Baseball | 3/1/2019 8:10:00 PM

 
SERIES COVERAGE
• LIVE STATS

RELATED LINKS
• Bloomsburg: Schedule • Roster • Statistics
• Winston-Salem State: Schedule • Roster • Statistics

THE STORY
• The Bloomsburg University baseball team heads south for a three-game series at Winston-Salem State University on Saturday and Sunday. The teams will play a doubleheader on Saturday afternoon beginning at 1:00 p.m. before reconvening on Sunday afternoon for a single nine-inning game which is also slated to start at 1:00 p.m. The series features a pair of teams ranked in the latest National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Atlantic Regional poll as the Rams are fifth and the Huskies come in at number six.

SERIES HISTORY
• The Huskies are 2-0 lifetime against the Rams entering the weekend. The only meetings occurred on March 12, 2012, when Bloomsburg swept a twinbill at Winston-Salem State by the scores of 7-0 and 1-0.

THE HUSKIES AT A GLANCE
• Bloomsburg had a successful opening weekend last Saturday and Sunday as it took three-of-four games at the University of the Sciences. The Huskies swept Saturday's doubleheader by the scores of 7-2 and 11-3 before settling for a split on Sunday. The Devils took game one, 7-6, before Bloomsburg bounced back for a 9-4 victory in the nightcap.

• Freshman righthander Jared Marshman (Berwick, Pa./Berwick) earned the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division Pitcher of the Week for his efforts in the series. Marshman, pitching in his first collegiate game on Saturday, came on in relief of starter Nick Stoner (Elizabethtown, Pa./Elizabethtown) and pitched 4.2 innings of hitless relief to earn his first career save. He entered with one out and runners at first and third in the bottom of the fifth inning and struck out the first batter he faced before walking the bases loaded. He preserved the lead by striking out Jacob Whittington to get out of the jam. Marshman retired the last eight batters he faced - four via strikeout - as he combined with Stoner on a one-hitter. He finished by tossing 4.2 innings without allowing a run or a hit while walking one and striking out eight.

• Offensively, junior Cole Swiger (Maple Glen, Pa./Upper Dublin) led the Huskies by hitting .467 (7-of-15) with two home runs and eight runs batted in during the four-game series. Swiger also scored five times and was a perfect 3-for-3 in stolen bases. He posted a .526 on-base percentage and led the Huskies with an .867 slugging percentage over the weekend. His best game came in the second game of Saturday's doubleheader where he went 3-for-4 with two home runs and three RBI. Junior Andrew Holmes (Egg Harbor Township, N.J./Egg Harbor Township) batted .333 (4-of-12) with a double and a pair of runs batted in during the series. He walked five times and posted a team-best .529 on-base percentage. Junior Nate Krizan (Montoursville, Pa./Home School) and sophomore Jake Reed (Quakertown, Pa./Quakertown) each had four hits in 13 at-bats for a .308 average to start the season. Redshirt freshman Carter Chasanov (Magnolia, Del./Polytech) hit .294 and was a perfect 6-of-6 in the stolen base department. Sophomore Kyle OFier (Pittston Township, Pa./Pittston Area) joined Swiger by belting a pair of home runs over the weekend. As a team, Bloomsburg hit .266 and scored 33 runs in the four games. The Huskies were 16-of-17 in stolen bases.

• On the mound, Bloomsburg limited the Devils to a .174 batting average while posting a 4.06 team earned run average. The Huskies' staff struck out 49 batters in just 31 innings with junior Chad Cooperman (Allentown, Pa./Salisbury) striking out a team-high nine in his first start of the season. Marshman punched out eight batters while senior Ashton Raines (Wallingford, Pa./Strath Haven) struck out seven in his opening start of the year. The staff allowed only 19 hits in 31 innings but command, at times, proved to be a bit of an achilles heel. Bloomsburg walked 22 batters and hit six more in those 31 innings of work.

SCOUTING THE RAMS
• Winston-Salem State enters the weekend with a 10-2 overall record and has played all 12 of its games at home to start the year. The Rams started 10-0 before dropping the last two games of a three-game series against PSAC West foe, Seton Hill.

• The Rams are batting .283 as a team with a handful of players hitting above .300 on the year. Freshman Nick Ward is batting a team-high .433 (13-of-30) with one double and nine runs batted in. Redshirt sophomore E.P. Reese is 18-of-42 for a .429 batting average and leads the team with 18 runs scored and 11 stolen bases. Nick Williams and Cole Parks provide a majority of the power supply for the Rams. Williams is hitting .362 (17-of-47) with a team-leading six doubles to go along with a home run and a team-high 16 runs batted in. Parks is at .326 (14-of-43) with a team-high three round-trippers and 13 RBI.

• On the mound, Winston-Salem State has a team earned run average of 3.50 and is limiting opponents to a .194 batting average. When not doing it at the plate, Parks does it on the mound as he sports a 3-0 record with a 1.88 ERA and a team-high 31 strikeouts in 24 innings. He has allowed only six runs and 15 hits in his 24 innings of work. He is joined by redshirt freshman Jalen Scott who is 2-0 with a 1.86 ERA and 26 strikeouts in just 19.1 innings. He has allowed 16 hits and only two walks to start the season.

LOOKING AHEAD
• The Huskies will travel to Virginia for a doubleheader at Virginia State on Wednesday, March 13, and three games against St. Thomas Aquinas in Colonial Heights, Virginia, on Friday, March 15, and Saturday, March 16. Bloomburg will be on display at Danny Litwhiler Field for the first time on Friday, March 22, for a doubleheader with PSAC East-rival, Millersville.