THIS WEEK - Southwest Minnesota State University (0-0) begins its 46th season of baseball this week with 12 games scheduled during nine days at the Tucson Invitational in Tucson, Ariz. from March 6-14. SMSU opens with three games versus Malone University (Ohio) on March 6-7, before playing nine games versus teams from the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. All 12 games played during the trip will be non-conference. SMSU and Malone meet on March 6 for a doubleheader (2 p.m.), before playing a single game on March 7 (8 p.m.). SMSU will face St. Cloud State (10:30 a.m.) and Northern State (2 p.m.) on March 8 and Minot State (9 p.m.) on March 9, before an off day on March 10. SMSU will then take on Bemidji State (4:30 p.m.) and Minot State (8 p.m.) on March 11, Concordia-St. Paul (8:30 p.m.) on March 12, Augustana (2:30 p.m.) and Concordia-St. Paul (9:30 p.m.) on March 13, before closing the trip with a match-up versus Bemidji State on March 14 (11 a.m.).
MEDIA COVERAGE - Live statistics for all 12 games during the team's trip to Arizona can be found at livestats.smsu.edu/baseball, while updates can also be found by following @smsubaseball on Twitter.
SERIES HISTORY - Southwest Minnesota State and Malone have meet twice all-time with SMSU winning both games. SMSU earned a 14-2 victory in Ft. Myers, Fla., during the 1997 season, while last season SMSU earned a 5-3 win in Tucson, Ariz. ... St. Cloud State is 43-17 all-time versus SMSU, but the teams have not met since 2012 ... SMSU is 91-34 all-time versus Northern State with SMSU winning seven of eight games last season ... Minot State is 6-3 all-time versus SMSU and has won all four games played the last two seasons ... SMSU is 95-59 all-time versus Bemidji State, with SMSU winning all four games last season and five straight since May 1, 2013 ... Concordia-St. Paul leads 21-18 all-time, including winning three of four last season ... SMSU and Augustana are an even 44-44 all-time. Augustana won all five meetings last season and have won 10 of the last 11 games since April 11, 2012.
MUSTANG BASEBALL HISTORY - Southwest Minnesota State is in its 46th season of baseball compiling a record of 886-940-3 in 1,829 games played. SMSU won conference championships in 1974, 1994, 1996 and 2002 and has won NSIC tournament championships in 1996, 1997, 1999 and 2002. SMSU made its only NCAA tournament appearance in 2009.
