MISSISSIPPI VALLEY STATE @ DALLAS BAPTIST
Feb. 14-16 | Dallas, Texas | Horner Ballpark

MULTIMEDIA COVERAGE
Video/Audio: Patriot Broadcasting Network
Livestats: DBU Livestats
Facebook: DBU Athletics

SERIES INFORMATION
Dates: February 14-16, 2014
Times: 6:30 PM | 1:00 PM | 2:00 PM
Stadium: Horner Ballpark (2,000)
Broadcast: Patriot Broadcasting Network
Broadcast Team: Reagan Ratcliff and Brendan Smith

PROBABLE STARTERS
Friday, Feb. 14

MVSU – Trent Kinney 2013 stats (N/A)
vs.
DBU – Paul Voelker 2013 stats (1-2, 4.50 ERA, 34.0 IP, 37 SO, 18 BB)

Saturday, Feb. 15

MVSU – Jonathan Parker 2013 stats (0-3, 8.92 ERA, 37.1 IP, 17 SO, 31 BB)
vs.
DBU – Cy Sneed 2013 stats (4-4, 4.84 ERA, 83.2 IP, 54 SO, 32 BB)

Sunday, Feb. 16

MVSU – Tyji Hawkins 2013 stats (N/A)
vs.
DBU – Drew Smith 2013 stats (0-1, 5.40 ERA, 11.2 IP, 3 SO, 5 BB)

FIRST PITCH – The Dallas Baptist Baseball Team begins the 2014 campaign with its home opener at Horner Ballpark on Feb. 14-16 versus Mississippi Valley State. Friday's affair is slated for 6:30 PM, while Saturday and Sunday's contests feature a pair of afternoon start times at 1 PM and 2 PM, respectively.

The Patriots usher in a new era of history for their baseball program as they join the Missouri Valley Conference. Last season, DBU posted a 30-30 record and competed in the Western Athletic Conference for its only year in 2013. The Patriots compiled a 13-14 record in conference, but were a win shy from clinching their fourth trip to the NCAA Tournament in the last six years. A loss to UT-San Antonio in the WAC Championship Game concluded DBU's hard-fought campaign, its first Conference-affiliated year since previously playing as an independent.

PLAYERS TO WATCH – DBU returns a roster of 17 letterman players, including seven starters with experience. 14 newcomers, seven freshmen and seven transfers, will also have opportunities to step in and make an immediate impact on a club that lost 12 lettermen and five starters.

Chane Lynch emerged in the middle of last season as the team's starting first baseman. The transfer from Hill College belted six homeruns and finished second on the team with a .550 slugging percentage. Mike Wesolowski, another transfer last year from Mesa Community College, expects to see time in the infield as well. He finished fifth on last year's squad with a .281 average, and returns with the third highest average on this year's team.

DBU's top two run producers All-American, Duncan McAlpine, and First Team All-WAC Catcher, Michael Miller, depart from this year's team and will be tough to replace. Both combined for 26 homeruns and 109 RBI's, while claiming the top two spots in batting for a team that hit .283 on the season.

Sophomore, Austin Listi, is projected to be DBU's starting centerfielder on opening day. The Huffman, Texas, native hit .285 last season with nine homers, tying him for second on the club last year. For his efforts, Listi was named a Freshman All-American by both Baseball America and Louisville Slugger.

Senior, RJ Talamantes, who spent most of last year at second base, will return to the outfield where he saw time as a sophomore. In 2013, the native of Grapevine, Texas, posted a .261 average in 45 games. He can also be a threat on the basepaths, having swiped nine bases in 11 attempts over the past two seasons at DBU. As a freshman at Centenary College in 2011, Talamantes ranked 5th in the nation in stolen bases.

Another senior, KJ Alexander, will be competing for time behind the dish in the catcher's role. Seeing action in 40 games last season, primarily as the club's designated hitter, Alexander hit four round-trippers and added a solid .263 average.

ON THE BUMP – Friday's home opener will be pitched by junior Paul Voelker. He tied for the team lead with 24 appearances, mostly coming from relief outings out of the bullpen. The Plymouth, Minnesota, product did collect three saves on the campaign, while striking out 37 batters in 41.1 innings of work. His lone start was against a tough University of Oklahoma squad, in which he completed 3.0 innings of one-run ball and struck out a pair. The run was unearned and his effort did contribute to a 6-4 victory. Voelker spent the summer in the hitter friendly, Northwoods League, where he was named the league's No. 4 prospect by Baseball America.

Saturday's starter, Cy Sneed, returns for his third season on the mound. The junior has been a staple in the Patriot weekend rotation the past two seasons and hopes to lead a mixture of young arms and transfers to the pitching corps in 2014. Sneed has taken the mound as a starter in 33 contests the last two years combined, 16 coming last spring. The native of Twin Falls, Idaho has also garnered 12 wins in those appearances.

Sunday's finale will see DBU sophomore, Drew Smith, toe the rubber. The native of Crowley, Texas made one start last season in seven appearances, which came versus Stephen F. Austin. He surrendered two runs while delivering 3.0 innings in the affair. Smith showed flashes of effectiveness in a 10-9 win over Texas Tech where the right-hander tossed a shutout inning while fanning one. A little less than a month later, Smith threw two scoreless frames at Texas Tech.

SCOUTING MISSISSIPPI VALLEY STATE – The Delta Devils compiled a 5-44 record last season, including a 1-21 record in conference, and completed the campaign on an eight game losing streak.

The Southwestern Athletic Conference preseason poll ranked Mississippi Valley State a fifth place finish in the six-team East Division. However, the Dustdevils did earn two first place votes along with 39 total in the voting.

MVSU's roster is highlighted by third baseman, German Hays, who has been tabbed Second Team Preseason All-SWAC by College Sports Madness. He led the Delta Devils in batting average (.310), hits (45), and slugging percentage (.375) in the previous year.

SERIES HISTORY – DBU holds the all-time series record 7-0 against the Mississippi Valley State Delta Devils. Last season the Patriots swept the MVSU in the three-game set at Horner Ballpark (18-1, 8-1, 24-3).

The home squad combined for 48 hits in the series while allowing only 11. Redshirt sophomore, Justin Wall and Listi had excellent games in the offensive outburst over that weekend. The duo combined for five hits and six RBI's apiece, which included a two-run homer in the opener for Listi. Wesolowski added three hits and four RBI's over the big series.

QUICK HITS:
-DBU enters their inaugural season in the Missouri Valley Conference.
-2014 marks the second year DBU hosts ballgames at Horner Ballpark.
-DBU was 14-14 at Horner Ballpark in 2013.
-The Patriots ranked tops in the WAC in slugging percentage with a .445 clip.
-Last year's squad compiled 28 double figure hit games, including seven of the last nine on the campaign.
-The Patriots did outscore opponents 377-340 last season.
-Longest winning streak for DBU in 2013 was six in a row.
-As a team, DBU boasted a combined 377 runs scored and 595 hits to claim second in the league.
-DBU finished in the top two in the WAC in the following categories in 2013: RBI (350), Doubles (117), Triples (20), Homeruns (61), and Total Bases (935).
-DBU came in third in the WAC with walks (235) and stolen bases (54). Were tops in the league with sac flies (36).
-Horner Ballpark was the site of last year's opening weekend for the Patriots, where they dropped all three games to Creighton. DBU responded by rattling off the next four-straight.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE - Dallas Baptist completes its opening weekend series before welcoming a non-conference foe for a midweek match-up. The Patriots will take on Grambling State on Tuesday, Feb. 18 to wrap-up the opening home stand. First pitch is slated for 6:30 PM.

DBU begins its first road trip of the campaign the following weekend, Feb. 21-23, at Sam Houston State University. Start times for those contests are at 6:30 PM, 4 PM, and 1 PM, respectively.