Game 44-46 • Middle Tennessee State • Jonesboro, Ark.

vs. MTSU (15-26, 7-11 SBC) - Friday, April 29, 6 p.m.
Sr. RHP Andy Ferguson (4-2, 3.33 ERA) vs. Soph. RHP Daniel Palo (1-5, 5.94 ERA)
vs. MTSU (15-26, 7-11 SBC) - Saturday, April 30, 4 p.m.
Sr. RHP Brad Allen (2-4, 5.91 ERA) vs. Soph. RHP Hunter Adkins (1-7, 5.31 ERA)
vs. MTSU (15-26, 7-11 SBC) - Sunday, May 1, 1 p.m.
Jr. RHP Jacob Lee (4-3, 2.08 ERA) vs. Sr. RHP Eric Gilley (4-3, 5.03 ERA)

GAME TIME:  Arkansas State hosts Middle Tennessee for a three-game Sun Belt Conference series at Tomlinson Stadium and Kell Field this weekend. Game times this weekend are set for 6 p.m. on Friday, 4 p.m. on Saturday and 1 p.m. on Sunday. The Red Wolves and the Blue Raiders are currently tied for seventh in the conference standings.

THE OPPONENT: Middle Tennessee enters the contest with a 15-26 record and a 7-11 record in league action. As a team, the Blue Raiders are batting .283 and own a squad ERA of 5.88. In conference only games, MTSU is batting .280 with a team ERA of 6.05.
    Senior outfielder Will Skinner leads MTSU with a .370 batting average, 34 RBI, 33 runs scored and 11 home runs. Junior outfielder Justin Guidry leads the Blue Raiders with 64 hits while ranking second with 25 BI, 31 runs scored while also leading the team with 12 doubles and ranks second with a .364 batting average.
    MTSU will throw Daniel Palo on Friday against the Red Wolves. Palo, a sophomore right-hander leads the Blue Raiders with 38 strikeouts and is allowing opposing hitters to hit .300. Palo owns a 15 record with a 5.94 ERA. On Saturday, MTSU will throw sophomore right hander Hunter Adkins who owns a 5.31 ERA with a 1-7 record, ranking third on the team with 28 strikeouts. Adkins leads the team with 59.1 innings pitched and is allowing opposing batters to hit a .271 average. Sunday, the Red Wolves will face senior right-hander Eric Gilley who owns a 4-3 record in 59 innings pitched and ranks second with 33 strikeouts and is holding opposing batters to a .243 batting average.

THE SERIES: ASU is 9-23 all-time against the Blue Raiders and dropped the SBC series to MTSU 1-2 at Tomlinson Stadium and Kell Field.

HITTING STREAKS: Sophomore center fielder Michael Faulkner leads the team with a 13-game hitting streak. Faulkner ranks fourth on the team with a .276 batting average and leads the team with 14 stolen bases. Senior first baseman Jordan Castaldo and sophmore second baseman Zach Maggio rank second on the team with 12-game streaks of their own.

BAUMGARTNER SETS RECORDS: ASU senior outfielder Todd Baumgartner leads ASU and the Sun Belt Conference with 65 hits which moves Baumgartner into the top spot on the all-time career hitting list with 251 career hits. Baumgartner also has set school career marks in doubles (49) and total bases (366). Baumgartner also leads the conference with 184 at bats, ranks second with 41 runs scored, third with 98 total bases and fourth with 15 doubles.

CONFERENCE RANKINGS: Castaldo continues to lead the conference with 40 walks while Tyler Smith also leads the conference after having caught 19 base runners stealing. Faulkner ranks third in the league with 14 stolen bases. Jacob Lee ranks fourth in the league with 56 strikeouts, a 2.09 ERA, and 69.1 innings pitched and Brandon Farley ranks fifth in the league with 11 games finished.

ANOTHER SERIES WIN: ASU picked up its second SBC series win of the campaign when it took two out of three from the visiting Owls of FAU. The wins put ASU back into contention for the Sun Belt Conference tournament, tied for seventh in the league with MTSU.

CASTALDO LAST WEEK: Castaldo's bat came alive during last week when the senior first baseman went 7-16 with three home runs and six RBI in four starts. Castaldo's three home runs lifted his season total to five on the year with 27 RBI. Castaldo's strongest performance of the week came at SEMO when he went 3-4 with five RBI and two home runs with two runs scored.

MEMPHIS SWEEP: ASU swept its midweek series against Memphis by scores of 9-8 at FedEx Field and 5-4 in Jonesboro. In the series, Smith, Uxa, Faulkner and Emery each recorded three hits while Faulkner led the squad with three RBI.

SBC SERIES WIN: ASU picked up two wins over Louisiana-Monroe this past weekend to pick up its first Sun Belt Conference series win of the season with wins of 13-2 on Friday and 13-3 on Sunday. The wins improved the Red Wolves 

HOME RUN OUTPUT: Against ULM the Red Wolves hit six home runs over the weekend with Baumgartner and Uxa each hitting two and Castaldo and Smith each adding one. The six home runs was the same total that the Red Wolves had hit on the season entering the weekend. So, in one weekend, ASU doubled its output for home runs on the campaign.

HITTING THEIR STRIDE: During their seven game losing streak, the Red Wolves posted 19 runs scored over that period. During their three-game set at ULM ASU posted 33 runs scored. The Red Wolves also had its most productive hitting weekend of the series as they posted 43 hits during its weekend against the Warhawks. Their next most-productive weekend was when they put up 42 hits against Louisiana-Lafayette.

FAULKNER NAMED POW: Arkansas State sophomore Michael Falkner was named the Sun Belt Conference Baseball Player of the Week for the competition week of March 20-27 announced the league office Monday.
    Faulkner went 11-17 from the plate to lead ASU with a .647 batting average and a.882 slugging percentage. He also scored six runs and drove in seven RBI while going 3-3 on stolen base attempts as he helped ASU to a 2-2 record on the week.
    Faulkner was perfect at the plate in the first half of ASU's twin bill against Louisiana-Lafayette on Sunday going 4-4 from the plate with three RBI and three runs scored. The week also saw Faulkner's return to the ASU defense after a shoulder injury kept him in a strictly offensive role for the Red Wolves for the past few weeks.
    ASU continues action on Tuesday when they travel to Edwardsville, Ill. for a two-game midweek series against SIU Edwardsville. First pitch on Tuesday against the Cougars is set for 6 p.m.

BAUMGARTNER STREAK: Senior outfielder Todd Baumgartner team-high 14-game hitting streak was snapped at SIU-Edwardsville this past week in front of his home town crowd. Baumgartner's streak was the third longest on the team this season.

FAULKNER'S TRIPLE DOUBLES: Sophomore outfielder/DH Michael Faulkner picked up his first three doubles of the season legging out a trio of extra-base hits against Lyon College in midweek action. During that game Faulkner also recorded two RBI and two runs scored while also stealing a base.

BAUMGARTNER INSIDE THE PARK: Senior outfielder Todd Baumgartner recorded a rare feat legging out an inside the park home run against Lyon College. It was Baumgartner's second home run of the season. During that contest Baumgartner went 2-4 from the plate with four RBI and two runs scored.

CASTALDO STREAK: Senior first baseman Jordan Castaldo's hitting streak came to an end against Austin Peay but not before he extended it to 24-games which puts him alone in second-place on the all-time leader board behind Kevin Tate who had the longest hitting streak in school history with a 28-game streak in 1991.

BAUMGARTNER GOES 5-5: Senior outfielder Todd Baumgartner went 5-5 against Austin Peay in Friday night's action including picking up two doubles, four runs scored and an RBI.

SEASON SWEEP: With its 5-1 win over Murray State a couple of weeks ago, the Red Wolves completed a season-sweep of the Thoroughbreds. Earlier this season ASU picked up an 8-4 win at Tomlinson Stadium over Murray earlier this season.

LEE PRESEASON SBC PITCHER OF THE YEAR: Arkansas State junior starting pitcher Jacob Lee was named the Sun Belt Conference Preseason Pitcher of the Year announced the league last week. Lee also earned a Preseason All-Conference nod.
    Lee is the top returning pitcher for the Red Wolves from last season whose pitching staff ranked third in the Sun Belt Conference. Lee had a team-best 3.80 ERA and worked to a 8-3 record including 92.1 innings pitched. Lee struck out a team-best 83 batters and held opponents to a .246 batting average. He owned a 6-2 record in league play and helped the Red Wolves to a 12-2 victory against Troy in the 2010 Sun Belt Conference tournament for which he earned all-tournament honors.

BAUMGARTNER EARNS ALL-CONFERENCE NOD: Senior outfielder Todd Baumgartner was named to the Sun Belt Conference preseason all-conference team. Baumgartner has one of the top returning bats for the Red Wolves and was a 2010 All-Sun Belt Conference selection. Last season, Baumgartner ranked second on the team with 42 RBI and had a .336 batting average. He also had 74 hits, 49 runs scored and 10 stolen bases. In the field, he was nearly perfect committing just one error in 112 chances for a .991 fielding percentage.

BASEBALL AMERICA ALL-SBC PRESEASON: Sophomore outfielder and junior RHP Jacob Lee earned preseason all-SBC honors by Baseball America. The Red Wolves were tabbed to finish sixth in the standings while Faulkner was called the best leadoff hitter in the league by Baseball America and Lee was tabbed as the second best pro prospect in the conference.

TOP RETURNERS: Although the Red Wolves lost its top bat from last year to the Kansas City Royals organization, ASU returns three of its top four batters from last year. Senior infielder Jordan Castaldo has ASU's top returning bat with a .363 batting average from last season. Castaldo had 74 hits with 30 runs scored and 39 RBI. Castaldo led ASU with 20 doubles and two home runs.
    Todd Baumgartner was named preseason all-conference and ranks second among ASU returners with a .336 batting average with 84 hits, 49 runs scored and 10 stolen bases. He also was nearly perfect in the field with a .991 fielding percentage.
    Michael Faulkner earned all-tournament honors last season after posting a .336 batting average which ranks second among returners and was third last year as a true freshman in 2010. Faulkner has 23 stolen bases last year and 55 runs scored on 81 hits. He also had 25 RBI.
    On the hill, ASU gets a pair of hot starters back in senior Andy Ferguson and junior Jacob Lee, who was named SBC Preseason Pitcher of the Year. Ferguson started in 15 games for the Red Wolves and made 16 appearances overall as the Red Wolves usual Friday night starter, he led the Red Wolves starters with 101.1 innings pitched surrendering just 118 hits and 53 earned runs for a 4.71 ERA and is one of the Red Wolves top returning pitchers from last year. He pitched one complete game and shared a shutout. Walked just 30 batters on the year and held opposing batters to just .291 batting average while recording 74 strikeouts

DICKINSON NAMED ASSISTANT COACH: Dickinson brings 10 years of coaching experience to the Red Wolves including four years at the Division I level working as a pitching coach at the University of Washington. During his career, Dickinson has worked with numerous Major League Baseball prospects including 2010 MLB All-Stars Tim Lincecum, John Lester and Evan Meek.
    Overall, Dickinson coached 13 drafted pitchers including a first and second round pick while at Washington. Dickinson served as an assistant coach at Montesano High School in 2009-10 where he led the squad to a 21-4 first-place league finish and an appearance in the state playoffs.
    Prior to his appointment at Washington, Dickinson served as head coach at Edmonds Community College where he led the squad to a third-place finish in the NWAACC Tournament and a 75-16 record as head coach, including a 40-8 conference mark. 
    Dickinson also served as head coach at Skyline High School in Issaquah in 2003, guiding the team to a 14-7 overall mark and a 13-5 conference record. He also served as pitching coach at Edmonds CC in 2000 and 2001.
    Aside from his work at Edmonds and Skyline, Dickinson has also served as pitching coach at Taylor Baseball, a top youth summer program, since 2001. Taylor took third place in the national AAU tournament in 2001 and in 2002, finished second at the USA Baseball Federation national tournament. During the 2005 summer season, Taylor finished second at the USABF World Series and completed the season with a 59-7-1 record.
    A native of Aberdeen, Wash., Dickinson graduated from Montesano High in 1994. After one year at Green River CC, he played three seasons of college baseball as a pitcher at Alabama-Birmingham, lettering in 1996, 1997 and 1998. In 1999, he earned a bachelor's degree in secondary education from UAB.