INDIANA, Pa. - The IUP baseball program (3-4, 0-0 PSAC West) returns to the field for the first time in nearly three weeks with the 2022 home opener at Owen J. Dougherty Field.

In a three-game series that has seen multiple schedule changes, the Crimson Hawks will host Wheeling on Thursday and Friday. The teams play a single nine-inning game Thursday at 2 p.m. and then a doubleheader on Friday with a first pitch scheduled for noon. 

IUP was last in action the weekend of February 20, splitting doubleheaders with Lock Haven and Bloomsburg. 

EARLY IMPROVEMENT
>> Through just seven games, IUP already has more wins than it did all of last year with a 3-4 record.
>> The Hawks are batting .283 with a .420 slugging percentage. Last year they hit .234 and slugged .334.

HIT STREAKS
>> Three Hawks have current hit streaks of five or more games.
>> Nick Hess has hit safely in all seven games and is batting .385 on the year.
>> Austin Mueller has a 6-game hit streak and leads the team with a .435 batting average. Harrison Pontoli has a 5-game hit streak.

BIG TIME SLUGGERS
>> Torrey Roper (.667) and Nick Hess (.654) are first and second on the team in slugging percentage. 
>> The two have a combined nine extra base hits in IUP's seven games this year. 
>> Roper has three doubles and a homer among his eight total hits, while Hess has four doubles and a home run.

ALL THE TOOLS
>> Jimmy Tooley has been hot on the mound early this season, going 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA in two starts.
>> Tooley has struck out eight batters and scattered three hits in 8.0 innings.
>> He threw 5.0 innings of shutout ball, striking out four in a 9-0 win over Lock Haven.

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.