THIS WEEK –
•The Southwest Minnesota State University baseball team opens NSIC play this Saturday and Sunday with a four-game series versus Concordia-St. Paul.
•The four-game series will be played at Veterans Field located at Minnetonka High School in Minnetonka, Minn. The series was relocated due poor field conditions at Barnes Field on the campus of CSP.
•Doubleheader both days will begin at 10 a.m.
 
            MEDIA COVERAGE –
•Live statistics and video for the four-game series will be available at smsumustangs.com.
•Updates can also be found by following @smsubaseball on Twitter.
 
            SERIES HISTORY –
•SMSU is 22-27 all-time versus Concordia-St. Paul. CSP has won the last six games in the series, winning twice this season and four games in 2016. SMSU won all four games played in 2015, including two in NSIC play.
 
            HEAD COACH –
•Paul Blanchard, the all-time leader in victories at SMSU, is in his 21st season as head coach and has an overall record of 491-425-2, including 272-211 in conference play.
•During his tenure, Blanchard has led the program to its only NCAA tournament appearance, one NSIC championship, three NSIC tournament championships, 15 appearances in the NSIC tournament and four 30-win seasons.
•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.
 
            LAST WEEK –
•SMSU opened its 2017 season with a 5-5 record during the Tucson Invitational in Tucson, Arizona.
•SMSU won its opening game versus Malone (Ohio) on March 4, but then dropped four straight games, including two to CSP.
•SMSU defeated Northern State on March 9, then swept a doubleheader from Jamestown (N.D.) on March 10.
•Following a loss to Valley City State (N.D.), SMSU closed the trip with a 17-5 win over Dakota State (S.D.).
•Freshman Tanner Strommen led the Mustangs batting .394 in 10 games with a team-high 13 hits, including two doubles.
•Strommen finished with a team-high five multi-hit games.
•Junior Cole VanderBeek finished the week batting .333 with two doubles and one triple.
•Senior Derek Branson batted .297 with a team-high six doubles and added eight RBIs.
•Senior Brian Redemske hit .270 with five doubles and recorded a team-high 10 RBIs.
•Junior Shane Sellner, Branson and Redemske each have a team-high three multi-RBI games.  
•Sophomore Justin Clark led the pitching staff with a team-high 9 1/3 innings, recording a 1.93 ERA with 11 strikeouts.
•Sophomore Cole Petersen won a pair of games in relief, tossing 4 2/3 innings of shutout ball with four strikeouts.
•Sophomore Shawn Williams posted a 2.35 ERA in 7 2/3 innings with one save.
•Junior Alex Jorgensen recorded a pair of saves.
           
            MUSTANGS AT HOME –
•SMSU is scheduled to play a total of eight doubleheaders at Alumni Field with the home opener set for March 29 versus Sioux Falls.
 
            NSIC SCHEDULE –
•SMSU is scheduled to play a 38-game unbalanced schedule in conference play this season.
•The team will play seven four-game weekend series along with five mid-week doubleheaders.
•The schedule will allow SMSU to play 12 of 14 conference opponents at least twice this season.
•SMSU will not play Minot State or St. Cloud State in conference play.
 
            NSIC DOUBLEHEADERS –
•For the seventh straight season the first game of each NSIC doubleheader will be a 7-inning game, while game two is scheduled for a 9-inning game.
•If the first game goes into extra innings, then game two will be changed to a 7-inning game.
 
            SMSU PICKED 12TH IN NSIC POLL –
•Southwest Minnesota State University was picked to finish 12^th in the NSIC Preseason Coaches' Poll.
•SMSU sophomore right-handed pitcher Justin Clark and sophomore catcher/outfielder Jon Leighton were both named "Players to Watch" in the conference this season.         
•Minnesota State was chosen as the preseason favorite earning 192 points, including 10 first place votes.
 
            MUSTANG BASEBALL HISTORY –
• Southwest Minnesota State is in its 47th season of baseball and has an all-time record of 921-1,008-3 in 1,932 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.
 
            MORE MUSTANG STATS –
•For career statistics and game-highs for each Mustang player go to SMSUmustangs.com/baseballcareer.
 
            NEXT UP –
•Southwest Minnesota State is scheduled to play a non-conference doubleheader versus Northwestern College (Iowa) in Orange City on Tuesday, March 21.