TAHLEQUAH -- Northeastern State faces a big road test this weekend with a three-game series at No. 16 Missouri Southern.  With a one-game lead in the MIAA standings for second place over their upcoming foe and looking to lock in a home series for the upcoming postseason tournament, there can be a lot at stake for both teams this weekend. 

Thanks to some scheduling luck, this series will be the final regular-season road trip with their non-conference meeting Tuesday with Southern Nazarene opening up a ten-game homestand.

THE NEXT FOUR SCHEDULED AND PROJECTED ROTATION
MOSO: Saturday, April 17 at 1 p.m. (Warner Turner Field; Joplin, Mo.) – Seth Key (3-0, 3.86 ERA, 9.4 K/9)
MOSO: Saturday April 17 at 4 p.m.  – Nic Swanson (7-0, 0.85 ERA, 11.0 K/9)
MOSO: Sunday, April 18 at 1 p.m.  – Jonathan Smithey (3-1, 6.48 ERA, 10.7 K/9)
SNU: Tuesday, April 20 at 2 p.m. (Thomas C Rousey Field; Tahlequah, Okla.) – Lee Callison (6.16 ERA, 9.5 K/9)

HISTORIC SEASON THUS FAR

1. The RiverHawks bring a 19-8 (16-5 in MIAA) record into the series. They are tied with MOSO for second in the MIAA standings behind only No. 5 Central Missouri. NSU has won seven-straight MIAA series for the first time in program history and have the most conference wins since 2014 when head coach Jake Hendrick served as the pitching coach.
2. NSU returns 23 of its student-athletes from the 2020 roster that had their season cut short just as conference play got underway. The RiverHawks were picked to finish tenth in the conference in 2021. NSU was 10 games over .500 for the first time since the end of the 2002 campaign. They reached 15 games above the mark in 2001.
3. Hendrick is in his sixth year at the program's helm and has amassed 117 wins. His 100th came in the 2021 home and conference-opening series versus Northwest Missouri.

THE BATS

• At the plate six RiverHawks are hitting over .320 and as a team NSU is hitting .299 which is fourth in the conference. Despite playing the third-fewest games in the 12-team MIAA NSU is third with 46 home runs. Ten different RiverHawks have hit multiple long balls.
• Right fielder Blake Freeman leads the team is twelfth in the MIAA hitting .372, and had his program-record tying hit streak snapped at 26 earlier this season. Speedy second baseman Blaze Brothers has seen 20 of his 41 hits go for extra bases, is fourth nationally with 14 doubles, carries a .357 batting average as NSU's leadoff batter and has reached base in 26 consecutive games. First baseman C.D. White has proved just how deep NSU's lineup is and is hitting .333 in the six-hole with four home runs. Switch hitting catcher Brayden Rodden brings a .324 average into the series, is fourth in the MIAA with nine home runs and sixth with 30 RBI. Centerfielder Reid Fehr continues to be productive and is hitting .327 as the RiverHawks nine hitter.
• On the left side of the infield, Collin Klingensmith leads the MIAA with 20 walks, is riding a 12-game hit streak and is second on the team with 28 RBI. Third baseman Jaxon Phipps has eight home runs and has 27 RBI.
• The RiverHawks have rotated the left field spot in the lineup. Connor Bell broke into the lineup and is getting on base at a .615 clip while playing left. Freshman Nathan Norris, last season's second-best hitter by average Chaz Orr and transfer Corbin Lill have each started four or more games in the outfield.
• Tucker Dunlap, a right-handed bat, and lefty Michael Conn have each seen time as the designated hitter along with Orr.
• NSU's bats have proven to come alive late this spring as the RiverHawks have scored 65 of their 213 runs in the seventh inning or later.

ON THE MOUND

• 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 4.95 mark this season as a collective group.
• Nic Swanson leads all MIAA pitchers with a 0.85 ERA and he has guided NSU to seven wins. In the first game of the season, he earned the save. He is fourth in batting average against (.180) and third in strikeouts (65) in the conference. Swanson, with 53.0 innings pitched, has the lowest ERA for a pitcher with as many innings in the nation and is 14th in strikeouts. His 0.94 WHIP is fourth in the conference. Additionally, Swanson's 11.0 K/9 throughout his career is better than current St. Louis Cardinals reliever Ryan Helsley (10.76).
• Seth Key seems to have settled into the Game 1 starter role. The redshirt-sophomore has a 3.86 ERA and is riding two-straight quality starts.
• Connor Bell has thrown 3.1 scoreless innings while John Rains has navigated through 14.2 high-leverage situational innings and has a 1.84 ERA. Dakodah Jones leads the team with six saves which is fifth nationally, and has nine scoreless appearances including a five-inning performance to complete the sweep of Fort Hays State.

THE WEEK IN REVIEW

• The RiverHawks swept Rogers State in a home-and-home series a week ago before falling late to Oklahoma Baptist on Tuesday.
• To open the second-straight series sweep NSU beat RSU 15-1 in seven innings. Klingensmith hit a grand slam and Key threw a complete game with just two hits allowed and struck out seven.
• The backend of the doubleheader in Claremore was a different story as 22 combined batters struck out in a pitcher's duel. Swanson allowed just four hits across 7.2 frames and Jones slammed the door by striking out three of the four he faced.
• The series moved to Tahlequah Sunday and four home runs in the third paved the way to a 5-4 NSU win.
• At OBU the RiverHawks were limited to three hits. Both teams scored two in the first frame before five-straight matching zeros. Lee Callison threw 6.1 innings in the best start of his season.

ABOUT THE LIONS

• Missouri Southern is 22-6 (15-6 in MIAA) and has swept five MIAA series. The only conference series they've dropped was to No. 3 Central Missouri at home.
• MOSO's pitching staff has a 4.72 ERA but allowed 44 runs the three games to Central Missouri. Former RiverHawk, Zach Parish, headlines the starters with a 1.54 ERA which is second in the MIAA.
• Missouri Southern hits .311 on the season and has five batters over .319. Troy Gagan is third in the MIAA hitting .407 and second in slugging at .770. The Lions have three other batters in the top-10 of the MIAA in slugging.
• Since 1995, MOSO leads the series 29-25-1. The last nine have been played in Joplin with the last RiverHawks series win in 2017.
• The Lions played their first midweek game of the season and beat Drury 10-3 Tuesday.

ABOUT THE CRIMSON STORM

• Southern Nazarene is 5-22 (5-16 in GAC) on the season. They were swept by Northwestern and Southeastern.
• The Crimson Storm hit .265 as a team and are led by Jarrett Phillips who hits .380 with a 1.151 OPS.
• SNU's pitching staff has allowed opposing bats to hit .401. Nine different pitchers have started a game and the staff has a 12.08 ERA.
• Since 2000 the programs have met just three times. NSU has won each including a 2021 season-opening 6-4 road victory. It will be the first time SNU has visited Tahlequah.

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/designated hitter Conn and center fielder Fehr. Phipps (287) is two assists from tying for the second-most in program history. Redshirt-junior Smithey is in his fifth season with the RiverHawks while junior reliever Rains has been playing collegiate baseball since 2016. With his next start, his 32nd at NSU, Smithey will tie the program record for starts since 2004.

MIAA PLAYERS 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.
• Swanson was named the MIAA Pitcher of the Week for Week 7. He threw 7.0 innings of three-hit ball, did not allow a run and struck out 11. NSU has won all seven games he's pitched in and he has three starts with no runs allowed in his first season as a starting pitcher.
• Jones earned Pitcher of the Week honors on April 13 following two massive saves in the sweep of Rogers State. He struck out four across his 2.1 innings of work. The RiverHawks closer was the first MIAA reliever to claim the award in 2021.

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 both venues and asked to socially distance the best they can. 
• Live stats, NSU Digital Network and MIAA Network coverage will be available for the game via goriverhawksgo.com.
• Fans can follow the team on Twitter for the most up-to-date information at @RiverHawksBSB.

WEATHER IMPACTING SCHEDULE

• NSU has played just 11 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. In three of these games the final has been 11-10. The game at Northwestern was a makeup for a missed doubleheader in February.
• 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.
• The series at Washburn and Missouri Western were pushed back one day so that the outfield could dry out completely.
• The series with RSU was originally scheduled to begin Friday but the threat of rain pushed it back a day. The same is said of this series.

UP NEXT

• Northeastern State will stay at Thomas C. Rousey Field and begin its stretch of three-straight MIAA series at home to close the regular season.