THIS WEEK - The Southwest Minnesota State University (19-25, 12-16 NSIC) baseball team will host Bemidji State University (10-31, 7-19 NSIC) in a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference doubleheader on Wednesday at Alumni Field in Marshall starting at 1:30 p.m.
SMSU, which enters play on Wednesday on a four-game losing streak, begins the week tied for ninth place in the NSIC standings. The top eight teams qualify for the NSIC/US Bank Tournament on May 6-9 in Sioux Falls, S.D.
SMSU and BSU have played twice this season in non-conference action in Tucson, Ariz. BSU won 17-8 on March 11, before SMSU earned a 7-3 victory on March 14.
Following Wednesday's games, SMSU will close the regular season with a four-game home series versus Wayne State on Friday and Saturday.
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 all games can be found at SMSUmustangs.com.
SERIES HISTORY - Southwest Minnesota State leads the series versus Bemidji State 96-60 with the first meeting coming in 1970. SMSU has won six of the last seven games since May 1, 2013. The two teams split two games earlier this season in Tucson, Ariz. This will be the first meeting between the two teams in Marshall since May 3, 2011. SMSU swept a conference doubleheader from BSU last season in Sioux Falls, S.D.
SMSU head coach
Paul Blanchard is 44-19 all-time versus Bemidji State.
ABOUT THE BEAVERS - Bemidji State enters play on Wednesday 10-31 overall, 7-19 NSIC. The Beavers have lost 12 straight games since beating Minnesota Crookston on April 8. Jack Hegarty is batting a team-high .365 with 13 doubles, three home runs and 22 RBIs. Tyler Nelson is second on the team with a .331 batting average with a team-high 14 doubles, while Joey Hanowski is batting .329 with 10 doubles. Scott Litchy and Collin Eckman have each belted a team-leading five home runs.
The BSU pitching staff is led by Jack Hegarty who is 2-4 with a 7.39 ERA in 35 1/3 innings with 37 strikeouts. Terry Hadden is 3-6 with a 7.55 ERA in a team-high 53 2/3 innings with three complete games.
BSU is batting .285 with 25 home runs and averaging 5.1 runs per game. The BSU pitching staff has compiled an ERA of 11.02 in 299 innings with 224 strikeouts and 199 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 475-382-2, including 263-186 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 19-25, 12-16 NSIC, entering the midweek match-up after losing all four games to Augustana this past weekend.
Brian Redemske leads the team with a .367 batting average with 11 doubles and seven home runs.
Austin Stubbs is second with a .344 average and has 13 doubles with team-high 12 home runs and 39 RBIs, while
Jarred Carlson has 15 doubles and a team-leading 46 RBIs.
Patrick Rients is batting .341 with six home runs, 13 doubles, 37 RBIs and a team-high 45 runs scored.
Brandan Alfson is 3-3 on the mound in nine appearances (six starts) with a 2.79 ERA in 42 innings.
Mitch Wurm (5-1, 4.61) has tossed a team-leading 56 2/3 innings with 51 strikeouts.
Jake Leighton has appeared in a team-high 13 games and has a 3.86 ERA in 21 innings, compiling a 2-1 record and three saves.
Colton Smit is 3-1 with a 6.41 ERA in 10 appearances.
SMSU is batting .302 with 47 home runs, while averaging 6.5 runs per game. The SMSU pitching staff has compiled a 7.49 ERA in 336 2/3 innings with 263 strikeouts and 163 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.
MUSTANG STREAKS AND MORE - Brandan Alfson has currently reached base in 23 straight games since March 29, which is the longest streak for a Mustang player this season.
Austin Stubbs had the previous long streak of 22 straight games.
Patrick Rients leads the team with 19 multi hit games, while
Jarred Carlson has a team-high 16 multi RBI games and has 16 multi hit games.
Brian Redemske has 16 multi hit games and nine multi RBI games, while
Austin Stubbs has 13 multi hit games and eight multi RBI games. Redemske had a team-high 12-game hitting streak snapped on April 25, but has reached base in 18 straight games. Stubbs' 12 home runs ranks ninth in the school single-season record book. Rients set the single-season record last season with 19.
SMSU is 12-1 this season when leading after six innings, 7-1 when leading after seven innings and 8-0 when leading after eight innings. The Mustangs are 4-23 when trailing after six innings, 2-8 when trailing after seven innings and 1-7 when trailing after eight innings.
The SMSU pitching staff has recorded 10 or more strikeouts in six games, including a season-high 12 versus Minot State on March 11.
The SMSU offense has recorded 10 or more hits in 25 games.
