INDIANA, Pa. - Returning to action after a weekend split with a strong PSAC West opponent Mercyhurst, the IUP baseball team (23-17, 12-8 PSAC West) enters the week against top Eastern division opponent Shippensburg (21-20, 12-6 PSAC East). The Crimson Hawks will travel to Shippensburg for 9-inning single game on Tuesday. There is a scheduled first pitch for 3 p.m. 

IUP is coming off a productive weekend splitting a four-game series with Mercyhurst, taking one game each in both Erie and Indiana. The Crimson Hawks begin this week still atop of the PSAC West hunting for their first divisional title in 12 years with the last coming in the 2010 season (31-23, 18-6 PSAC West).

HAWKS FLYING HIGH
>> IUP enters the week riding a 13-8 record in April, outscoring opponents by an average off 8.1 to 5.9. 
>> During this month, the Hawks posted a 7-game win streak which is the longest by an IUP team since the 2013 season.
>> IUP had 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 STILL OBTAINABLE AS SEASON WRAPS
>> It's a tight race in the PSAC West with just two games separating the top four teams in the standings.
>> Slippery Rock, Mercyhurst, and Gannon are all tied for first with a 13-7 division record while IUP holds down a close second place posting a 12-8 division record. 
>> The Crimson Hawks will take another crack at the Western division title this weekend as they are set to take on the Gannon Golden Knights in a four-games series.

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 weekend series split with Mercyhurst, IUP won its 22nd and 23rd games of the season. 
>> It's the fastest to 20 wins since before the 2011 season when the Hawks reached 22 in 42 games in the 2013 season. 
>> The 23 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
>> Six Hawks currently have an OPS of over .900 with a min. of 110 at bats, led by Markus Cestra with 1.158.
>> Markus Cestra, Torrey Roper, and Harrison Pontoli lead the team in triples with 4 each. 
>> Four Hawks have double-digit doubles, led by Cestra with 19. 
>> 10 different players have combined to hit 32 home runs in 40 games. Last year IUP hit 10 homers in 37 games. 
>> IUP enters the week as the second best-hitting team in the PSAC with a .334 average.
>> The Hawks are 3rd in slugging percentage at .530, 1st in doubles with 96, and 1st in triples with 17.

PSAC WEST ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
>> Markus Cestra was named the PSAC West Athlete of the Week last 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 7 times. 
>> 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 49-67 (.731) 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. Au'sean Owens leads the team with 10 steals on 13 attempts.

ALL THE TOOLS
>> Jimmy Tooley continues his pitching hot streak as a freshman after winning another game against Western division rival Mercyhurst.
>> Tooley leads IUP in wins (7-0), shutout (1), and second in WHIP (1.32). He also leads all starting pitchers in ERA (4.17) and third in opponent batting average (.251).
>> He's averaging 6.8 Ks per 7 innings, fanning a season-high 8 batters against Wheeling and No. 22 Slippery Rock. 
>> Tooley pitched a gem fanning 1 batter, allowing 3 hits and gave up just 2 runs in 6.0 innings of work in his win over Mercyhurst.

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.