UPDATE: Friday's games at Dougherty Field have been postponed. The series will start with a doubleheader in Greensburg on Saturday. The teams will come back to Indiana for a pair on Sunday.
The original preview is below
INDIANA, Pa. - Coming off a successful opening weekend to the divisional schedule, the IUP baseball program (10-9, 3-1 PSAC West) continues with another top-25 opponent in 13th-ranked Seton Hill (16-4-1, 4-0 PSAC West) this weekend. The Hawks are set to host the Griffins in a Friday doubleheader and will head to Greensburg for a pair on Saturday. Both days will start at 1 p.m.
IUP won its series with 22nd-ranked Slippery Rock, three games to one. The Hawks split a doubleheader on Saturday and took two in a makeup date on Tuesday. All four games were played at SRU's Critchfield Park. The Griffins have won nine straight games, including a four-game sweep of Pitt-Johnstown in their division opener last weekend. Seton Hill is also undefeated at home, going 9-0 so far in Greensburg.
EARLY IMPROVEMENT
>> IUP won 10 times in its first 17 games of the season.
>> The last time the Hawks won 10 games that fast was in 2013, starting the season 10-6 through 16 games.
>> The Hawks are batting .293 with a .489 slugging percentage. Last year they hit .234 and slugged .331.
MAKING CONTACT
>> Five Hawks are batting over .300 this year, led by
Nick Hess at .441.
>>
Austin Mueller is also over .400 at .438 for the year.
>> Three players have hit streaks of 6 games or more - Mueller (6), Hess (7),
Harrison Pontoli (8).
MUELLER AND HESS BIG AGAINST THE ROCK
>> Mueller and Hess had big performances at the plate in IUP's series against Slippery Rock
>> Mueller hit safely in all four games, going 6-11 with 4 doubles, 1 triple, and 4 RBI.
>> Hess went 6-13 at the plate with 1 double, 1 homer, and 6 RBI.
ALL THE TOOLS
>>
Jimmy Tooley has been hot on the mound early this season, going 3-0 with a 3.75 ERA in five starts.
>> He's struck out 28 batters in 24.0 innings, averaging 8.2 Ks per 7 innings.
>> Tooley fanned 8 batters, scattered 5 hits and gave up just 2 runs in 6.0 innings in his win over Slippery Rock.
NEW FACE LEADS THE WAY
>> Veteran MLB pitcher and coach
Steve Kline was named the program's 14th head coach last summer.
>> He spent the last 15 seasons as a pitching coach in the San Francisco Giants organization, aiding pitchers such as Madison Bumgarner, Luis Castillo, Sam Coonrod, and Zack Wheeler, among others.
>> Kline appeared in 796 games over 11 seasons in the Majors with Cleveland, Montreal, St. Louis, Baltimore, and San Francisco.
