GAME 44 BASEBALL QUICK HITS INSIDE THE SERIES QUOTING NEISIUS: “The guys are very confident right Overall FRND leads 9-3 now. We hope they continue to play well.” Home 9-2 Away 0-1 LAST TIME OUT: The Falcons used a big second Neutral Site 0-0 inning Sunday (Apr. 25) to take control en route to a Current Streak 1L at 17-2 victory over the University of Saint Mary Spires Longest FRND Winning Streak 4W CCCK FRIENDS UNIV. in Leavenworth, Kan. The win gave the Falcons the Longest CCCK Winning Streak 1L Tuesday • April 27, 2021 • season sweep over Saint Mary. Last Meeting Twitter: @FriendsFalcons LAST MEETING: The Tigers came back from Instagram: @FriendsFalcons CAREER WEEKEND: Shortstop Elerie Rivera had a five runs down to defeat the Friends University Facebook: @FriendsFalcons series to remember last weekend at Saint Mary. Rivera Falcons 8-6 on Mar. 27 in non-conference action in RECORD BREAKDOWN hit three triples in as many games, including two triples McPherson, Kan. Overall Conf. Overall Conf. in the second game which is the most by any Falcon 7-32-1 2-19 Overall 24-19 12-18 since accurate records began in 2006. He now has a 4-10 1-6 Home 16-9 4-8 team-high six triples on the season while the rest of the 2-22-1 1-13 Away 8-10 8-10 — — Neutral — — team has six combined. He is tops on the team with a — — Rank — — batting average of 0.394. 2021 SCHEDULE STATISTICAL COMPARISON Date Opponent Location Time FIELDING %: The Falcons have been elite in the field Jan. 22 Peru State West Side Athletic Field W, 5-4 Rank* Total Category Total Rank* this season as they rank third in the NAIA in fielding Jan. 23 Peru State West Side Athletic Field W, 2-1 7-32 Win/Loss 24-19 percentage with .978. Jan. 23 Peru State West Side Athletic Field W, 4-1 .262 Batting Average .272 Jan. 29 TX A&M-Texarkana West Side Athletic Field W, 3-2 67 Doubles 71 CLOSER: Senior pitcher Austin Eggleston has been Jan. 29 TX A&M-Texarkana West Side Athletic Field W, 5-1 7 Triples 12 a force for the Falcons this season. Eggleston is tied Jan. 30 TX A&M-Texarkana West Side Athletic Field L, 6-25 20 Home Runs 23 Feb. 5 St. Mary West Side Athletic Field W, 12-2 172 RBIs 192 for third in the country in saves with nine. He also has Feb. 5 St. Mary West Side Athletic Field W, 15-0 .387 Slugging % .397 28 strikeouts in 34.0 innings pitched, and is holding Feb. 23 Mid America Christian West Side Athletic Field W, 5-0 132 Walks 173 his opponents to a batting average of .167. Feb. 23 Mid America Christian West Side Athletic Field W, 4-2 340 Strikeouts 294 Feb. 27 Mid America Nazarene West Side Athletic Field W, 1-0 37 Stolen Bases 47 POLLS: The Falcons were picked to finish sixth in the Feb. 27 Mid America Nazarene West Side Athletic Field W, 2-0 .927 Fielding % .978 KCAC Coaches Poll. Prior to last season’s cancellation, Mar. 2 at Oklahoma Wesleyan* Bartlesville, Okla. L, 4-10 Mar. 5 at Kansas Wesleyan* Salina, Kan L, 3-6 12.39 ERA 5.25 the Falcons enjoyed a nine-game winning streak during Mar. 6 at Kansas Wesleyan* Salina, Kan L,3-6 0 Shutouts 5 the campaign. Mar. 6 at Kansas Wesleyan* Salina, Kan W, 8-4 1 Saves 11 Mar. 9 Southwestern* West Side Athletic Field W, 8-2 6.2 Walks/Game 3.5 UP NEXT: The Falcons close the season with a three- Mar. 11 Bethany* West Side Athletic Field W, 4-3 (16) 5.6 Strikeouts/Game 6.6 game set this weekend against Ottawa University. The Mar. 14 Bethany* West Side Athletic Field W, 1-0 * Out of 12 KCAC Teams Falcons will honor its senior class with a doubleheader Mar. 15 Bethany* West Side Athletic Field L, 6-7 Mar. 16 USAO West Side Athletic Field W, 6-2 on Friday (Apr. 30) with the third game of the series to Mar. 19 at York* York, Neb. L, 3-4 be played on Sunday (May 2). Friends is 34-19 overall Mar. 20 at York* York, Neb. L, 3-13 against the Braves since 2006 with a 21-9 mark in Mar. 20 at York* York, Neb. L, 3-6 Wichita. Mar. 23 Oklahoma Wesleyan* West Side Athletic Field L, 0-10 Mar. 26 at Sterling* Sterling, Kan. L, 1-2 Overall Conf. Home Away Neutral Mar. 27 at Sterling* Sterling, Kan. W, 3-1 Oklahoma Wesleyan 39-5 24-3 22-0 16-4 1-1 Mar. 27 at Sterling* Sterling, Kan. W, 4-3 Tabor 30-14 21-7 5-4 20-4 5-6 Mar. 30 at Southwestern* Winfield, Kan. L, 4-8 McPherson 33-9 21-9 23-4 10-5 0-0 Apr. 2 Tabor* West Side Athletic Field L, 0-11 Kansas Wesleyan 29-15 21-9 13-8 14-3 2-4 Apr. 3 Tabor* West Side Athletic Field L, 5-7 Ottawa 29-16 19-10 18-9 10-6 1-1 Apr. 3 Tabor* West Side Athletic Field L, 3-7 Bethany 25-19 16-14 15-10 8-9 2-0 Apr. 9 at Avila* Kansas City, Mo. L, 4-9 Southwestern 18-20 13-16 10-7 6-13 2-0 Apr. 10 at Avila* Kansas City, Mo. W, 7-4 Friends 24-19 12-18 16-9 8-10 0-0 Apr. 10 at Avila* Kansas City, Mo. W, 10-4 Sterling 19-26 10-20 12-12 7-14 0-0 Apr. 13 Oklahoma Wesleyan* Bartlesville, Okla. L, 1-11 York 13-30 9-21 5-7 7-19 1-4 Apr. 17 McPherson* West Side Athletic Field L, 3-8 Saint Mary 7-38 6-23 3-16 4-17 0-5 Apr. 17 McPherson* West Side Athletic Field L, 0-17 Avila 6-33 4-26 5-16 1-14 0-3 Apr. 18 McPherson* West Side Athletic Field L, 2-9 Apr. 20 Southwestern* West Side Athletic Field W, 11-1 Apr. 23 at St. Mary* Leavenworth, Kan. W, 16-6 Apr. 24 at St. Mary* Leavenworth, Kan. W, 12-2 Apr. 24 at St. Mary* Leavenworth, Kan. W, 17-2 Apr. 27 Central Christian West Side Athletic Field 4:00 PM Friends University Athletics is excited to have Home2 Apr. 30 Ottawa* West Side Athletic Field 3:00 PM Suites by Hilton as an official sponsor this season! Apr. 30 Ottawa* West Side Athletic Field Game 2 For more on what they can offer, click HERE to visit May 2 Ottawa* West Side Athletic Field 12:00 PM their official webpage. * KCAC Conference Game FRIENDS FALCONS (24-19, 12-18 KCAC) Head Coach: Adam Neisius (Dakota Wesleyan) Assistant Coaches: Mark Carvalho, Scot Palmer, Brian Yount Record at Friends: 259-283-1 (11th Season) / Career: 521-491-1 (18th Season) Graduate Assistants: Zach Biery, Joe Pedlowe No. Name Pos. HT YR Hometown COACHING BIO 2 JOHN COOGAN OF 5'9 SO Broomfield, Colo. Adam Neisus is entering his 11th season as head coach of the Friends 3 SAM ENGBERG OF 5'8 FR Kearney, Neb. University Baseball program and his 23rd season overall in College Baseball, 4 ELERIE RIVERA INF 5'9 JR Patillas, Puerto Rico including 18 of those as head coach. 6 DAKOTA HARDING INF 5'10 FR Wichita, Kan. 7 PRYCE ANDERSON CAT 6'1 SO Coffeyville, Kan. A highlight of his tenure came in the 2017 campaign, when Neisus guided the 8 BRANDON FARNSWORTH RHP 6'1 SO Canon City, Colo. Falcons to a 33-22 overall record, their most wins since the 2013-14 season. 9 ERIC ESCAMILLA INF 5'10 JR Wichita, Kan. The season included a berth in the NAIA National Tournament, where they went 10 MAX COYT INF 6'0 JR Hanford, Calif. 2-2 in the Oklahoma City Region for their first NAIA Opening Round victory since 11 AUSTIN EGGLESTON RHP 5'11 SR Arlington, Texas the format began in 2009. 12 CARSON SMITH UTIL 5'10 SO Larned, Kan. Then in 2018, Neisius’s Falcons equaled that mark with another 33 win season, 13 BRETT WESTERMAN INF 5'7 SO Derby, Kan. while winning their most KCAC games (22) in at least the past 15 years. 14 JORDAN BURNETT INF 5'8 SR Goodyear, Ariz. 15 VaLENNY DE LOS SANTOS RHP 6'1 JR Santo Domingo, DR Under Coach Neisius, thirteen players have moved on to play professionally, 16 KYLE LANDWEHR RHP 6'1 FR Wichita, Kan. including the Oakland A’s 2006 13th round draft pick, Ben Jukich. 17 RICKY HOCKETT RHP/OF 5'10 JR Plainville, Kan. Neisius came to the Falcons from the University of Nebraska at Kearney, where 18 MALIK MELVIN INF 5'8 SO Tampa, Fla. he was assistant head baseball coach for two years. As an assistant, Neisius was 19 JACOB COOGAN RHP 5'11 SO Broomfield, Colo. responsible for offensive and defensive aspects along with recruiting. 20 JOSH DRURY 1B 5'10 SR Pueblo, Colo. 21 WES KUZMINSKY OF 6'2 JR Salkum, Wash. Prior to University of Nebraska at Kearney, Neisius spent 10 seasons from 1998 22 JARED BERARD INF 5'9 JR Tacoma, Wash. - 2008 as head baseball coach at Dakota Wesleyan University. During his 10 year 23 TREVEN VELTMAN CAT 6'0 SO Goddard, Kan.