THIS WEEK –
•Southwest Minnesota State University opens its 48^th season of collegiate baseball this weekend with 10 games over nine days at the Tucson Invitational in Tucson, Ariz., from March 4-12.
•The games will take place at the Kino Sports Complex.
•SMSU opens with a single nine-inning game versus Malone University (Ohio) on Saturday, March 4, starting at 5 p.m., before facing the Concordia-St. Paul in a doubleheader on Sunday, March 5, at 11 a.m. The Mustangs will face St. Cloud State for single games on both Monday, March 6 (3 p.m.) and Tuesday, March 7 (10 a.m.). Following an off day, SMSU will battle Northern State on Thursday, March 9 at 4 p.m. and then face Jamestown University (N.D.) for a doubleheader on Friday, March 10, starting at 10 a.m. SMSU concludes the trip with a single game versus Valley City State (N.D.) on Saturday, March 11, at 8:30 p.m., and a single match-up versus Dakota State (S.D.) on Sunday, March 12, at 11 a.m. All game times are CENTRAL.
 
            MEDIA COVERAGE –
•Live statistics for selected games in Arizona will be available at smsumustangs.com.
•Updates can also be found by following @smsubaseball on Twitter.
 
            SERIES HISTORY –
•SMSU is 3-5 all-time versus Malone. Malone defeated SMSU three times last season and has won five of the last six meetings.
•SMSU is 22-15 all-time versus Concordia-St. Paul. CSP won all four games last season, after SMSU won all four games in 2015.
•SMSU is 18-52 all-time versus St. Cloud State. SCSU has won the last eight games, including five times last season. SMSU's last win in the series came on April 11, 2015.
•SMSU leads 93-40 all-time versus Northern State. NSU won all three games last season and has won the past four overall. It's the longest winning streak ever for NSU in the series.
•SMSU is 1-2 versus Jamestown, including winning last season in Tucson.
•SMSU and Valley City State meet for the first-time ever.
•SMSU is 13-3 all-time versus Dakota State, but will be meeting for the first time since 1995.
 
            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 486-420-2, 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.
 
            ABOUT THE MUSTANGS –
•This season's team features 23 returning letterwinners from last season's squad that finished 9-34 overall, including 7-21 in NSIC play.
•SMSU returns its top three hitters from last season and also welcomes back one of its top hitters from 2015, who missed all of last season due to an injury.
 
Sophomore catcher Jon Leighton started 40 games and led the team last season with a .364 average, while also ranking first in RBIs with 33 and first in multi-RBI games with 13. He also finished second on the team with seven home runs and was third with 12 doubles.
 
Senior outfielder Tanner Picht returns after batting .344 in 42 starts and leading the squad in both home runs (12), doubles (16) and multi-hit games (17), while ranking second with 31 RBIs. Another senior returning starter is infielder Derek Branson, who batted .331 with 14 doubles and 20 RBIs, while starting all 43 games.
 
Junior first baseman Shane Sellner made 42 starts in a season ago and hit .266 with seven doubles, five home runs and 26 RBIs, while sophomore third baseman Jayden Fleck batted .239 with four doubles, making 42 starts as a true freshman. Sellner and Fleck both led the team with 21 walks.
 
Also returning is junior second baseman Cole VanderBeek, who started 39 games in 2016 and hit .230 with four doubles and 12 RBIs, while senior catcher Kody Larson is also back after making 35 starts last season and batting .218 with four doubles and 12 RBIs. Junior outfielder Tanner Luebke made 23 starts last season and batted .301 with two doubles and led the team with five stolen bases.
 
Junior third baseman Josh Cook and sophomore outfielder Jake Schultz both return after starting 23 and 11 games respectively last season.
 
Returning this season after missing all of last year with an injury is senior outfielder Brian Redemske, who batted .345 in 2015 with 13 doubles and eight home runs.
 
The Mustang pitching staff returns 12 hurlers, including seven who combined to start 42 of 43 games last season. The staff is led by sophomore right-hander Justin Clark, who finished 2-2 with one save last season with a team-low 4.07 ERA. He made 11 appearances with eight starts and recorded one complete game with 33 strikeouts in 42 innings. Sophomore left-hander Cole Petersen tossed a team-high 43 1/3 innings making 10 appearances with six starts. He recorded a 2-5 record and a 6.85 ERA with 33 strikeouts.
 
Sophomore left-hander Erik Thorvilson was second on the team with a 6.42 ERA in 40 2/3 innings, making seven starts with one complete game, while appearing in nine games. Another sophomore left-hander, Connor Johnson pitched in 11 games with five starts, recording one complete game in 35 innings.
 
Junior right-hander Alex Jorgensen has made 16 career starts, including eight last season, while leading the team with 35 strikeouts in 37 innings. Senior right-hander Davis Bryan was the only other pitcher to make multiple starts last season, starting seven games with one complete game victory.
 
Junior right-hander Jake Leighton and sophomore right-hander Shawn Williams return after both made 10 appearances out of the bullpen a season ago.
 
Newcomers to the 2017 roster include a pair of junior college transfers and 19 true freshmen.
           
            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 916-1,003-3 in 1,922 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 –
•Following its spring trip, Southwest Minnesota State open NSIC play on March 18-19 with a four-game series at Concordia-St. Paul.