Article

Baseball’s NCC Title Hopes on Line This Week
Trip to Augustana today leads to showdown with UNO this weekend for conference championship.

by Garret Felder
May 02, 2006

Many great coaches will argue that the regular season means nothing during the post-season. Whether a team goes undefeated or cannot even pull off a tie, what matters most is when a particular team peaks to reach its maximum level of play. As for the 32-10 men's baseball team, this weekend would be the most opportune time for the squad to start climbing the hill of near-perfection.

After having all four games of their series with Augustana cancelled this weekend because Ronken Field in Sioux Falls, S.D., looked more like the Nile River Delta of Egypt, the beginning of the postseason is looking extremely familiar to the Mavericks.

“Last year's regular season champion would host the conference,” said head coach Dean Bowyer. “But this year is a little bit different because the tournament host is predetermined and it's the first time all six teams will be in the tournament. Now there is not quite as much pressure as last year but now it is just about seeding.”

Last season, the Mavericks went into the final weekend of the regular season with a 32-12 record. After the Mavericks broke the team record for home runs in a season with 82 dingers, there stood Nebraska-Omaha in the last conference series, waiting like Dirty Harry for MSU to make its day and challenge them for the regular season conference title.

Following a disappointing three-loss weekend to UNO, the Mavericks handed over the conference championship for the regular season and later in the conference tournament. Despite a 36-win season, the Mavericks failed to make regional competition for the third season in a row and for the first time as a 36-game winning squad.

“Your goal isn't so many wins, it's winning a conference championship. And anytime we aren't winning a conference championship we are disappointed,” Bowyer said. “UNO played well that weekend and had all cylinders working for them. They deserved to win that championship because those last two weeks they played better than we did.”

But could it be different this year?

Last year, the Mavericks had a slugging percentage flying off the charts thanks to Kevin Dixon's 18 home runs and the rest of Bowyer's Bombers. This year junior tri-captain Adam Sudbeck has 13 dingers and senior tri-captain Ryan Greene has 10, but the squad's offense hasn't been as consistent or reliable in comparison to last year's record-breaking team.

Still, let's not forget junior Mark Dolenc's 18-game hitting streak and his ability to leave a vapor trail on the base paths. With him on base and Sudbeck and Greene's ability to drive in runs, the Mavericks' quiet offensive appearance could surprise any opponent by turning the ballpark into a launch pad for moon shots.

And what about the Mavericks' pitching? The rotation and bullpen have been the backbone of the squad during these last two seasons and continues to keep the Mavericks in close games.

But last year, UNO's hitters had a field day (or more like a field weekend) with the Mavericks' pitching and belted in 49 runs during a four-game series for the conference title. This year, UNO sports a .300-plus team batting average, a 41-8 record (including a perfect 13-0 against conference opponents) and the squad just came off an 18-game winning streak April 17 and won all eight of its games since.

“When you recruit kids, they know you want championships and you hope to recruit good enough ball players that they will have the opportunity to win one or two conference championships while they are here,” Bowyer said. “We got a group now who are juniors and as they were freshmen we didn't expect them to do much. Last year, we were hoping to be OK and we had a good year. But I think these guys definitely want to win a conference championship and go to regional play to see how they can do out there.”

Yet the Mavericks do have some positive things going for them in comparison to a year ago. The squad did sweep No. 25 Wayne State (Neb.), the very team to end UNO's winning streak, during an April 18 doubleheader. Add in a school record-breaking closer in sophomore Nick Fellman (who broke the single season record for saves) and the Mavericks could prevent history from repeating itself and make the long awaited trip to regionals of the NCAA Division II National Tournament.

But with the record breaker and the Wayne State sweep aside, the Mavericks still sit in fourth place in the region waiting to break into the top 25 of the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association poll. Meanwhile, UNO still shows the upper hand as it sits at the top spot of the central region and looks down on MSU from the No. 6 spot in the national poll.

“There are more teams in Division II now so there will be six central teams that will be invited to the regional tournament, instead of four,” Bowyer said. “Right now we are ranked four and we need to do well this week and during the conference tournament to maintain that ranking.”

Although the Mavericks have their eyes toward the weekend, they cannot overlook their make-up doubleheader with Augustana today. As MSU knows, every game from this week on could be the deciding point towards the squad's aspirations of a 20th conference title and another trip to the national tournament.

Following their doubleheader with Augustana, which took priority over the Mavs originally scheduled series with Grandview, the men's team faces UNO for two doubleheaders at the MSU Baseball Complex Saturday and Sunday starting each day at noon.