Complete Release (PDF)

This Week: The Southwest Minnesota State University baseball team (11-2, 1-1 NSIC) continues Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference play this week hosting six games at Alumni Field in Marshall.  SMSU will battle Bemidji State University (8-21, 1-10) in a doubleheader on Wednesday, April 8, starting at 2 p.m., then will host the University of Minnesota, Crookston (3-25, 1-13 NSIC) for a four-game series on Friday, April 10, and Saturday, April 11.

About the Mustangs: Southwest Minnesota State is 11-2 on the season, 1-1 NSIC.  Sophomore Doug Stearns leads the team with a .542 average (13 for 24) in 10 games, while junior Matt Bauer is batting .500 (23 for 46) in 13 games and is tied for the team lead with four home runs and ranks first with 18 RBI.  Senior Derek West is also hitting .500 (19 for 38) and is tied with Bauer with four home runs. 
     Sophomore left-hander Curtis Smith is 3-0 in three starts with a 2.55 ERA in 17.2 innings.  Junior right-hander Adam Schrader is 2-1 in three starts with a team-best 1.72 ERA in 15.2 innings.  He also leads the pitching staff with 18 strikeouts.
     SMSU is batting .412 as a team and is averaging 10.9 runs per game, while the pitching staff has compiled a 3.54 ERA with 80 strikeouts in 94 innings.

About the Beavers: Bemidji State is 8-21 overall, 1-10 NSIC.  Josh Juntenen is batting a team-high .341 with seven doubles and 17 RBI.  Colton Smith is second on the squad with a .301 average and also has seven doubles. 
     As a team, BSU is batting .263 with six home runs, while the pitching staff has a 6.54 ERA with two complete games.

About the Golden Eagles: Minnesota, Crookston is 3-25 overall, 1-13 NSIC, heading into this weekend's series.  UMC is currently on a 12-game losing streak with its last win coming versus St. Cloud State on March 20.  Jake Poehler is batting a team-high .345, while Devin Croal is hitting .340.  Paul Krebs lead the Golden Eagles with three home runs. 
     As a team, UMC is batting .239 with 12 home runs, while the team ERA?is 9.23 with two complete game.

Last Action: Southwest Minnesota State opened conference play on Friday, April 3, hosting Minnesota State, Mankato at Alumni Field.  MSU won the opener 6-1, before SMSU earned a 5-2 victory in game two.  In the opener, SMSU?was held to four hits, with Matt Bauer leading the Mustang offense with two hits including a solo home run.  In the nightcap, SMSU starting pitcher Curtis Smith tossed 6.2 innings to pick up the victory, allowing seven hits, two runs, while striking out three and walking three.  The Mustang offense cracked eight hits with Doug Stearns leading the way with two hits and two RBI, while Derek West also finished with two RBI.

Head Coach Paul Blanchard: SMSU head coach Paul Blanchard is in his 13th season and has an overall record of 333-230-1, including 167-88 in NSIC play.  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.

Series History: SMSU?is 82-52 all-time versus Bemidji State but Wednesday's doubleheader will be their first meeting in Marshall since 2004.  Paul Blanchard is 30-11 all-time versus BSU. 
     SMSU?is 28-2 all-time versus Minnesota-Crookston,   including 9-1 in Marshall.  SMSU has won 15 straight in the series with UMC's last win coming in 2004.  Paul Blanchard is 28-2 all-time versus UMC.
 
West Honored by NSIC:?Senior outfielder Derek West was named the NSIC?Offensive 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.

NCBWA Poll:?SMSU is ranked fifth in this week's National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Central Region poll announced on Monday, April 6.  The NCBWA poll is not the official poll that determines the six-team NCAA?regional field announced in May.  The first official NCAA?regional rankings will be announced later this month. 
     SMSU, which was ranked No. 3 in last week's poll, received 44 points, one point behind fourth ranked Minnesota State, Mankato.  Mesa State (Colo.), ranked received all eight first place votes and is ranked No. 1 in the regional poll with 80 points, while Wayne State is ranked second with 71 points, followed by Colorado State Pueblo with 57 points.

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 373-338 in 711 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,   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 49-24 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.: 6th (.620)
Most home runs: t-12th (18)

Greg Laughlin
Most assists: 6th (294)
Most hits: 8th (174)
Most at bats: t-13th (487)
Most triples: t-13th (4)
Highest batting avg.: 15th (.357)
Most total bases: 15th (224)

Josh Nolan
Most triples: t-6th (6)

Jared Pick
Fewest walks allowed/9 inn game: 12th (3.24)

Adam Schrader
Most strikeouts/9 inn game: 6th (8.31)
Most strikeouts: t-9th (133)

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

Derek West
Highest batting avg.: 7th (.369)
Highest slugging pct.: 9th (.593)
Highest on base pct.: 11th (.457)