Complete Release (PDF)

This Week: The Southwest Minnesota State University baseball team (19-6, 9-5 NSIC) continues Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference play this week with six important conference games. 
     SMSU, currently in fourth place in the NSIC standings, will play at third place Winona State University (23-12, 15-5 NSIC) on Wednesday, April 22, with a doubleheader starting at 2 p.m., before returning home on Saturday, April 25, to face eighth place Augustana College (20-16, 10-9 NSIC) for a doubleheader with first pitch slated for 1 p.m.  SMSU will conclude the four-game series with Augustana on Sunday, April 26, with a doubleheader in Sioux Falls, S.D., starting at 1 p.m.

About the Mustangs: Southwest Minnesota State is 19-6 overall, 9-5 NSIC and is currently in fourth place in the conference standings.  Sophomore Doug Stearns leads the team with a .465 average (20 for 43) in 18 games, while senior Derek West is batting .452 (33 for 73) in 23 games and leads the team with an .822 slugging percentage.  Junior Andrew Kinney leads the team in both home runs (8) and RBI?(32), while junior Matt Bauer is third on the team in batting average (.407) and ranks first in total bases (63).
     Sophomore left-hander Curtis Smith is 5-0 in five starts with a 3.48 ERA in a team-high 33.2 innings.  Junior right-hander Adam Schrader is 3-1 in five starts with a 2.76 ERA in 29.1 innings.  He also leads the pitching staff with 30 strikeouts.
     SMSU is batting .378 as a team and is averaging 8.9 runs per game, while the pitching staff has compiled a 4.10 ERA with 141 strikeouts in 178 innings.

Series History: Winona State leads the all-time series versus SMSU 99-47.  The two teams split a four-game series in the Metrodome last season.  SMSU head coach Paul Blanchard is 25-25 all-time versus WSU.
     SMSU is 35-29 all-time versus Augustana and has won six of the last eight in the series since 2004, including winning twice last season.  SMSU head coach Paul Blanchard is 15-9 all-time versus Augie.

Mustang Notes: Derek West, Derick Swenson and Andrew Kinney all have a team-high 11 multi-hit games ... Andrew Kinney has a team-high nine multi-RBI games ... Andrew Kinney and Derek West have both had team-high nine-game hitting streaks this season ... SMSU has scored 10 or more runs in eight games this season ... the school record for double digits runs scored in a game in one season is 18 set by the 1997 team ... SMSU is 15-1 this season when holding opponents to four runs or less ... SMSU is 17-1 when leading after six innings ... SMSU has outscored its opponents 40-16 this season in the first inning ... SMSU's biggest inning this season has been the fourth inning, scoring 51 runs ... Derick Swenson's grand slam on April 8 was SMSU's first since 2007 ... Kinney recorded his second four-hit game of the season on April 19 vs. Upper Iowa.

Last Action: SMSU splits a four-game road series versus Upper Iowa on April 18-19 in Fayette, Iowa.  Sophomore Matt Seehusen (4 for 8) and sophomore Doug Stearns (3 for 6) each hit .500 on the weekend, while Andrew Kinney, Greg Laughlin and Derick Swenson each drove in three runs during the four games.  SMSU hit .278 during the series, while the Mustang pitching staff compiled a 5.14 ERA.

NCAA Statistics: SMSU continues to have a strong presence in the latest NCAA Division II baseball national statistics released on Tuesday, April 21, ranking in the top five in the country in two team categories.

     SMSU ranks fourth in the nation in batting average (.378) and fifth in slugging percentage (.596).  The team is also 13th in home runs per game (1.32), 14th in fielding percentage (.968), 18th in scoring (9.0) and 27th in doubles per game (2.24).  The Mustang pitching staff is 27th in hits allowed per nine innings (8.9), 33rd in earned run average (4.10) and 35th in walks allowed per nine innings (3.19).
     Individually, senior Derek West is 12th nationally in slugging percentage (.822), 13th in on-base percentage (.551) and 20th in batting average (.452), while junior Matt Bauer is 49th in slugging percentage (.733) and 83rd in batting average (.407).

Back-to-Back Shutouts: SMSU's consecutive shutouts versus Minnesota, Crookston on April 10-11 were the program's first back-to-back shutouts since recording three straight versus UMC?in 2006. 

Head Coach Paul Blanchard:?SMSU head coach Paul Blanchard is in his 13th season and has an overall record of 341-236-1, including 175-92 in NSIC play.  Blanchard is six victories shy of tying Jim Denevan for the most coaching victories in school history.  Denevan recorded 347 wins in 21 seasons as a head coach (1971-81, 83-86, 91-96).  Blanchard has led SMSU to 11 winning seasons, one NSIC?championship and three?NSIC?tournament championships.  During his tenure, Blanchard has coached two NSIC?Players of the Year, one NSIC?Pitcher of the Year, 15 all-region players, SMSU's only NCAA?All-America and SMSU's only Major League Baseball draft pick.

West Honored by NSIC:?Senior outfielder Derek West was named the NSIC?Player of the Week on March 16.  West finished with a .600 batting average in the four games with nine hits in 15 at bats.  He belted three home runs, two triples, one double and scored nine runs in the four games while finishing with seven RBI and 23 total bases for a 1.533 slugging percentage.

NCAA Regional Poll: SMSU was ranked seventh in the first NCAA Division II Central Region rankings released on April 15 by the NCAA national committee.  The top six teams in the 21-team region will advance to the NCAA regional tournament on May 14-17.  Automatic bids are granted to the winners of the NSIC and RMAC postseason tournaments, with the remaining four spots awarded on an at-large basis.

NCBWA Poll:?SMSU is ranked seventh in this week's National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Central Region poll announced on Monday, April 20.  The NCBWA poll is not the official poll that determines the six-team NCAA?regional field announced in May. 

Mustangs Picked to Finish Seventh: The Southwest Minnesota State University baseball team was picked to finish seventh in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Preseason Poll as voted on by the league's 13 head coaches.
     Wayne State, last season's conference champion was tabbed the conference favorite earning 149 points, seven ahead of second place and NSIC newcomer Minnesota State, Mankato (142).  WSC earned six first place votes (coaches can't vote for their own team) while Minnesota State received four first place votes.  Concordia-St. Paul was picked to finish third in the league and received three first place votes.  Winona State was picked to finish fourth with 113 points, followed by Upper Iowa (105), St. Cloud State (102) and SMSU (101).  Minnesota Duluth (75), Bemidji State (70), Mary (59), Augustana (58), Northern State (37) and Minnesota, Crookston (24) rounded out the poll.

Mustang Success in the NSIC:?Southwest Minnesota State has had tremendous success in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference in recent years.  SMSU has finished either first, second or third place in the league standings in 13 of the last 16 seasons and hasn't finished lower than fourth place since the 1989 season.
     The 2009 season marks the 40th year that SMSU has competed in the NSIC compiling an all-time record of 381-342 in 723 conference games.  SMSU has won four conference championships and has finished second in the conference standings seven times.  SMSU has a current streak of 16 straight years of recording a winning record in conference play.

NSIC Schedule for 2009: The Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference is scheduled to play a 32-game schedule in 2009 for the third straight season.   The 13 teams in the NSIC will play eight teams in the conference four times for a league schedule of 32 games.  SMSU will not play Wayne State, Concordia, St. Cloud State or Minnesota Duluth.  The top six teams in the conference standings will advance to NSIC tournament in St. Cloud, Minn., on May 7-9.  The winner of the NSIC tournament will receive the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA regional.  

Home Sweet Home:?Southwest Minnesota State was scheduled to play 16?home games at Alumni Field this year, but four have already been canceled.  Since moving all of its home games to the on-campus field in 2003, SMSU has racked up a 53-26 home field record. 

A Record Setting Day:?SMSU broke four school single-game records in its 34-1 victory over Minnesota Duluth on March 15 in Ft. Myers, Fla.  The Mustangs broke records for hits (32), runs scored (34), doubles (9) and largest margin of victory (33).

Mustangs in the Record Book:?The following is where current SMSU players rank in the SMSU?career record book.
Andrew Kinney:
Highest slugging pct.: 4th (.650)
Most home runs: t-7th (24)
Most putouts: 11th (459)
Most runs batted in: 12th (110)

Greg Laughlin
Most assists: 5th (319)
Most hits: 7th (186)
Most sacrifice hits: t-8th (12)
Most at bats: 9th (530)
Most total bases: 14th (236)

Josh Nolan
Most triples: t-6th (6)
Most assists: 12th (228)

Jared Pick
Fewest walks allowed/9 inn game: 10th (3.03)

Adam Schrader
Most strikeouts/9 inn game: 6th (8.28)
Most strikeouts: 6th (145)
Most games started: 8th (31)
Most wins: 15th (13)

Curtis Smith
Lowest earned run avg.: 12th (3.96)
Fewest walks allowed/9 inn game: 15th (3.48)

Derick Swenson
Most times hit by pitch: 8th (20)

Derek West
Highest batting avg.: 4th (.373)
Highest on base pct.: 6th (.467)
Highest slugging pct.: 9th (.601)
Most triples: t-13th (4)
Most times hit by pitch: 15th (14)