ANDERSON, IND. – With no margin for error at the 2015 Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Championships Friday, May 8, Manchester University responded in a big way at Anderson University's Don Brandon Field.

The third-seeded Spartans, taking advantage of ideal weather conditions on a warm, windy spring afternoon, teed off on fourth-seeded Earlham College and second-seeded Rose-Hulman pitching to the tune of a combined 29 runs on 33 hits in route to a sublime .413 team batting average and blitzkrieg-like .800 slugging percentage which featured six home runs, three triples and seven doubles. When the dust settled, the Black and Gold (26-14) had reached the conference postseason tourney final for the sixth straight year behind a 14-6 win over Earlham and 15-7 victory over defending tournament champion Rose-Hulman.

 Both contests saw early big innings spark Manchester University. In game one against EC, a five-run first and two-run second got the ball rolling, while in game two, a second day in a row with an eight-run third inning against the Fightin' Engineers was the difference.

Individual stars were available up and down the line-up. Senior third baseman Jordan Nieman (Michigan City, Ind.) seeing his on-base string go to 40 straight games, slammed a pair of home runs and scored five times during a day in which he overtook former standout Ty Foster for the program's career home run record with numbers 36 and 37. Fellow left side infield mate senior shortstop Trevor Kimm (Anderson, Ind.) added the school's career RBI mark with two more to go to 176 as part of a six-hit, three-double, one-triple, one-home run outburst. The trio of senior outfielders Justin Miller (Yorktown, Ind.) and Kyle Norris (Indianapolis, Ind.) and senior second baseman Logan Hug (Indianapolis, Ind.) each tallied five hits, while freshman designated hitter Eric Knepper (Bremen, Ind.) blasted a pair of home runs against Rose-Hulman, including a grand slam as part of the eight-run third inning rally, to aid in an eight-RBI day.

With the offense supplying fireworks throughout, the Spartans' pitching staff delivered some strong numbers, too. Freshman Taylor Kopplin (Westport, Ind.) went seven and two-thirds frames against the Quakers, striking out four and walking just one to earn his fourth win of the season, while sophomore Corey Ferguson (Fort Wayne, Ind.) was just as solid in game two, going eight and two thirds against Rose-Hulman with five strikeouts and only four earned runs given up.

MU faces off against top-seed and tourney host Anderson University Saturday, May 9. The Spartans need a pair of wins to claim the tourney and earn the league's automatic bid to the 2015 NCAA Division III Championships with game one set for an 11 a.m. first pitch.

NOTES: The Black and Gold have won 12 of their last 15 going into the championship round. Junior catcher Elliott Ford (Rome City, Ind.), Kimm and sophomore first baseman Tailur Szarenski (Bluffton, Ind.) are all hitting .400 or better, Nieman has drilled seven round trippers, and Szarenski has 20 RBIs in the span … Anderson claimed the season series in three close-knit finishes. Two of the games were decided by one run with each side claiming one of them, while AU turned in the decider in a four-run outcome.