THIS WEEK – The Southwest Minnesota State University baseball team (6-31, 4-18 NSIC) travels to Bemidji, Minn., on Wednesday, May 4, to face Bemidji State University (14-34, 11-21 NSIC). The doubleheader is set to begin at 2 p.m. at the BSU Baseball Field.
 
            MEDIA COVERAGE - Live stats links for the four games can be found by going to bsubeavers.com, while updates can also be found by following @smsubaseball on Twitter.
 
            SERIES HISTORY - Southwest Minnesota State leads the all-time series versus Bemidji State, 98-60, in a series that started in 1970. SMSU has won three straight and eight of the last meetings since 2013. This will be SMSU's first trip to Bemidji since May 1, 2013. SMSU head coach Paul Blanchard is 46-19 all-time versus BSU.
 
            MUSTANG BASEBALL HISTORY - Southwest Minnesota State is in its 47th season of baseball and has an all-time record of 913-1,000-3 in 1,916 games. 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.
 
            HEAD COACH - Paul Blanchard, the all-time leader in victories at SMSU, is in his 20th season as head coach and has an overall record of 483-417-2, including 269-208 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.
 
            ABOUT BEMIDJI STATE – The Beavers are 14-34, including 11-21 in conference play. The Beavers are playing their final games of the season on Wednesday. BSU is coming off a weekend in which they won three of four games at U-Mary. As a team, BSU?is batting .312 with 32 home runs and averaging 6.0 runs per game. The BSU?pitching staff has a 7.53 ERA with 246 strikeouts in 373 innings.
 
            ABOUT THE MUSTANGS – Southwest Minnesota State is 6-31 overall, 4-18 NSIC, after suffering a four-game sweep by Wayne State last Friday and Saturday in Alexandria, Minn. Through 37 games, Jon Leighton leads SMSU?with a .378 batting average with 10 doubles, seven home runs and a team-high 33 RBIs. Tanner Picht is batting .331 with 13 doubles and a team-leading eight home runs, while Derek Branson is hitting .341 with 10 doubles, three home runs and 14 RBIs. On the mound, Justin Clark (2-2) has appeared in nine games and has a team-low 3.62 ERA in 37 1/3 innings. He tossed his first career complete game in a win over Sioux Falls on April 21. Erik Thorvilson (0-2)?has tossed 32 2/3 innings in eight appearances with 20 strikeouts, recording a 6.89 ERA. Cole Petersen has pitched a team-high 37 2/3 innings and has a 7.17 ERA and two victories. For the season, SMSU is batting .266 with 25 home runs, averaging 4.5 runs per game and a have a team ERA of 9.10.
 
            BRANSON TIES RECORD - Junior Derek Branson tied a school single-game doubles record in SMSU's win at Winona State on April 7 with three doubles. He is the ninth player in school history to record three in a game and the first since Jarred Carlson reached the mark during the 2015 season. 
 
            MUSTANGS BY THE NUMBERS – Tanner Picht leads the team with 14 multi-hit games, while Jon Leighton has 13 … Leighton has a team-high 13 multi-RBI games with Shane Sellner recording eight multi-RBI?games … Leighton earlier this season had a 19-game-game hitting streak, which is the longest by a Mustang this season. Derek Branson had a 12-game hitting streak earlier this season … Davis Bryan tossed a seven-inning complete game six hitter in defeating Upper Iowa on April 24 … Connor Johnson fired a nine-inning complete game in a loss to Upper Iowa on April 23 … Erik Thorvilson also pitched nine innings to earn a no-decision versus Upper Iowa on April 24.
 
            YOUNG GUNS – Southwest Minnesota State has just three seniors on the active roster this spring. SMSU has started either a sophomore or true freshman on mound in 30 of 37 games this season.
           
            MUSTANGS AT HOME - SMSU was scheduled to play a total of nine doubleheaders at Alumni Field this season but has had one doubleheader canceled due to poor field conditions and another moved to Winona because of poor weather. SMSU finished the 2015 season with an 8-10 home record.
 
            NSIC SCHEDULE - SMSU was scheduled to play a 34-game unbalanced schedule in conference play again this season. The team will play six four-game weekend series along with five mid-week doubleheaders. The schedule will allow SMSU to play 11 of 14 conference opponents at least twice this season. SMSU will not play Minnesota State, Minnesota Crookston or U-Mary in conference play.
 
            SMSU PICKED NINTH IN NSIC POLL - Southwest Minnesota State University was picked to finish ninth in the NSIC Preseason Coaches' Poll. St. Cloud State was chosen as the preseason favorite earning 190 points, including 10 first place votes. SMSU sophomore right-handed pitcher Alex Jorgensen and junior outfielder Derek Branson were both named "Players to Watch" in the conference this season.        
 
            MORE MUSTANG STATS - For career statistics and game-highs for each Mustang player go to SMSUmustangs.com/baseballcareer.
 
            NEXT UP – Southwest Minnesota State will conclude the season with a four-game home-and-home series versus Augustana University. Friday's doubleheader starts at 3 p.m. in Sioux Falls, S.D., while Saturday's doubleheader in Marshall begins at 1 p.m.