BLOOMSBURG – On Thursday, April 18^th the Mansfield University baseball team is traveling to Bloomsburg for a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference doubleheader at Litwhiler Field.  The teams will face each other for the final two games of the series on Saturday, April 20^th in Mansfield at Shaute Field. Games on both days will begin at 1 p.m.
 
Mansfield (5-25, 2-14 PSAC East) leads the overall series against Bloomsburg, 134-117. However, the Huskies are hot; they are 11-3 in their last 14 games, which includes a win over Millersville.
 
The Bloomsburg Huskies (21-9, 10-6 PSAC East) are renowned for working opposing pitchers and their pitch counts. As a team, they rank fourth across the conference in walks (149) and fifth in stolen bases (53).  Their pitching has dominated this season, ranking second with an ERA of 3.78, just behind California University's current mark of 3.75.  The Huskies staff has held opponents to a .231 batting average, which is also second in the PSAC behind Mercyhurst.
 
Four Huskies have averages of .300 or better, including sophomore infielder Jake Reed who leads the team with a .337 mark on the season so far. Kyle Ofier and Cole Swiger fall in the Top-20 of the conference's home run leaderboard with seven and six longballs, respectively. Swiger has 32 RBI's which ranks 12^th.
 
Ashton Raines and Chad Cooperman have paced the Huskies pitching staff.  The righties have each thrown over 38 innings apiece, they hold ERA's south of 3.00, and they both have four wins this season.  Raines has 174 strikeouts in his career, which is just nine shy of the school's all-time record. Senior closer Zach Newmyer leads the PSAC with five saves.   
 
The Mountaineers have seen offensive production come from all spots of the lineup this season, however freshman Brittain Shander has led the way. Having started in all 30 games so far, Shander has a team-best .258 batting average. He went 4-for-12 against now-ranked #10 Millersville this past weekend.
 
Brady Mengel leads the Mounties in the home run and doubles columns while Eric Senior added two more RBI's against Millersville to his team-best season totals in that category.
 
Against the Marauders, Hunter DePrimo dealt one of the most dominant pitching performances of the season. The sophomore went seven innings in his first start of 2019. He struck out a career-high eight batters and allowed just four hits to keep the game within the Mounties grasp. DePrimo now has a team-best 2.00 ERA over 18 innings from the mound.
 
Evan McAndrew has the most strikeouts on the team, coming into the series with 47 over the course of 38 innings to go with a 3.79 ERA. Mansfield native Bryce Zaparzynski is the third Mountie to have a solid ERA, standing at 3.66 and ranking 25^th among all pitchers in the conference who have thrown at least 20 innings.
 
The Mountaineers are looking for their first win since taking down East Stroudsburg at the beginning of the month.
 
Live coverage links for all four games are available at GoMounties.com and will be accessible through the official @MUMounties social media platforms.