Friday, March 21, 2:25 p.m. - UPDATED FROM EARLIER IN WEEK
LINKS:Â DIRECTIONSÂ ||Â HANK OVERIN FIELD HISTORY
ST. PAUL, Minn. - Concordia-St. Paul head baseball coach
Mark "Lunch" McKenzie has announced this weekend's home opener and NSIC opening 4-game series against the University of Mary has been relocated to Hank Overin Field in Wayne, Neb. and delayed to Sunday (1 p.m.) and Monday (noon).
The games have been delayed since the initial site change due to predicted cold weather in Wayne, Neb. on Saturday.
Hank Overin Field is a part of the Wayne Parks and Recreation Department and hosts the city's legion teams.
Concordia produced an 8-2 record in non-conference play while U-Mary is off to a 5-9 start.
The Golden Bears are 16-3 all-time against U-Mary including 11-3 in NSIC contests. Concordia is 6-1 on neutral fields against the Mauraders and has won 13-straight games overall in the series history. U-Mary's last win over Concordia was an April 6, 2008 doubleheader sweep in Bismarck, N.D. in a pair of 1-run games.
Concordia's hot start has the team ranked eighth in the country in hitting (.353) and third in on base percentage (.454) led by two of the nation's top five hitters,
Eric Fasnacht (2nd, .571) and
Kyle Dalton (5th, .561).
The on base and hitting numbers have led to the team ranking ninth in the country in scoring with 8.8 runs per game.
Defensively, the team has picked up where it left off a year ago with the 10th ranked fielding percentage in the land (.976) while producing a double play per game which is 17th in Division II.
The pitching staff has also been strong, ranking in the nation's top-60 in fewest hits allowed (8.2 per 9-innings) and WHIP (1.33).
The result of the offense, defense and pitching has produced an .800 winning percentage which is 12th among 257 Division II programs to start the year.
