THIS WEEK - The Southwest Minnesota State University (10-12, 3-3 NSIC) baseball team continues Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference this Friday and Saturday in Aberdeen, S.D., taking on Northern State University (9-12, 3-7 NSIC) at Fossum Field. Doubleheaders on both days will begin at 4 p.m.
    Following this weekend's doubleheaders, SMSU will continues its 12-game road trip on Wednesday, April 8, at Minnesota Duluth.

    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.
    This weekend's games versus Northern State will have live stats and video. Go to SMSUmustangs.com for links

    SERIES HISTORY - Southwest Minnesota State leads the all-time series versus Northern State 91-35. The teams first met in 1979. This will be the first games played in Aberdeen since 2008. SMSU has won 10 of the last 12 games since April 17, 2012. The teams met earlier this season in Tucson, Ariz., with NSU earning a 15-2 victory on March 8.
    SMSU head coach Paul Blanchard is 53-13 all-time versus Northern State.

    ABOUT NORTHERN STATE - The Wolves are coming off a road sweep over Bemidji State on Tuesday and are 9-12 overall, 3-7 NSIC. Lucas Lorenz is batting a team-high .377 with two doubles and two home runs. Tyler Gripentrog is second on the team with a .329 batting average with seven doubles and two home runs, while Mark Abrahamson is batting .299 with a team-high 10 doubles and is tied for the team lead with 17 RBIs.
    Northern State is batting .283 with eight home runs and averaging 5.5 runs per game. The Wolves pitching staff has compiled an ERA of 6.24 in 153 innings with 112 strikeouts and 54 walks.

    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 466-369-2, including 254-173 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 10-12, 3-3 entering the weekend series after splitting two games at Winona State on Tuesday. Patrick Rients had five hits in the two games, including a game-tying home run in game two in the eighth inning. Brian Redemske snapped a 3-3 game in the top of the ninth with a two-run home run in SMSU's 10-7 victory. Austin Stubbs leads the team with a .405 batting average with eight doubles and six home runs. Jarred Carlson is second with a .347 average and has eight doubles, while Redemske is batting .346 with a team-leading seven stolen bases. Rients is batting .333 and leads the team with 27 RBIs. Mitch Wurm (2-1, 4.50) has the lowest ERA among starting pitchers and has tossed a team-leading 28 innings with 24 strikeouts. Jake Leighton has appeared in a team-high seven games and has a 2.35 ERA in 7 2/3 innings with a 1-0 record and two saves.
    SMSU is batting .313 with 25 home runs, while averaging 6.9 runs per game. The SMSU pitching staff has compiled a 7.60 ERA in 175 1/3 innings with 141 strikeouts and 88 walks.

    MUSTANG CAREER STATS - For career statistics on each Mustang player see pages 10-14 and for career-highs on each player go to SMSUmustangs.com/baseballcareer.