Apr. 23– Former Concordia University first baseman Erik Quarberg has signed a professional contract to play for the Sioux City Explorers and will report to the team this Friday, April 27.

Quarberg joins a squad that competes in the Northern Division of the American Association of Independent Professional Baseball League. He will be competing against Sioux Falls (S.D.), Lincoln (Neb.), St. Joseph (Mo.) and the St. Paul Saints.

The exhibition schedule begins next week with the 2007 season opener on May 10 at Sioux Falls. Quarberg will return to St. Paul on May 14-16 when the Explorers take on the St. Paul Saints.

Quarberg is Concordia's all-time home run leader with 32 and holds school records for career RBI (150), single season doubles (19, 2006), single season home runs (13, 2006), single season RBI (56, 2006) and ranks highly in various other statistical categories after his career from 2003-06. He was a three-time all-NSIC first team selection and was an all-Central region selection as a senior in 2006.

He is the sixth player at Concordia to go on to sign a professional contract under head coach Mark "Lunch" McKenzie, joining Tony Nault (Duluth Dukes), Joe Shallenberger (St. Paul Saints), Bill Mauer (Minnesota Twins), Steve Butler (St. Paul Saints) and Jon Schemmel (New York Mets).

For more information on the Sioux City Explorers, visit http://www.xsbaseball.com/