TAHLEQUAH – Northeastern State baseball travels to St. Joseph, Mo., Saturday and Sunday for a three-game series with Missouri Western. NSU is looking to make it five-straight MIAA series wins to start the spring.
 
THE SCHEDULE AND PROJECTED ROTATION
Saturday, March 27 at 1 p.m. (DH) - Jonathan Smithey (2-1, 5.53 ERA)
Saturday, March 27 at 4 p.m. (DH) - Nic Swanson (4-0,0.57 ERA)
Sunday, March 28 at 1 p.m. - Bullpen Day

THE LEAD OFF

1. The RiverHawks bring a 10-5 (8-4 in MIAA) record into the series. They are third in the MIAA standings. NSU has won the first four series in MIAA play for the first time in its history.
2. At the plate four RiverHawks are hitting over .330. Blake Freeman leads the group hitting .435, which is third in the MIAA, carrying a 20-game hitting streak and is tied for the nations lead with 10 doubles. Blaze Brothers is second in the nation with nine doubles and is hitting .354 as NSU's leadoff batter. Switch hitting catcher Brayden Rodden has a .361 average and is slugging .770. Rodden is tied for 20th nationally with six home runs and 32nd with 23 RBI on the season. 
3. Northeastern State is hitting .291 as a team and leads the MIAA in home runs despite playing the third-fewest games. All but one in the typical starting lineup have hit a home run. The RiverHawks are slugging .489 as a team.
4. The RiverHawks infield has seen a major change from 2020 as the shortstop Collin Klingensmith is the only player to return to the same position. Phipps has moved to the hot corner. In the outfield, NSU returns experience in the outfield as left-to-right, Chaz Orr, Reid Fehr and Blake Freeman roam. Behind the plate, Rodden is a transfer this spring.
5. NSU returns 86 percent of its innings from a season ago in which the staff had a 5.11 earned run average. The staff has a 4.92 mark this season as a collective group. Of those that have started a game, the group has a combined 4.69. NSU has had three fully bullpen games in which it is 2-1.
6. Nic Swanson leads all MIAA pitchers with a 0.57 ERA and he has guided NSU to four wins. In the first game of the season, he earned the save. He is fourth in batting average against and strikeouts (38) in the conference. Swanson, with 31.1 innings, has the lowest ERA nationwide for a pitcher who has thrown more than 21.0 innings.
7. NSU returns 23 of its student-athletes from the 9-12 roster that had their season cut short just as conference play got underway. The RiverHawks were picked to finish tenth in the conference.
8. Head coach Jake Hendrick is in his sixth year at the program's helm and has amassed 108 wins. His 100th came in the conference-opening series versus Northwest Missouri.

THE WEEK IN REVIEW

• NSU won the series at Washburn. The win Saturday was the first victory in Topeka since March 30, 2013. NSU split the doubleheader Sunday afternoon.
• Nine pitchers saw the mound in the first game of series while Jonathan Smithey went 6.1 innings in the second game and Nic Swanson threw the first complete game since April 29, 2016 for NSU.
• The RiverHawk bats came alive late as, for the series, NSU scored a combined 10 runs in the ninth inning.
• On Tuesday NSU dropped an 11-inning game at Southeastern 2-1. Freeman had two hits and 11 bullpen arms saw the mound.

ABOUT THE GRIFFONS

• Missouri Western enters the series 5-12 (4-8 in MIAA) and has most recently taken two of three at Newman.
• Two Griffons are hitting over .325. Bailey Crump has seen eight of his 14 hits go for extra bases. Missouri Western is hitting .249 as a team.
• The Griffons have a staff ERA of 6.40. They are yet to find a steady starting rotation. Jared Wells, with two starts, has a 1.93 ERA.
• Since 2013 the Griffons hold a 16-4 advantage of the RiverHawks. The teams, however, have split the past six games.

SUPER SENIORS

• The entire RiverHawks roster received an additional year of eligibility. NSU has three 2020 seniors taking advantage of the opportunity to continue their collegiate careers; third baseman Phipps, first baseman Michael Conn and center fielder Fehr. Redshirt-junior Smithey is in his fifth season with the RiverHawks while junior John Rains has been playing collegiate baseball since 2016.

MIAA PLAYER OF WEEK

• Phipps was named the MIAA Hitter of the Week in the second week of the season in which he was 5-10, hit two doubles, two home runs, drove in five runs and walked three times. It was the first time a RiverHawk claimed the award in two seasons.

ALL ABOUT CONNECTIONS

• Northeastern State has developed talent pipelines from multiple junior colleges and the local area. Throughout the history of the program it has included at least one player from Cherokee County.
• From the Northeastern Oklahoma area (18): Seth Key– Arkoma, Conner West – Berryhill, Spencer Carlin and Nic Swanson – Bixby, Braedan Warwick and Tucker Dunlap – Broken Arrow, Chandler Wheeler and Ryan Summers – Coweta, Seth Knight – Council Hill, Matt Erwin – Muskogee, Brayden Rodden – Oktaha, C.D. White – Owasso, John Rains and Dakodah Jones – Sapulpa, Cody Jeanes and Trey Havens – Tahlequah, Tatum Watie – Tulsa, Dylan Hight – Verdigris.
• From Cowley County Community College (5): Blaze Brothers, Reid Fehr, Corbin Lill, C.D. White, Cade Gonzales.
• From Seminole State Community College (5): Cal Howard, Chaz Orr, Tucker Dunlap, Nic Swanson, Brayden Rodden.
• From Grayson College (3): Connor Bell, Cohen Bell, T.J. Mullins.

FAN INFORMATION

• Fans are permitted at Griffon Baseball Field and asked to socially distance the best they can. 
• Live stats and NSU Digital Network coverage will be available for the game via goriverhawksgo.com.

WEATHER IMPACTING SCHEDULE

• NSU has played just six of its originally scheduled games in the correct timeslot.
• The RiverHawks were forced into a 17-day layoff due to winter weather in February. The five games impacted were offset by adding six midweek games with GAC member schools throughout the spring.
• The Newman series was bumped up two days as rain threatened the area. It was moved to a brand-new turf field at Pryor High School.
• Last weekend's series at Washburn was pushed back one day so that the outfield could dry out completely.

UP NEXT
Northeastern State hosts Southwestern on Tuesday March 30 at Thomas C. Rousey Field. The RiverHawks have not played in Tahlequah since March 9.