THIS WEEK - The Southwest Minnesota State University (14-18, 7-9 NSIC) baseball team, following a 12-game road trip, returns home on Wednesday to take on the University of Sioux Falls (13-19, 10-6 NSIC) at Alumni Field with a doubleheader starting at 1:30 p.m. It will be the first time USF has played in Marshall as a member of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference.
Following Wednesday's games, SMSU will play a four-game series at Upper Iowa on Saturday and Sunday.
VICTORY 900 - Southwest Minnesota State's victory at St. Cloud State on April 11 was the 900th in program history. SMSU is now 900-958-3 all-time in 1,861 games since the program started in 1970.
MEDIA COVERAGE - Live statistics for all home games can be found at livestats.smsu.edu/baseball, while updates can also be found by following @smsubaseball on Twitter.
Live stats for this weekend's games versus Sioux Falls can be found at SMSUmustangs.com.
SERIES HISTORY - Southwest Minnesota State and Sioux Falls meet for the 14th and 15th time on Wednesday with SMSU holding a 10-3 series advantage. The teams split a conference doubleheader last season in Sioux Falls, S.D., and also split a non-conference doubleheaders in Sioux City, Iowa, during the 2013 season. SMSU swept USF, 11-1 and 6-1, in the Cougars' only visit to Marshall in program history.
SMSU head coach
Paul Blanchard is 2-2 all-time versus Sioux Falls.
ABOUT SIOUX FALLS - The Cougars have not played since dropping two games at Upper Iowa on April 8 and are 13-19 overall, 10-6 NSIC. Matthew Minnick is batting a team-high .435 with 15 doubles, six home runs and 35 RBIs. Austin Richey is second on the team with a .393 batting average with four doubles and two home runs, while Noah Durkin is batting .287 and ranks second on the team with 12 doubles.
The USF pitching staff is led by Alex Wall who is 3-4 with one save and has a 4.87 ERA in 10 appearances with six starts and a team-high 40 2/3 innings. Kacey Myrlie is 2-1 with a 5.67 ERA in 39 2/3 innings, while Henry Ojeda is 2-2 with a 7.91 ERA in 38 2/3 innings with a team-high 32 strikeouts.
USF is batting .290 with 14 home runs and averaging 6.6 runs per game. The Cougar pitching staff has compiled an ERA of 7.80 in 244 2/3 innings with 148 strikeouts and 132 walks.
SMSU HEAD COACH - Paul Blanchard, the all-time leader in victories at SMSU, is in his 19th season as head coach and has an overall record of 470-375-2, including 258-179 in conference play. During his tenure, Blanchard has led the program to its only NCAA tournament appearance, one NSIC championship, three NSIC tournament championships and 15 appearances in the NSIC tournament. Named the fifth coach in SMSU history on July 14, 1996, Blanchard has coached two NSIC Players of the Year, one NSIC Pitcher of the Year, 21 all-region honorees, two Academic All-Americans, one NCAA All-American and two Major League Baseball draft picks. A complete bio on coach Blanchard is on page 5.
ABOUT THE MUSTANGS - SMSU is 14-18, 7-9 entering Wednesday's games after dropping three of four games at No. 2 St. Cloud State. SMSU won the opener 13-9, then lost game two of the series, 6-4, on Saturday. On Sunday, SMSU lost 12-1 and 14-4. SMSU finished a six-game week going 2-4, after splitting two games at Minnesota Duluth.
Brandan Alfson led SMSU with a .385 batting average during the week, while
Austin Stubbs batted .381 with four doubles and two home runs. Alfson was also 1-0 in two appearances on the mound with a 2.57 ERA in seven innings.
Stubbs leads the team with a .379 batting average with 13 doubles and 10 home runs.
Jarred Carlson is second with a .351 average and has 11 doubles with eight home runs. Stubbs and Carlson are tied for the team lead with 30 RBIs.
Brian Redemske is batting .336 with a team-leading nine stolen bases.
Patrick Rients is batting .315 with five home runs, eight doubles and 30 RBIs.
Alfson is 2-1 on the mound in five appearances (three starts) with a 3.27 ERA in 22 innings.
Mitch Wurm (3-1, 5.14) has tossed a team-leading 42 innings with 38 strikeouts.
Jake Leighton has appeared in a team-high 10 games and has a 3.77 ERA in 14 1/3 innings with a 2-0 record and three saves.
SMSU is batting .298 with 36 home runs, while averaging 6.7 runs per game. The Mustang pitching staff has compiled a 7.87 ERA in 247 innings with 198 strikeouts and 130 walks.
