GREENSBORO, North Carolina -- The Marist baseball team once again heads south, with a road trip to Greensboro, NC this weekend, for a series at the University of North Carolina Greensboro Spartans.

The Red Foxes and Spartans will play three nine inning games on Friday (4 p.m.), Saturday (2 p.m.) and Sunday (1 p.m.).

LAST TIME OUT:

Last weekend, Marist dropped a two game series at the reigning Big 12 Champion Oklahoma State Cowboys with 5-3 and 3-2 final scores on Saturday and Sunday. Despite the two losses, the Red Foxes outhit the Cowboys 17-13 in the two games and held Oklahoma State scoreless in 13 of the 18 total innings played over the weekend. 

Redshirt junior Chris Tracz, redshirt senior Greg Kocinski and junior Randy Taveras all led Marist with a .571 (4-for-7) average over the two games, while Tracz also contributed a team high one home run and four RBI and Kocinski finished with a team high two runs scored. 

CAREER PERFORMANCES:

Through five games played in 2018, the Red Foxes have seen 12 career firsts or career high performances including:

• Sophomore Matt Rubayo 1st career HR (2/16 - at Furman)
• Sophomore Skyler Pichardo career high 5 innings pitched + career high 5 strikeouts (2/16 - at Furman)
• Freshman Reece Armitage 1st career hit in 1st career at bat + 1st career double (2/16 - at Furman)
• Sophomore Conor McNamara career high 5 strikeouts (2/18 - at Furman)
• Kocinski career high 4 hits (2/18 - at Furman)
• Redshirt junior Jordan Roper 1st career hit + 1st career run scored (2/18 - at Furman)
• Roper 1st career double (2/24 - at Oklahoma State)
• Roper 1st career RBI + 1st career multi-hit game (2/25 - at Oklahoma State

PITCHING EFFECTIVELY:

In 42 innings pitched this season, Marist pitchers have totaled 42 strikeouts and 19 walks for a 2.21 strikeout to walk ratio. Of the Red Foxes seven pitchers who have at least two appearances this year, five have six or more total strikeouts in those appearances combined.

RUNNERS REACHING:

Marist has had at least one runner reach base in 39 of its 45 innings (.866) played and have averaged one hit per inning in three of their five games so far this year. 

NATIONAL RANKINGS:

The Red Foxes currently rank 49th in the NCAA and second in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference with five sacrifice bunts and 41st in the country and second in the MAAC with 1.60 stolen bases per game. 

SCOUTING THE SPARTANS:

UNC Greensboro enters the weekend with an overall record of 5-3 and are coming off an 11-5 win at Wake Forest on Wednesday.

Junior Cesar Trejo leads the team with a .483 (14-for-29) average, an .897 slugging percentage and a .559 on base percentage in eight games played. He is tied for first with one triple and 10 RBI, is second with 14 hits and is tied for second with eight runs scored, four doubles and two home runs. 

On the mound, the Spartans are led by starters junior RHP Matt Frisbee, senior LHP Bryce Hensley and sophomore RHP Trey Kissack.

In two starts, Frisbee is 0-0 with a 1.86 ERA and has given up six hits and two runs (all earned) to go along with seven walks, 12 strikeouts and a .178 opponent batting average against in nine and two thirds innings pitched.

Through his first two starts, Hensley is 0-1 with an 11.05 ERA and has given up 12 hits, and nine runs (all earned) to go along with two walks, 10 strikeouts and a .364 opponent batting average against in seven and one third innings pitched.

After two starts this season, Kissack is 0-1 with a 4.26 ERA and has given up three hits and three runs (all earned) to go along with seven walks, five strikeouts and a .136 opponent batting average against in six and one third innings pitched. 

HOW TO FOLLOW:

A live stream and lives stats will be available for Friday (Watch) (Live Stats), Saturday (Watch) (Live Stats) and Sunday (Watch) (Live Stats). Fans can also follow @Marist_BSB on Twitter for in game updates. 

UP NEXT:

Following the series at UNC Greensboro, Marist will head to Spartanburg, SC for a three game series at the Wofford Terriers next Saturday (2 p.m.), Sunday (2 p.m.) and Monday (6 p.m.) during the college's Spring Break recess.