on the mound, leading the team with a 1.08 ERA… Mitchell Stalsberg has two of the team's four wins.

HOT START: MSU senior outfielder Jordan Schulz has put up huge numbers over the first month of the season as he leads the team and is second in the NSIC in batting average at .481. He has a slugging percentage of .815. In 15 games he has 26 hits with 11 extra base hits including six doubles, three triples and two home runs. He is second on the team in RBIs with 12.

ROACH RELIEF: Dylan Roach has emerged as MSU's go-to guy out of the bullpen as he has made five appearances since making his collegiate debut against Wayne State March 9. He is 1-0 with a save in 4.1 innings of work. He has given up just one earned run for a 2.08 ERA with opponents hitting .071 against him.

BY THE NUMBERS

3: Grand slams in 15 games for Michael Borst. All three of his home runs have come with the bases loaded. Borst leads the country with a 2.0 RBI average per game.

4: Rank nationally for Minot State in doubles per game. The Beavers have racked up 35 already this season and their 2.69 per game leads the NSIC.

10: Rank for the Beavers in the Central Region poll. MSU entered the poll for the first time this year and for the first time in school history.