THIS WEEKEND
•The Southwest Minnesota State University baseball team (5-9, 0-4 NSIC) continues Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference play this Sunday and Monday with a relocated four-game series versus Northern State University (6-7, 1-3 NSIC).
•The two teams will play a doubleheader on Sunday in Omaha, Nebraska, starting at 12 p.m. at Jurgensen Park on the campus of Creighton Prep School.
•Monday's doubleheader will be played at Ronken Field in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, starting at 12 p.m.
•The series was scheduled to be played in Marshall, but due to poor field conditions the series was moved.

    GAME COVERAGE
•Live statistics for this weekend's games will be available at smsumustangs.com.
•Updates can also be found by following @smsubaseball on Twitter.

    SERIES HISTORY
•SMSU leads the all-time series versus NSU, 95-43, in a match-up that started in 1979.
•NSU has won nine of the past 13 games since 2015, including winning four of five games last season.
•A season ago, NSU won a non-conference game in Tucson, Arizona, and then won three of four in NSIC play in Aberdeen.
•SMSU head coach Paul Blanchard is 57-21 versus NSU.  

    HEAD COACH
•Paul Blanchard, the all-time leader in victories at SMSU, is in his 22nd season as head coach and has an overall record of 505-462-2, including 282-243 in conference play.
•He entered the 2018 season ranking 44th in Division II among active coaches in career victories.
•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.

    GRAND SLAM TIMES TWO
•Jayden Fleck hit not one, but two grand slams, during SMSU's spring trip to Tucson, Arizona, earlier this season.
•In the first nine games of the season, Fleck had 13 hits, including four home runs, three doubles and 19 RBIs.

    WELCOME TO THE SHOW
•SMSU freshman left-hander John Bezdicek has had an outstanding start to his college career through three starts.
•He is 1-2 on the season, but has recorded 12 and 11 strikeouts in his last two starts in a combined 12 2/3 innings.

    MUSTANG NOTABLES
•SMSU is 5-9 overall, 0-4 NSIC, and is currently on a five-game losing streak. SMSU's last victory came on March 10 versus Mount Marty in Tucson, Arizona.
•SMSU is hitting .297 with seven home runs and 30 doubles.
•SMSU has an ERA of 5.13 with 111 strikeouts in 112 1/3 innings.
•SMSU has a .959 fielding percentage.
•SMSU is 0-5 in one-run games.
•SMSU is 4-2 when leading after six innings and 2-2 when leading after eight innings.
•Shane Sellner leads the team with a .404 batting average with four doubles, one home run and 10 RBIs.
•Jayden Fleck has a team-leading 20 RBIs with five doubles and a team-high four home runs.
•Ben Heichel has a club-leading .593 slugging percentage which includes a team-high seven doubles and two home runs.
•Sellner's 10-game hitting streak to begin the season is the longest on the team this season.
•Cole Petersen is 1-1 with a 2.35 ERA in 15 1/3 innings.
•John Bezdicek is 1-2 in three starts with a team-high 26 strikeouts in 16 1/3 innings.  
•Teddy Broxterman has pitched in a team-high seven games and has a 2.70 ERA in 6 2/3 innings with one save.

    NCAA STATISTICS
•In the latest Division II statistics through March 18, Jayden Fleck  ranks ninth RBIs per game (1.54).
•Ben Heichel ranks 16th in doubles per game (0.54), while Connor Johnson is 29th (0.50).  
•John Bezdicek ranks seventh in strikeouts per nine innings (14.33).
•Tanner Strommen ranks 18th in bases on balls per game (1.0).
•As a team, SMSU ranks 26th in doubles per game (2.3), 31st in shutouts (2) and 56th in strikeouts per nine innings (9.1).

    MUSTANGS AT HOME
•SMSU was scheduled to play a total of 11 doubleheaders at Alumni Field, but already three doubleheaders have been relocated as of March 22.

    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 eighth 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 14TH IN NSIC POLL
•Southwest Minnesota State University was picked to finish 14th in the NSIC Preseason Coaches' Poll.
•SMSU junior right-handed pitcher Justin Clark and sophomore outfielder Tranner Strommen were both named "Players to Watch" in the conference this season.    
•Minnesota State was chosen as the preseason favorite earning 196 points, including 14 first place votes.

    MUSTANG BASEBALL HISTORY
•Southwest Minnesota State is in its 49th season of baseball and has an all-time record of 936-1,045-3 in 1,984 games.
•SMSU won conference championships in 1974, 1994, 1996 and 2002 and 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 at the University of Sioux Falls in a doubleheader on Tuesday.