WICHITA, Kan. — The Newman baseball team heads to the border of Mexico for a three-game Heartland Conference series against Texas A&M International with hopes of getting back on track for a conference tournament bid.

SCOUTING NEWMAN

The Jets (23-16, 9-9 Heartland) did not participate in any midweek games this week and are coming into this weekend's series, losing two of the three conference games last weekend to Arkansas Fort-Smith, putting them into a three-way tie for fourth place with UAFS and St. Mary's.

LEADERS

                 Tyler Bugner, Junior-.432 avg., 41 runs, 9 2B, 3 3B, 3 HR, 30 RBI, .587 slg., 16-for-17 SB

                 Nick Griffin, Junior-.342 avg., 29 runs, 8 2B, 2 3B, 2 HR, 27 RBI, .512 slg.

                 Garett Thomas, Senior-.328 avg., 27 runs, 11 2B, 8 HR, 43 RBI, .590 slg.

    Lucas Schauer, Junior-6-2, 3.21 ERA, 8 CG, 2 shutouts, 70 IP, 24 BB, 62 SO

                 Corey Mondello, Senior-0-0, 3.18 ERA, 14 app., 1 save, 17 IP, 8 BB, 15 SO

SCOUTING THE OPPONENT

The Dustdevils (16-23, 7-11 Heartland) are coming into the series in a slump, dropping five of their last six Heartland Conference games over the past two weekends against Rogers State and Lubbock Christian, putting them in eighth place in the conference.

LEADERS

                  Sergio Pollorena, Sophomore-.422 avg., 23 runs, 11 2B, 1 3B, 5 HR, 23 RBI, .696 slg.

                  Alex Medina, Junior-.308 avg., 25 runs, 9 2B, 2 HR, 19 RBI, .413 OBP

                  William Mora, Junior-.285 avg., 27 runs, 11 2B, 7 HR, 34 RBI, .518 slg.

                  Osvaldo Raya, Junior-6-3, 5.59 ERA, 12 app., 67.2 IP, 31 BB, 50 SO

                  Dustin Labit, Junior-3-6, 5.43 ERA, 11 app., 61.1 IP, 36 BB, 52 SO

NOTES

-This series is another crucial one for the Jets, who are currently in a three-way tie for fourth place in the standings with Arkansas-Fort Smith and St. Mary's. There are nine games left in the regular season of conference play with seven teams still mathematically fighting for a spot into the postseason tournament.

- Over the past four games Andrew Russell has seen his playing time substantially increase and has made every bit of it count. He went 7-for-14 with nine runs scored, three doubles and five RBIs over this stretch and improved his batting average to .390 for the season.

COVERAGE

Live statistics and video for the game will be available at www.newmanjets.com.