TAHLEQUAH – The spring season is coming to a close and Northeastern State Baseball sits firmly in second place of the MIAA standings. It will welcome No. 3 Central Missouri to Thomas C. Rousey Field for a three-game set beginning Saturday.

THE SERIES AND PROJECTED ROTATION
Saturday, May 1 at 11 a.m. (Thomas C. Rousey Field; Tahlequah, Okla.) – Seth Key (3-1, 4.09 ERA, 9.3 K/9)
Saturday May 1 at 2 p.m.  – Nic Swanson (9-0, 1.33 ERA, 11.0 K/9)
Sunday, May 2 at 1 p.m.  – Jonathan Smithey (3-1, 6.84 ERA, 9.5 K/9)

HISTORIC SEASON THUS FAR

1. The RiverHawks bring a 23-11 (20-7 in MIAA) record into the series. They have a firm hold for second place in the MIAA standings with a three-game lead. The RiverHawks trail the Mules by five games with six remaining. NSU has won eight MIAA series and is the quickest to 20 wins in the Division II era.
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 is 10 games over .500 for the first time since the end of the 2002 campaign. They reached 15 games above the mark in 2001. NSU is ranked sixth in the NCAA Central Region.
3. To be a top-four seed in the MIAA Tournament, NSU's magic number is one. They must win one of the final six games or UCO, next weekend's opponent, must lose one. The RiverHawks have never hosted the first round at as a member of the conference since 2013. The most MIAA wins under Hendrick (21) came in 2016.
4. Northeastern State is 16-2 in doubleheaders this season. Due to COVID-19 limited travel conference series have had a doubleheader and single game.
5. Hendrick is in his sixth year at the program's helm and has amassed 118 wins. His 100th came in the 2021 home and conference-opening series versus Northwest Missouri. Interestingly, that series, the first of the year, saw the last conference home loss.

THE BATS

• At the plate, six RiverHawks are hitting over .300 and as a team NSU is hitting .291 which is fourth in the conference. NSU slugs .506 and 11 different RiverHawks have hit multiple long balls. They are 10th nationally with 1.82 home runs per game. NSU hit six, the most since 2015, on Tuesday.
• First baseman C.D. White leads the team is seventh in the MIAA hitting .378 and was recently moved up a spot in the lineup. Over his last seven games he is 14-25 with three home runs. Right fielder Blake Freeman is not far behind and is hitting .350, he had his second program record tying 26-game hit streak snapped earlier this season. Speedy second baseman Blaze Brothers has seen 23 of his 48 hits go for extra bases, is seventh nationally with 15 doubles and carries a .348 batting average as NSU's leadoff batter and had reached base in 33 consecutive games. Switch hitting catcher Brayden Rodden brings a .300 average into the series, is seventh in the MIAA with nine home runs and also seventh with 35 RBI. He leads the team in both categories. Centerfielder Reid Fehr continues to be productive and is hitting .328 as the RiverHawks nine-hole hitter.
• The left side of the infield has driven in runs. Collin Klingensmith is second the MIAA with 24 walks and is third on the team with 31 RBI. Third baseman Jaxon Phipps has nine home runs to his name and his 32 RBI is second-most this spring.
• The RiverHawks have rotated the left field spot in the lineup. Connor Bell broke into the lineup and is getting on base at a .548 clip while playing left. True freshman Nathan Norris, last season's second-best hitter by average Chaz Orr and junior college transfers Corbin Lill and Matt Erwin have each started three or more games in the outfield.
• Tucker Dunlap, a right-handed bat, and lefty Michael Conn have each seen time as the designated hitter. Conn has hit three homers while Dunlap blasted two in Game 3 of the ESU sweep.
• NSU's bats have proven to come alive late this spring as the RiverHawks have scored 79 of their 265 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 4.89 mark this season as a collective group, third in the conference.
• Nic Swanson leads all MIAA pitchers with a 1.33 ERA and he has guided NSU to nine wins. In the first game of the season, he earned the save. He is fifth in batting average against (.204) and third in strikeouts (84) in the conference while allowing just 13 extra base hits. Swanson, with 67.2 innings pitched, has the lowest ERA for a pitcher with 47.0-plus innings in the nation and is eighth in strikeouts. His 0.99 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). With his next win, his tenth, he will tie for second in a season for an NSU hurler. He is the backend of the doubleheader starter.
• Seth Key seems to have settled into the Game 1 starter role. The redshirt-sophomore has a 4.09 ERA. Jonathan Smithey delivered his first quality start in a month his last time out. Midweek starter/long reliever Lee Callison has a 11.4 K/9 average and recorded eight of the 11 outs in his ESU series appearance via the punchout.
• John Rains has navigated through 15.2 high-leverage situational innings and has a 1.72 ERA. Dakodah Jones leads the MIAA with seven saves which is fourth nationally, and has 10 scoreless appearances including a five-inning performance to complete the sweep of Fort Hays State. The all-time program mark in a season is 10 and his eight in a career is second all-time.

THE WEEK IN REVIEW

• The RiverHawks are coming off another strong week in which they went 4-1. They averaged 10 runs a game.
• NSU swept Emporia State to open the four games in three day stretch.
• Once the RiverHawks got to the bullpen of ESU their bats came alive.
• Southern Nazarene scored eight unearned to win a midweek game with NSU's starters out of the game. Freeman hit an inside the park home run in the six-home run barrage.

ABOUT THE MULES

• Central Missouri is 29-5 (25-2 in MIAA) and dropped its last game to Northwest Missouri.
• The Mules' pitching staff has a 3.90 ERA which is 19th nationally. Mason Green matches Swanson with nine wins on the season. The rotation has a 3.85 mark.
• UCM hits .343 as a team and has nine batters over .314. Dusty Stroup and Erik Webb rank first and second in home runs conference-wide. Stroup is sixth nationally with 15 and the Mules slug .608.
• Since 1968, UCM leads the series 22-11. The last meeting in Tahlequah, in 2018, NSU took two of three.

SUPER SENIORS AND RECORDS TO WATCH

• 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 has the second-most assists in program history, the most sacrifice flies, fifth most homers (23), is six hits from second in program history, his 114 RBI is three off the all-time career record, his 31 doubles is fourth in program history and is third in games started in an NSU jersey.
• Redshirt-junior Smithey is in his fifth season with the RiverHawks while junior reliever Rains has been playing collegiate baseball since 2016. With his last start, his 33rd, Smithey broke the program record for starts since 2004 and has 10 career victories which is fifth all-time. Rains has the third-best all-time batting average against. Jones is three saves from tying the program record with 11.

MIAA PLAYERS OF WEEK X3

• 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 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 12 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 those games the final score has been 11-10. NSU is 3-4 in midweek contests.
• 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.
• Four road MIAA series were pushed back one day so that fields could dry out completely.

UP NEXT

• Northeastern State will stay at Thomas C. Rousey Field to close the season with Central Oklahoma May 7-8. They will look to play the first round of the MIAA Tournament in Tahlequah May 14-16.