University of Northern Colorado Athletics
Friday, March 11
Greeley, Colo.
2 pm
University of Northern Colorado
vs
South Dakota State
Photo by: Dean Popejoy
@NCBearsBaseball Opens Home Slate Against South Dakota State
3/10/2016 2:31:00 PM | Baseball
Northern Colorado has it's home opening baseball series with South Dakota State starting Friday
GREELEY, Colo. – After playing its first 14 games of the season on the road, Northern Colorado baseball hosts its home opener this weekend when South Dakota State comes to town. The Bears will look to gain some momentum at home after going 3-11 in those road games.
Game Notes: Northern Colorado | South Dakota State | WAC
Leading Off
• Northern Colorado comes home for the first time this year after beginning the season with 14 straight road games. During that stretch the Bears went 3-11.
• The Bears played a pair of games in Nebraska earlier this week going 0-2 against the Huskers.
• Nick Tanner has been the team's ace so far, putting up a 0.51 ERA over three outings with a 1-0 record. When he has been on the mound this year, UNC is 2-1.
• Northern Colorado's pitchers have been very sly with their pick-off moves this year, leading the WAC in runners picked off with seven.
• Sophomore Justin Mulvaney has been a constant out of the bullpen for UNC, making six appearances with a 1.93 ERA. He has picked up one save in 9 1/3 innings allowing just five hits while striking out six.
• Cole Maltese and Jake Ek are neck in neck in leading the Bears in batting average, Maltese is hitting .241 for the year while Ek is at .240
• Cole Maltese and Dan Reese were named to College Sports Madness Preseason All-WAC team. Maltese on the first team and Reese on the second.
• Northern Colorado was picked eighth by the WAC coaches in the Preseason Poll. The Bears are used to out playing their expectations after making it to Mesa, Arizona last season for the conference tournament after being picked last in the preseason.
Scouting South Dakota State
South Dakota State will make a pit stop in Greeley as they start their way back to Brookings after spending the past week on the West Coast taking on three different schools in six days.
At the dish, SDSU is led by utility player Anthony Schneider and his .350 batting average including two doubles while scoring six times for the Jacks. Overall, they are hitting .245 as a team.
On the mound, South Dakota State has struggled with some tough competition compiling a staff ERA of 8.61 in their first 13 games of the year.
The Jacks are just like the Bears having been on the road during the first month of the season, and will continue to be on it until the end of the month.
Series History vs the Jacks
Northern Colorado and South Dakota State have a long history of playing each other dating back to 1959 when the teams first met. UNC would win that game 12-3 in Greeley. Overall SDSU leads the series with a 29-21 record. The previous meeting between the two team came back in 2013 with the Bears and Jacks splitting the four game series.
Turning Two
UNC has been doing a good job of getting two outs in one play this season. The Bears have turned 13 double plays already for the year. Those 13 double plays rank 24th overall in the NCAA and second in the WAC behind New Mexico State's 18.
Yamane The Man
After missing last year with a foot injury, Ryan Yamane has a few different UNC baseball records within reach. Coming into the 2016 season, he ranks sixth in at bats with 649, 14th in hits (188) and second in walks with 120. Yamane is just one walks away from tying the program record of 121 set by Jeff Cheek who played from 1972-75.
Every Day is Sunday
UNC may want to name every day of the week Sunday since that is when the Bears have won all of their games this year. The team is 3-1 on Sunday and 0-10 on any other day of the week.
Swing and a Miss
Northern Colorado has struggled with strike outs so far this year. The team leads the WAC in strike outs, being sat down via a K 132 times this year.
Swiping Bags
The Bears have been on the run this year, swiping 16 bags so far this season, to rank 68th nationally and second in the WAC. Jake Ek leads the team with five stolen bases. Those five steals ranks him second in the conference and 74th in the NCAA.
Yamaguchi Doubles up
Freshman infielder Tyler Yamaguchi has been a doubles machine so far this season for UNC. He leads the team and is tied for the conference lead with five doubles this season. That also places him in the Top 100 in the NCAA, 69th to be exact, for doubles.
All Arms In
Playing five straight games can take a toll on any pitching staff, for UNC they were able to string together a staff in the final game at Kansas. The Bears used eight pitchers lasting no more than 1 2/3 of an inning, but did see positive results. The eight pitchers combined to allow just two runs and six hits in the game.
Moving Runners Over
Senior Jake Ek moved plenty of runners over last year, finishing the season ranked 18th in the nation with 15 sacrifice bunts. Those 15 bunts helped produce nine runs for the team last year.
Following the Bears
Want to stay up to date with all things UNC Bears Baseball? There are a few ways to. During all games this year there will be live updates on the team's Twitter account @NCBearsBaseball.
For home games there will also be a live audio broadcast of the games as well as live stats on UNCBears.com. Finally after all of the team's home games make sure to get on Facebook and look for the update on the live look at the postgame press conference.
Bear in the Big Leagues
For the first time since 2011, Northern Colorado had a player drafted in the MLB draft last June. Senior Jensen Park was selected by the Colorado Rockies in the 32nd round. Before Park was drafted last year, Jarod Berggren was the last UNC player drafted back in 2011.
Making the Grades
Northern Colorado baseball had seven players earn their spot on the WAC All-Academic team for 2015. Those players were Allen Cook, Caleb Kirkman, Cole Maltese, Dan Reese, Reyn Sugai, Zach Heath and Brett Minnick.
Home Grown
Head coach Carl Iwasaki and his staff have done a good job of keeping the home grown talent in the state. 12 of UNC's 32 hail from the Centennial State.
Hawaii Five-0
The Bears have a little Hawaii flair to them with three players plus head coach Carl Iwasaki and assistant Kaiona Correa all coming to Colorado from the islands.
Exceeding Expectations
For the second straight year, UNC is going to have to exceed the expectations of the WAC coaches to make another trip to Mesa, Arizona for the conference tournament. The WAC coaches pegged the Bears to finish eighth in the conference. Last year the team was picked to finish last in the preseason, but exceed those expectations finishing 7th to make it to Mesa.
New Faces
Northern Colorado not only welcomes 11 new players to this year's ball club, but also has some new faces on the coaching staff. Kai Correa moves up to a full-time assistant after being a volunteer last season, while Coach Iwa also brought on Jordan Stouffer and Dan Siegfried as a volunteer assistant and director of baseball operations.
Class of 2017
While the 2016 season is just about to kick-off, UNC has already secured eight new players for its 2017 team. During the early signing period this year the Bears have brought in three infielders, a catchers, two utility players and a pair of right handed pitchers.
On Deck
The Bears will head over to the western slopes for a pair of games against Colorado Mesa on Tuesday and Wednesday next week. It will be the first time UNC and CMU have met since 2014.
In the Hole
UNC will be off next weekend, but returns to action with four home games the following week, hosting Regis on the 22nd, followed by the team's WAC opening series against UT-Rio Grande Valley (formally UTPA).
Around the Den
Softball heads to Wichita, Kansas to take on Wichita State this weekend for three games. The Softball Bears will look to have a little more success against the Shockers than their counterparts in baseball did.
Men's tennis starts its spring break road trip on Sunday when they take on SMU. Over the week, UNC will play four matches in seven days.
| Series Information |
| Game 1 | RHP Connor Leedholm (0-3, 7.30 ERA) vs RHP Andrew Clemen (0-3, 5.50 ERA) | Gameday Central |
| Game 2 | RHP Alex Werbach (0-0, 4.72 ERA) vs RHP Ryan Froom (0-3, 8.40 ERA) | Gameday Central |
| Game 3 | LHP Nick Tanner (1-0, 0.51 ERA) vs TBD | Gameday Central |
Game Notes: Northern Colorado | South Dakota State | WAC
Leading Off
• Northern Colorado comes home for the first time this year after beginning the season with 14 straight road games. During that stretch the Bears went 3-11.
• The Bears played a pair of games in Nebraska earlier this week going 0-2 against the Huskers.
• Nick Tanner has been the team's ace so far, putting up a 0.51 ERA over three outings with a 1-0 record. When he has been on the mound this year, UNC is 2-1.
• Northern Colorado's pitchers have been very sly with their pick-off moves this year, leading the WAC in runners picked off with seven.
• Sophomore Justin Mulvaney has been a constant out of the bullpen for UNC, making six appearances with a 1.93 ERA. He has picked up one save in 9 1/3 innings allowing just five hits while striking out six.
• Cole Maltese and Jake Ek are neck in neck in leading the Bears in batting average, Maltese is hitting .241 for the year while Ek is at .240
• Cole Maltese and Dan Reese were named to College Sports Madness Preseason All-WAC team. Maltese on the first team and Reese on the second.
• Northern Colorado was picked eighth by the WAC coaches in the Preseason Poll. The Bears are used to out playing their expectations after making it to Mesa, Arizona last season for the conference tournament after being picked last in the preseason.
Scouting South Dakota State
South Dakota State will make a pit stop in Greeley as they start their way back to Brookings after spending the past week on the West Coast taking on three different schools in six days.
At the dish, SDSU is led by utility player Anthony Schneider and his .350 batting average including two doubles while scoring six times for the Jacks. Overall, they are hitting .245 as a team.
On the mound, South Dakota State has struggled with some tough competition compiling a staff ERA of 8.61 in their first 13 games of the year.
The Jacks are just like the Bears having been on the road during the first month of the season, and will continue to be on it until the end of the month.
Series History vs the Jacks
Northern Colorado and South Dakota State have a long history of playing each other dating back to 1959 when the teams first met. UNC would win that game 12-3 in Greeley. Overall SDSU leads the series with a 29-21 record. The previous meeting between the two team came back in 2013 with the Bears and Jacks splitting the four game series.
Turning Two
UNC has been doing a good job of getting two outs in one play this season. The Bears have turned 13 double plays already for the year. Those 13 double plays rank 24th overall in the NCAA and second in the WAC behind New Mexico State's 18.
Yamane The Man
After missing last year with a foot injury, Ryan Yamane has a few different UNC baseball records within reach. Coming into the 2016 season, he ranks sixth in at bats with 649, 14th in hits (188) and second in walks with 120. Yamane is just one walks away from tying the program record of 121 set by Jeff Cheek who played from 1972-75.
Every Day is Sunday
UNC may want to name every day of the week Sunday since that is when the Bears have won all of their games this year. The team is 3-1 on Sunday and 0-10 on any other day of the week.
Swing and a Miss
Northern Colorado has struggled with strike outs so far this year. The team leads the WAC in strike outs, being sat down via a K 132 times this year.
Swiping Bags
The Bears have been on the run this year, swiping 16 bags so far this season, to rank 68th nationally and second in the WAC. Jake Ek leads the team with five stolen bases. Those five steals ranks him second in the conference and 74th in the NCAA.
Yamaguchi Doubles up
Freshman infielder Tyler Yamaguchi has been a doubles machine so far this season for UNC. He leads the team and is tied for the conference lead with five doubles this season. That also places him in the Top 100 in the NCAA, 69th to be exact, for doubles.
All Arms In
Playing five straight games can take a toll on any pitching staff, for UNC they were able to string together a staff in the final game at Kansas. The Bears used eight pitchers lasting no more than 1 2/3 of an inning, but did see positive results. The eight pitchers combined to allow just two runs and six hits in the game.
Moving Runners Over
Senior Jake Ek moved plenty of runners over last year, finishing the season ranked 18th in the nation with 15 sacrifice bunts. Those 15 bunts helped produce nine runs for the team last year.
Following the Bears
Want to stay up to date with all things UNC Bears Baseball? There are a few ways to. During all games this year there will be live updates on the team's Twitter account @NCBearsBaseball.
For home games there will also be a live audio broadcast of the games as well as live stats on UNCBears.com. Finally after all of the team's home games make sure to get on Facebook and look for the update on the live look at the postgame press conference.
Bear in the Big Leagues
For the first time since 2011, Northern Colorado had a player drafted in the MLB draft last June. Senior Jensen Park was selected by the Colorado Rockies in the 32nd round. Before Park was drafted last year, Jarod Berggren was the last UNC player drafted back in 2011.
Making the Grades
Northern Colorado baseball had seven players earn their spot on the WAC All-Academic team for 2015. Those players were Allen Cook, Caleb Kirkman, Cole Maltese, Dan Reese, Reyn Sugai, Zach Heath and Brett Minnick.
Home Grown
Head coach Carl Iwasaki and his staff have done a good job of keeping the home grown talent in the state. 12 of UNC's 32 hail from the Centennial State.
Hawaii Five-0
The Bears have a little Hawaii flair to them with three players plus head coach Carl Iwasaki and assistant Kaiona Correa all coming to Colorado from the islands.
Exceeding Expectations
For the second straight year, UNC is going to have to exceed the expectations of the WAC coaches to make another trip to Mesa, Arizona for the conference tournament. The WAC coaches pegged the Bears to finish eighth in the conference. Last year the team was picked to finish last in the preseason, but exceed those expectations finishing 7th to make it to Mesa.
New Faces
Northern Colorado not only welcomes 11 new players to this year's ball club, but also has some new faces on the coaching staff. Kai Correa moves up to a full-time assistant after being a volunteer last season, while Coach Iwa also brought on Jordan Stouffer and Dan Siegfried as a volunteer assistant and director of baseball operations.
Class of 2017
While the 2016 season is just about to kick-off, UNC has already secured eight new players for its 2017 team. During the early signing period this year the Bears have brought in three infielders, a catchers, two utility players and a pair of right handed pitchers.
On Deck
The Bears will head over to the western slopes for a pair of games against Colorado Mesa on Tuesday and Wednesday next week. It will be the first time UNC and CMU have met since 2014.
In the Hole
UNC will be off next weekend, but returns to action with four home games the following week, hosting Regis on the 22nd, followed by the team's WAC opening series against UT-Rio Grande Valley (formally UTPA).
Around the Den
Softball heads to Wichita, Kansas to take on Wichita State this weekend for three games. The Softball Bears will look to have a little more success against the Shockers than their counterparts in baseball did.
Men's tennis starts its spring break road trip on Sunday when they take on SMU. Over the week, UNC will play four matches in seven days.
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