INDIANA, Pa. - Fresh off a mid-week offensive explosion, the IUP baseball team (21-15, 10-6 PSAC West) comes back to divisional play this weekend with a four-game set against division-leading Meryhurst (23-9, 11-5 PSAC West). The Crimson Hawks are in Erie for two on Friday and return to Dougherty Field for a doubleheader on Saturday. Both days have 1 p.m. first pitches. 

IUP is coming off a huge outing on Wednesday, defeating PSAC East opponent Kutztown by scores of 9-8 and 26-1 at home.

HAWKS FLYING HIGH
>> IUP enters the weekend riding a 7-game win streak, outscoring opponents by an average off 13.0 to 5.7. 
>> The win streak is the longest by an IUP team since the 2013 season.
>> IUP has scored 10+ runs four times during its 7-game win streak.
>> The 26 runs against Kutztown Wednesday are the most since 2003, the first year of complete statistics.

DIVISION UP FOR GRABS THIS WEEKEND
>> It's a tight race in the PSAC West with just two games separating the top five teams in the standings.
>> Mercyhurst leads with an 11-5 division record, IUP and Gannon are tied for second at 10-6, and Slippery Rock and Seton Hill are tied for fourth at 9-7.
>> In addition to the IUP-Mercyhurst series, other matchups this weekend include Gannon vs. Seton Hill and Slippery Rock vs. Clarion (5-11). 

IUP IN PLAYOFF MODE
>> This is the latest in the season that IUP has been in the playoff race since 2017. That year the Hawks finished second in the division with an 18-10 record.
>> IUP is looking for its first PSAC tournament berth since 2017 and its fourth since 2010. 
>> The Hawks have won two of their four divisional series this year, including 4-0 against UPJ and 3-1 against No. 22 Slippery Rock. IUP also tied a four-game set with No. 13 Seton Hill.

BIG IMPROVEMENTS
>> With the doubleheader sweep of Kutztown, IUP won its 20th and 21st games of the season. 
>> It's the fastest to 20 wins since the 2013 season when the Hawks reached 20 in 33 games. 
>> The 21 wins this year is better than IUP's win total from the 2019, COVID-shortened 2020, and 2021 seasons - combined. 
>> In those seasons the Hawks went a combined 20-73. 

LOADING THE BASES
>> Four Hawks currently have an OPS of over .900 with a min. of 70 at bats, led by Nick Hess with 1.155.
>> Torrey Roper and Harrison Pontoli lead the team in triples with 4 each. 
>> Four Hawks have double-digit doubles, led by Markus Cestra with 16. 
>> 10 different players have combined to hit 28 home runs. Last year IUP hit 10 homers in 37 games. 
>> IUP enters the weekend as the best-hitting team in the PSAC with a .341 average.
>> The Hawks are also 3rd in slugging percentage at .540. 

PSAC WEST ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
>> Markus Cestra was named the PSAC West Athlete of the Week on Tuesday.
>> Cestra hit.481 (13-for-27) with a .963 slugging percentage to help the Crimson Hawks go 6-1.
>> 9 of his 13 hits went for extra bases, ripping off 7 doubles and 2 home runs in 7 games. He finished with 11 RBI and scored 7times. 
>> He continued his hot hitting Wednesday by going a combined 5-for-6 with a double, triple, RBI and 6 runs scored against Kutztown. 

SPEED ON THE BASEPATHS
>> The Hawks are 43-59 (.729) in stolen base attempts in 2022.
>> They have already accumulated more total stolen bases in 2022 than they did last season when they posted 33 stolen bags on 42 attempts.
>> IUP has four players with at least 7 stolen bags this season. Harrison Pontoli and Markus Cestra each have a team-high 8 steals.

ALL THE TOOLS
>> Jimmy Tooley continues his pitching hot streak as a freshman after winning another game against Western division rival Pitt-Johnstown.
>> Tooley leads IUP in wins (6), shutout (1), and second in WHIP (1.40). He also leads all starting pitchers in ERA (4.35) and second in opponent batting average (.267).
>> He's averaging 7.7 Ks per 7 innings, fanning a season-high 8 batters against Wheeling and No. 22 Slippery Rock. 
>> Tooley fanned 4 batters, scattered 6 hits and gave up just 2 runs in 5.0 innings of work in his win over Pitt-Johnstown.

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.